canon eos 3 or eos 30

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i am about to by my second camera, i have read about the eos 3 and have liked what i have read. someone was going to purchase the eos 3 for me in the states as its cheaper than in africa, when they tried they were told to go for the eos30 as it has taken over from the eos3. i need to know is this true, and what are the benifits and upgrades of the eos30 to the eos3.

-- les cardillo (headsfst@africaonline.co.ke), May 04, 2002

Answers

The EOS 3 is a very good, professional grade camera, the EOS 30 is a very good consumer grade camera.

The only advantage of the EOS 30 over the EOS 3 is that it is cheaper, lighter, and quieter.

Check here for comparative feature list: http://www.photozone.de/

-- kenneth katz (socks@bestweb.net), May 04, 2002.


The EOS 30 has not taken over for for the EOS 3. The current line- up for Canon EOS is the EOS 1V at the top, followed by EOS 3, EOS 30 and EOS 300, in that order. The Canon EOS 3 and EOS 30 fill two different niches. The EOS 3 is a pro-level camera with weather sealing, very fast and sensitive autofocus, Canon's most advanced specifications, and ruggedness to withstand professional use. The EOS 30 is a consumer-level camera but has the benefit of being among the quietest autofocus cameras on the market, is very compact, and perfectly adequate for most non-professional applications.

Get the EOS 3 if you want a very high level of performance and don't mind slightly more noise (mirror clack and film advance on the EOS 3 are designed for speed rather than quietness). Get the EOS 30 if you don't need professional-level specifications, but appreciate a well-equipped, quiet, compact and sufficiently durable camera for general, everyday use.

-- Peter Phan (pphan01@hotmail.com), May 05, 2002.


hi guys,

i had the same question a while back, screwed up my courage, bought a 3, fell in love with it, realised that there's a big difference btw pro and consumer gear, and that i will never regret my purchase.

the 30 can probably do pretty much everything an amateur will ever need. it has 2 'problems' - a 92% finder and no spot-metering, both of which are pretty sad if you shot with slides. the other stats with shutter speeds, AF performance etc are all very nice, but for me the killer was simply the experience of photography with the 3. maybe that is why people still buy leicas even though they are so technologically behind the times - they're simply beautiful machines and a joy to use.

i mean. lets face it. most of us don't need a camera that can take 7 razor-sharp shots of a charging elephant in a single second. we get so into the tech stuff that we forget what our real needs are. my 3 has improved my enjoyment of photography as much as anything else - taking pictures is now a hell of a lot more fun.

what you'll notice if you can pick up the 3 and play with it (if you know someone who has one, shoot some film with it) is that its just so unbelievably nice to use the darn thing. its like comparing a good japanese car like a honda with a mercedes - both will get you where you wanna go, but one of them does it a lot nicer (i doubt reliability is an issue here as even the consumer grade gear is reliable as hell).

bottom line: the 3 makes consumer grade gear like the 30 and the 300 look like toys - of course they're not - but the 30 is a camera to use, the 3 is possibly a camera to love. if you've got the cash i say go for it.

-- carl weller (carlweller@yahoo.com), May 05, 2002.


I agree with Carl! EOS 3 is a camera that you love to use. Even I had a similar situation when I wanted to drop my 300 and get a new one. I went for EOS 3 just for spot metering. You may ask just for Spot means I could have gone for EOS 5. I could, but it has old A-TTL metering for flash where as EOS3 has E-TTL which is compatible with almost all latest Canon flash units. Well that was the second reason. Then as he said when I had my first look at 30,5 and 3 at B&H, I felt all others like toys in front for 3. That was the next reason and it goes..... Well if you consider photography seriously and like it more then go for 3 and I am pretty sure that you will not regret in your investment.

All the best!

-- John (eosquestions@yahoo.com), May 06, 2002.


This year I decided to get a second camera. I "gave" my wife our Rebel G and started looking for another camera. I was pretty sure that I was going to buy an EOS 5 but I wanted to look at the Elan 7E before making my decision. While I was at the camera shop, I saw an EOS 3 and asked the salesperson if I could fingerprint it. I had never held a Pro camera until that point. I fell in love with it instantly. The ergonomics are incredible. I was somewhat familiar with its features as I had read all the literature on all of Canon's products.

Well, I didn't get a camera that day. I went home and rounded up another $500 and bought the EOS 3. I have never regretted it. I know that I should have bought the lower priced camera and spent the extra money on glass, but I have been completely satisfied with my choice.

john

-- john (eos_shooter@yahoo.com), June 02, 2002.



The EOS 30 has the "joystick" on the back for selecting focus points, which I think is great and the EOS 3 lacks. With that, the size, and the lack of noise I don't know that I would buy an EOS 3 instead.

The EOS 30 also has a built in flash.

-- Steven Fisher (steven_fisher@hotmail.com), June 04, 2002.


Do you want to do low-light photography? The EOS 30 is really poor in that regard. Moving to the EOS 3 is a bit of a leap, money-wise, to get better low-light photography, though. Since you're also paying for the more rugged case, etc.

-- NK Guy (tela@tela.bc.ca), June 04, 2002.

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