There are couple comments in Photo.net Q&A that mentioned about the new Canon Elan 7. Has anyone heard/read anything about it?

-- Thang Nguyen (nguyentnt@hotmail.com), August 03, 2000

Answers

I'll second what Chuck said. Elan 7 makes no sense at all. EOS 7 might make sense, if it is in between the capabilities of the A2 (EOS 5), and the Elan II (EOS 50). I wouldn't put a lot of faith in a report that the new Outdoor Photographer will have a preview of it in next month's issue until it hits newstands and I see it myself though. Canon Malaysia seems to break news sooner than any other Canon site, and there was no mention of it there a couple of days ago.

-- Brad Hutcheson (bhutcheson@iname.com), August 04, 2000.

Why would it be called Elan 7? What happened to Elan 3-6? The sucessor to the current Elan Might be called EOS 7, at least in Europe, but probably not Elan 7.

-- Chuck (chaohui@msn.com), August 03, 2000.

Well, I saw an ad for it in a French-language magazine on the newsstand yesterday. It >IS< the Elan 7 and 7E, and it claims 7 focus points and 35 zone metering, with up to 4 fps. It looks like it is all black, and it has a built-in popup flash. Now I'd like to know more!

-- Jeremy Stein (jstein@thuntek.net), August 06, 2000.

Dumb theory: This year's theme is V, from the 1v. Hence, Elan II + V is Elan VII, or Elan 7. Neat huh.

-- Harvey Yau (hayau@ic.sunysb.edu), August 06, 2000.

The Sept 2000 Outdoor Photographer "In Focus" column has a photo and very short piece on page 16. No info other than what is mentioned above: 7 focus points, 35 zone metering, 4 fps Whisper Drive, versions with and without eye control. Price TBD. The Canon USA web site has no info yet.

-- Kurt Olender (olender@ezlink.com), August 06, 2000.

Four frames a second! My word, why would anybody buy an EOS-3, just so they could turn off the 45 AF points to actually autofocus? Of course the big question is whether Canon can return to the glory days of EOS5/A2 ergonomics, or merely provide a handling hodgepodge like the current Elan or Rebel. Anyhow, the rumor is enough to make me stop buying Minolta accessories until I get an Elan 7 in my hands.

-- Bill Tuthill (ca_creekin@yahoo.com), August 06, 2000.

a france has the info#: http://eosseries.ifrance.com/eosseries/lenscanon/news.htm

The foreign press announces a new EOS, the Dash 7/7E The Elan denomination is the name the in addition to-Atlantic for the EOS 50. This new EOS will include/understand a ??valuative measurement on 35 zones, 7 collimators AF, as well as a ultrasilencieux engine of 4 images per seconds. The look of this new case resembles much that of the EOS D30! This black case, will include/understand (if my information is exact) a dioptric corrector in more of piloting by the eye. The kit of this case will include/understand a zoom 28-90mm f/4-5,6.

-- beijing (yechen@fm365.com), August 07, 2000.

Um, that's what I come up with when I run the URL through the Altavista translator, myself. Should have taken French lessons, I guess. ;-)

-- Matt Kromer (mscommerce@hotmail.com), August 07, 2000.

OK ... here's the translation, cleaned up a bit (just in case anyone found the above difficult to read). Machine translation still doesn't do a great job, and particularly when faced with technical terms (or with words borrowed from another language - it took the word "Elan" literally and translated it :-)

The foreign press announces a new EOS, the Elan 7/7E. The Elan denomination is the trans-Atlantic name for the EOS 50. This new EOS will include 35-zone evaluative metering, 7 autofocus sensors, as well as a ultrasilent 4 fps motor. The look of this new body greatly resembles that of the EOS D30! This black body will include (if my information is exact) a dioptric corrector as well as eye controlled focusing. The kit for this body will include a 28-90mm f/4-5.6 zoom.

-- Steve Dunn (steved@ussinc.com), August 07, 2000.

Bill wrote: "My word, why would anybody buy an EOS-3, just so they could turn off the 45 AF points to actually autofocus?"

I would. I did! Reasons: true DOF switch, fully functional with 550ex flash, better AF all around than most EOS bodies, fully weather- proof, etc..etc...etc.

The EOS-3 is a pro body. The Elan 7 ain't. Say 'adios' to the A2.

-- Jim Hicks (jhicks992@aol.com), August 09, 2000.