Some canon eos have function like eye-controlled focus,custom setting, as many as 45 point focus.... But are these really useful?

-- tokamak (sir-tokamak@hongkong.com), April 16, 2001

Answers

IMO: yes,yes,no.

But seriously, lots of very good pictures were taken with camera's that lacked these features. It is my experience that you will always use some of these possibilities, some will be used occasionally and some will never be used. They add to the versatility of modern camera's.

-- Jos van Eekelen (jos@compuserve.com), April 16, 2001.

I don't need 45 AF points, but I like eye control. Some people want lots of AF points but find eye control worthless. Others want both. If you use the high tech features they can be great for some things. At other times you want to turn them off. That's why they have custom function settings.

-- Jim Strutz (jimstrutz@juno.com), April 16, 2001.

Usefulness depends on your individual preferences and the type of photography you do. If you're the point and shoot type, you'll find most features confusing and will not use them. If you're a picky pro or serious amateur you'll be in hog heaven. For example, I set a custom function to leave the film leader our during rewind. Why? It saves me from retrieving the leader when developing or reloading rolls I've only partially used.

I personally love eye-controlled focus, but just as many people hate it. The great thing is you have a choice about these things. Who knows, you may find you can't live without it after trying.

-- Puppy Face (doggieface@aol.com), April 17, 2001.

I have this feature on an EOS5 and use it all the time - I find it great I would like to have ECF in the vertical plane which the eos5 does not have a miss it. however, a friend of mine also has an eos5 and hates it - so down to your own test, note you can always turn it off, I would not have thought this would be the only reason to by a canon....

-- wayne walker (ws_walker@hotmail.com), April 18, 2001.

I wish I could figure out how to program the eye focus function on my A2e so it would work consistently. It's me, my eyes, my glasses, and not the camera. Never seems to work exactly right. Almost too much hassle to bother with.

Anyone have an extra A2e manual...I think I lost mine at a wedding? I kept it in my case and can't find it anywhere. A manual helps in programming!

-- Todd Frederick (fredrick@hotcity.com), April 21, 2001.

For replacement manuals, you can contact Canon (800 OK CANON. They sometimes have originals, sometimes photocopies. I believe the price is reasonable (they quoted me $7 for an EOS 620 manual).

-- Todd Garlow (toddgarlow@hotmail.com), April 24, 2001.

Forget the manual -- buy a Magic Lantern Guidebook for the A2E/EOS 5. It's a much better source of information.

-- Jerry Hogan (jhog@ti.com), May 04, 2001.