arhphotographic

The last few cameras have seen me living in the 1970’s. It was now time to exchange the flared trousers and ‘space hopper’ for the chinos and computer of the mid 1990’s. The Canon EOS 50E is a seriously feature laden camera. At the top of the list must be the eye control focus feature. When activated the camera will focus on one of the three focus point when you simply look at it. To get this feature to work required a simple calibration procedure. But did it work ? More about that later.

Other features, in no particular order:-

• Eye control depth of preview
• Auto, PIC, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Manual shooting modes
• Evaluative, Centre-Weighted and Partial metering modes
• DX and Manual choice of film speeds
• Multiple Exposure function
• Custom Functions – such as rewinding the film leaving the film leader out..

This camera can be used as a glorified point-and-shoot, however it has enough to keep the serious enthusiast happy.

I purchased mine for £12 knowing that the film camera back lock was broken, nothing a little insulating tape couldn’t take care of.

I used the eye control focus feature for about half of the roll of film and I found it did a really good job. Looking through the viewfinder at one of the three focus points I then half pressed the shutter to activate it. It sounds a little more complicated than it actually is. After a few tries I found it became quite easy to use. However there was a small delay between pushing the shutter down and the camera shutter firing, much like that encountered when using a compact digital camera. It was almost as if the camera was deciding whether or not it was worth taking the photo. Is there some hidden thought control, a precursor to the AI of today, going on under the hood?? With the subjects I was photographing this was not a problem, but it could have been if timing was more crucial. I wasn’t aware of the delay when the eye control was deactivated??

The photo above and below suffer from light leaks. The film door is quite springy, so much so that I had to adjust the tape a couple of times during the course of use.

Unlike the other sculpted plastic EOS cameras, the 50E is more box like, but still very comfortable in the hand.

This was a really enjoyable experience. Having used manual focusing cameras and then this EOS 50E really makes you appreciate the technological jump that took place during this time. The eye control feature offered a lot and worked well but as has happened many times with technology, it failed to catch on. Too much too soon? The camera is clearly a very capable performer with a lot to recommend it.

With so many features in the camera I couldn’t hope to try them all with one film. So I will just have to try it again 🙂