A Camera that can Grow with Me
Written: Dec 17 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Easy picture taking, great results
Cons: none
|
|
|
| Anglkris's Full Review: Canon EOS Elan IIE Film Camera |
When I took photography in college, I had bought a really cheap SLR camera. Now that I'm out in the real world, I finally decided that it was time to invest in a new one. All I wanted was an SLR camera that had auto focus on it. I don't remember too much from that class, just enough to make me hate point and shoot cameras.
I shopped around quite a bit and fell in love with the Elan II. It felt sturdy when I picked it up and seemed to be very easy to operate. And the Canon was cheaper than some of the other camera brands out there. There were some cameras for a cheaper price, but those were also cheaper in terms of quality. Overall, the Elan II seemed to be the best deal.
That was about nine months ago and I haven't regretted my decision to buy this camera one bit. I love taking pictures with this camera! It feels nice and balanced in my hands, operates smoothly and quietly, and takes GREAT pictures! When I got that first roll back, I was absolutely astounded at the pictures I had taken. They looked more professional than any pictures I had taken before.
The thing I love the most about this camera is how easy it is to use. There are five fully automatic modes for easy picture-taking. The first is Full Auto Mode. In this mode, the camera adjusts the shutter speed and aperature according to the available light. There is also a portrait mode where the camera will set itself to focus on the subject and blur out the rest of the photo. Another of the automatic modes is for landscape shots. This mode gives a landscape photo great depth from the foreground to the background. The result is very professional looking landscapes. This camera also has a close-up mode where the lens's macro feature is utilized to take great close-up shots of small things such as flowers. The last auto mode is the Sports Mode. This mode takes pictures at the fastest shutter speed possible so that you can get great shots of your kids playing soccer without worrying about your camera settings.
The automatic modes are what I use the most because I usually don't have time to fiddle with setting my camera. However, for the times when I may want to have a little fun with my camera, there are what Canon calls the "Creative Modes". These are modes where you control either the shutter speed, aperature, or both. It gives the photographer the versatility to take all kinds of photos under all kinds of conditions, while using the camera to make the shot look just the way you want it to. I'm not that good of a photographer to use these modes effectively, but as I take more classes, I'm sure I'll be getting lots of use out of these modes.
The auto focus function on this camera is incredible. I don't have the eye-controlled focus, but I still love my auto-focus. There are three boxes when you look through the eyepiece. All you do is make sure your subject is in one of those boxes and the camera will focus on it. No more lost shots because I can't seem to get the subject in focus. YEA!!! The cool thing is that you can turn the AF off if you want or need to. Also, you can set it so that the camera keeps focusing on a subject as it moves. So, if you were taking a picture of someone stealing a base you could follow them with the camera and it would keep them in focus until you took the perfect shot.
The Elan II also has a built-in flash that pops up automatically when there isn't enough light. I like the convenience of not having to worry about an external flash. The really awesome thing is that if I ever do need a more powerful flash, the camera has a hot-shoe so that I can attach another flash.
The only thing that I thought wasn't quite excellent was the lens that came with my Elan II. It was a 28-80 lens and it just doesn't focus in that close. It's good for portraits and snap shots if the subject is pretty close in, but that's about it. It is a good lens for what it does, but I wanted one that could zoom in a lot closer, so I went out and bought a 75-300 lens. Between the two lenses I have a lot of versatility in my photography.
Overall, I think the Elan II is a great investment for the novice to the mid-level photographer. It has great automatic features that can be turned off for more versatility as your photography skill increases. Now that I have this camera I'm definitely going to be taking more photography classes so I can take advantage of the more advanced features this camera has to offer.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
Anglkris
|
|
Location: Los Alamitos, CA
Reviews written: 65
Trusted by: 22 members
About Me:
I'm a 32-year-old wife, mom to two children, and I'm a kindergarten teacher.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.