I recently took an Elan 7E with me to Hawaii and tested it out. Here is what I discovered: 1) It is VERY quiet! In fact, so quiet I encountered a brand new problem! Sometimes I would ask a passer-by to shoot me in a photo. Often times the passer-by was a total ignoramus about taking a photo and I would have to tell him where to press down to take the shot. And if no flash was used, I would have no clue he took the photo unless I heard the camera shutter. Well, now I simply cannot hear the camera shutter at all (even standing a few feet away, especially outdoors) and so I have no clue anymore if the ignorant passer-by took the photo! If I ask "Did you take the photo?" the basser-by himself does not know what to answer! I never had this problem before! 2) Film rewind is unbelievably quiet. 3) Eye-control is fast and accurate 4) NIGHT PIC mode is SUBERB!! Sometimes I ask a passer-by to shoot me in night time setting. Provided it is not too dark, and I got fast speed film and can squeeze by without tripod, NIGHT PIC mode has gotten me SUPERB slow-sync photos. I was really impressed. I saw NIGHT PIC mode applies minus 1.5EV compensation on ambient light automatically I had ELAN IIE with me and compared both camera), and I don't know if it does something special with the flash light. But, I always got GREAT slow sync shots -- better for some reason than if I used same settings on ELan IIE in Aperature mode (maybe flash metering is much better?) 5) Having lugged ELAN IIE areound a lot, I could feel (and appreciated) the lighter weight of Elan 7E. 6) I throw my camera in the bag, toss them all around, etc, and the Elan 7E entire plastic(?) body is more durable than the Elan IIE (ther aluminum part of Elan IIE gets dented, scratched, etc.) 7) Changing metering mode required looking in LCD panel which is more awkward and more time consuming than Elan IIE 8) Top portion of LCD panel hard to read due to shadow falling on it from LCD casing in body. 9) Elan 7E has (much? -- well, too much for me) tougher time focusing in low light. 10) If you are in a tight spot, about to trip on some stairs in total darkness and break a leg, Elan 7E can save your life! If you have speedlite attached, use Model flash to give you light to see your way through the danger. If you do not have speedlite, use camera's pop-up flash as it tries to focus on any object, and you will have the light you need to get by safely. I actually had to resort to this and it really worked. Like having an emergency flashlight with you.

-- Alexander Mihajlov (alex@spss.com), November 30, 2000

Answers

Thanks for your great analysis Alexander. I'm considering buying either a Rebel 2000 or an Elan 7. I've looked at the 7E, but its just to far out of my price range. I was wondering, do you think it would be a huge disadvantage if you didn't have the ECF? And another question for you, what lense(s) did you use? Thanks again!

-- Adam Baines (SaxmanUW@hotmail.com), December 02, 2000.

I have the Elan 7E with eye control. I wear glasses and so the eye control doesn't always work so well. I still love the camera and it has given me some great pictures.

I think the eye control is nice but not necessary.

Cllif O'Bryan

-- (clifford@obryan.net), March 01, 2001.

I absolutely agree. The 7E is WONDERFUL. Being a wearer of glasses, I can say the ECF is very accurate. Seems that if you keep building on the number of calibrations, doing it under a variety of different lighting situations, the eye-control is more and more accurate. There does not seem to be a maximum number of calibrations you can do under one profile, so don't ever stop adding them if you think it might help. I just need to stop playing with it unloaded so I can shoot more rolls of film per battery set! Being one that's not owned an auto-focus camera since I bought a Nikon N2020 12 years ago (sorry!) this technology is incredible.

-- Greg Chappell (greg.chappell@bankofamerica.com), March 05, 2001.

I rescently got the Elan 7e and I have the 28-135mm USM IS Lens. Great combo. I love the ECF with the Image Stabilizer and the camera set to continuous focus with the partial metering and the selected focus point determining the metering zone. This setting takes amazing pictures. Great contrast and color. One other suggestion, I don't really like the built in flash. I'm using the 550EX and I'm thinking of getting a 420EX to be used as a slave. Also I would recommed the vertical grip (BP-300). It makes taking vertical pictures a breeze and allows for use of AA batteries :) (If you don't use the built in flash, they can last a while). Good luck all of you and enjoy. Hopefully one day I'll have enough time and post my pictures on the web :) ttyl,

-- Tom Wolniewicz (tomw@compuexcel.com), April 09, 2001.

I have the 7E QD, since January this year. I too wear eyeglasses and that I could "take it or leave it" with regards to the ECF. However I read in few places on the web that many people have more success with ECF with botheyes open so I started trying this myself. Well its been a few weeks and I can honestly say that the ECF is absolutely superb. I also do extra calibrations( as suggested by someone in this forum ) under varied conditions, and I believe the combination of the two have enhanced my experience. I certainly feel the ECF was worth the few extra bucks.

-- Dean Peckford (dpeckford@nf.sympatico.ca), June 22, 2001.