> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Jim Davis
> Sent: Sunday, August 26, 2001 6:29 PM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: Re: EOS Decided against an Elan 7e - a/f assist light
>
>
> > -That 'all black' look will get lost in the bottom of my black
> > gadget bag.
> > -Who needs 1/8000 of a second, anyway? Adds weighty 1/8000 of a
> > gram to camera bulk, making it impossible to handhold now.
> > -Too complicated now, all those CF's.
> > -I'd only use the new controls 10-12 times a day, never be able to
> > remember them.
> > -Who wants better pictures, anyway?
>
> If you really want better pictures, you should be manually focusing
> anyway! EOS 7/30 does not have 1/8000, so that's not a problem...
> Jim Davis
That is an option, but then one would be giving up autofocus entirely in
order to accommodate low light situations. The problem with this approach is
that manual focus is more difficult with a/f cameras, including the Elans,
in low light or in any light. They have the capability, and the new USM
lenses make it easy to go in or out of manual focus. However, the focusing
screens are not as bright or snappy going in and out of focus as in the
older m/f cameras. I have seriously thought about going over to a Nikon FM2
or whatever their newest incarnation of that camera is, or to a Contax Aria
(which is within my price range). But that would be a big step. In my
experience, the a/f cameras simply don't lend themselves to manual focus,
especially in lower light situations.
I should also say that I am particularly sensitive to this issue from my
experience with Minolta. My first a/f slr was a 7000i, which has a red a/f
assist light. A few years later I "upgraded" to a 600-SI. It was a
technology upgrade, but actually it was a notch lower on the scale, as
indicated by the number. It has a slower rewind for example, and it lacks
the a/f assist light, using the flash instead. The newer camera has caused
me lots of grief in just those situations where I need a little more
automatic help with a/f. I can manual focus, but the viewfinder is not that
of a good m/f slr. Same story as with the Elan II/7.
Autofocus is simply too good in most other situations for me to want to give
it up. I suppose if I did I would soon learn to manually focus quickly and
accurately, especially if I had a good m/f camera. But the fact is that a
large number, perhaps a majority, of professional photographers use a/f,
because they know that without it they will lose many pictures that they
will otherwise capture with a/f. Certainly this is true of Canon users, and
you see a lot of those white lenses out there anymore.
----------------------------------------------
Gerry Palo
Denver, Colorado
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