A friend is getting married and wants a good camera w/ lens around $400+ for his wife as a gift. I was looking for an Elan II/IIe kit on the Cameraworld of oregon site and there are none. Have they vanished?

There is a big price gap between the Rebel 2000 and the Elan 7/7e body. The elan II would have been perfect for her! Price IS a factor in marketing and there is now a big gap between cheap and pushing expensive. Are Elan II units still available new or not?

-- Todd Frederick (fredrick@hotcity.com), March 17, 2001

Answers

They are, at least over here in Europe. But you have to hurry to get one.

-- Oliver Schrinner (piraya@hispavista.com), March 17, 2001.

buy a 1n prices are coming way down. Better yet 1V have both GREAT!

-- Rich Dattilo (fire@nls.net), March 17, 2001.

Adorama is still selling the Elan IIe body for $389, but no II's. That's about $90 less than their price for the 7e.

-- Jim Strutz (jimstrutz@juno.com), March 17, 2001.

Why the surprise? The Elan II/IIe were discontinued in favor of the 7/7e last fall. Some stores may have some left in stock but not for much longer.

-- Peter Foiles (lightcatcher54@hotmail.com), March 17, 2001.

I guess my questions wasn't clear. There is no "surprise" except that there is a huge price gap between the Rebel 2000 and the Elan 7...and a market hole in that price/quality range. The 7 is still a bit high but will probably drop. I am not buying it for myself. For me I would buy the 7, and may do so later this year. A friend asked about a good quality camera in the $400 to $500 range with lens for his wife who is not a photographer...the Elan II units fit that bill. The 7/7e is a bit overkill for her, and the 2000 is to flimsy. I guess I will have to check out Nikon offerings in that price range, or direct him to eBay for a used unit. Thank you for your responses.

-- Todd Frederick (fredrick@hotcity.com), March 17, 2001.

Actually Ebay's got some new ones up for auction as well. One sold today for $304. That's less than used ones were a few months ago.

-- Jim Strutz (jimstrutz@juno.com), March 18, 2001.

Adorama also has the Elan 7 $60 cheaper than CameraWorld does (only $420). With a 50mm lens you'll spend about $500, but it's better than moving to the dark side. ;) I like it much more than the Elan II since you have a DOF preview button, the focus point 'joystick', and 4fps.

-- Steven Fisher (srf@srf.com), March 18, 2001.

Todd,

I was just looking at Elan 7 prices at www.bhphotovideo.com and with the Canon EF28-90 lens, the combo retails for $539.

Body only was $429

Yuri

-- Yuri Huta (yhuta@essential.org), March 20, 2001.