I'm considering switching to Canon from Pentax and I'm a little confused. The EOS 5 is the mature, long and "trusted" camera and has an incredible number of users out there which means happy users and more help and advice - BUT I don't want help and advice. I also don't want the control knob popping off after a few weeks and having to pay for repairs. However It also looks more professional, feels more sturdy and handles(as i've heard) better than the EOS 30 as it is larger and has a nice and easy to hold large grip. On the other hand the EOS 30 is 8 YEARS YOUNGER which means eight more years advanced in technology. It also has the added durability of having a metal exterior and looks a lot newer. But it feels and handles(as i've heard) not as well as the EOS 5. The tough decisions are about the smaller things - like 4fps vs 5fps, larger viewfinder (94%) on the EOS 5, PC socket on the EOS 5 etc.

Money is not an object in my dilemma as they only have a difference of £30 between them.

So giving all that, please help me decide!

-- David Du (david_tm_du@yahoo.com), November 29, 2000

Answers

So, do you want the latest in technology in a $500 camera or do you want classic design? (It's hard to imagine the 5 considered classic already.)

I doubt the metal top on the 30 adds any durability, just the feel of it. The all polycabonate bodies have proven themselves very durable. Many camera repair shops have come out with what they consider permanent fixes for the Command Dial problems but it will add to the cost of ownership if yours does break. It's not like they all do though.

To me it comes down to the preference for a spot meter or a better flash system. I don't need the spot meter.

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), November 29, 2000.

If you're considering getting a vertical grip for the camera, that may sway your decision. The VG-10 has a shutter release, control dial, and two other buttons, for exposure lock and focus point selection. This duplicates the controls on the body, and is essential for me since I use CF4 most of the time (focus on the AE lock button). I haven't used an EOS 30 with grip myself, but from what I've gleaned from other lists, the available grip(s) may not have all these functions.

-- Geoff Doane (geoff_doane@cbc.ca), December 01, 2000.

The grip for the EOS 30 (BP-300) has a shutter button and the AE Lock button, so using CF#4 works fine with it. But it doesn't have the control dial or the focus select button. Focus select is done with the buttons inside the Quick Control Dial so that's not very important with the EOS 30. It would be nicer to have the extra dial on the grip though. The 5/A2's grip (BP-50) does have the edge here.

-- Jim Strutz (jimstrutz@juno.com), December 01, 2000.

First, my congrats. The Canon choice is the best choice. I used to have many doubts what system to choose. I studied, practiced and played a lot about all cameras and camera systems for ca. 5 years. After all this time I am strongly convinced there are 3 main (best) AF systems: Canon, Nikon, Minolta - concidering body functions, lens quality, accessories abilyties. And the best of them in my opinion is Canon. But I guess You noticed the same. The truth is that EOS 5 is replaced by the EOS 3 and EOS 50 is replaced by the EOS 30. Although the EOS 3 is not the top camera many pros choosed it. Why? Because of newest tech. comparing to EOS 1N. And the lack of some functions was not strong enough argument to forget about advantages. So even if EOS 5 is one level higher camera, it is very old. EOS 30, as a lower level camera (theory) is the newest tech. EOS 30 lacks to the EOS 5: 4 fps (not 5 fps), no spot metering, no dial on BP-300, no PC socket, smaller viefinder, weaker build-in flash (12 guide nr vs. 13-17 or something on EOS 5). Now, advantages: metal but light and no flexi-nois body, very well designed and nice finished body, BP-300 alowing AA battery use!, 35 zone metering, next generation - perfect ETTL flash metering !!!, next generation AF system (faster then EOS 3 - at least in ECF mode), seven AF points!, best solution in focusing point selection on the camera back, new wireles remote, mirror lock up and all important functions, 18 custom functions, with EX 420, EX 550 flashes ability to use all functions including wireless flash, etc. My opinion is: if You NEED one of this couple features of EOS 5 that are not placed in EOS 30, save more money and buy EOS 3 (You can get it for about 800$), and my advise is NOT TO TAKE STEP BACK. Besides, i own EOS 3 - it is a great camera - but EOS 30 is really QUIET and with BP-300 very comfortable.

Picture is only a good time and aperture combination, and this depends on other combination: equipement posibilities/ fotographer posibilities.

Best regards Marek

-- Marek £. (ml_tk@pol.pl), December 13, 2000.

There are some other views on this..... I'm a long-time EOS user; I have a 650 (bought in 1988), I've had a 10, and I currently have a 3 which is now almost a year old. Frankly, I've found the 3 to be more complex, heavy and generally unwieldy than I want. I can't get the eye-control focus to work properly and I find the number of buttons, dials, etc, confusing. (Remember, I came to this camera with 12 years EOS experience already....) I wish I hadn't bought it, and that I'd stuck with my 10. I don't think I've had any better results from it than I would have had from the 10, or even the 650. I was seduced by 'latest-tech' marketing.

So have a look at older, 2nd-hand EOS cameras - the successor to the 10 (in the UK) was called the 100; that's always struck me as a good camera. Or the 50, of course. Either way they'll be a good intro to an excellent system, with limited expense.

Make sure you get some good lenses. For standard zooms the 28-105 is reckoned the best of the consumer bunch - avoid the 28-80s, they're poor. The primes as well, of course - the 50 1.8 is an optically good lens, even though it's plastic and doesn't have USM. Canon's 20-35 wide-angle zoom is also good. Of course there are also the L lenses, but if you can afford them you can afford to buy multiple bodies and try them all!

Hope this is helpful.

-- Tom Burke (tom@thbtotley.co.uk), January 01, 2001.

I respect what Tom Burke has to say. I also feel that the latest and greatest does not a photographer make. In fact, I've owned two EOS 10s bodies for the past ten years and have had very, very positive results with them. I put my money in "L" lenses(I own a few). (I tend to keep stuff a long time).

So, the time has come to upgrade one of my bodies. Why? I am taking a trip to Alaska in the fall and I was looking for a new camera body that I could take on that trip. I didn't want either 10s to crap out on a once-in-a lifetime trip.

I agonized for months over which body to purchase as a main body(leaving the 10s as a backup). I chose the EOS 5QD. Why? It's got everything I would ever need in a camera. I really mean:"ever".

The EOS 5/A2 is a proven camera with a long history of success. The command dial is something that can be taken care of. But the tiny new cameras; this is something that could never be fixed. They are just too darn small!!! No matter what the bells and whistles are. I'd go with an EOS 5...

-- J.R. Fernandez (westboundimages@hotmail.com), April 13, 2001.