From: panos@burton.cs.colorado.edu (Panos Tsirigotis)
Subject: Re: Elan "better" than 10s?
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Date: Sun, 3 Jan 1993 22:46:44 GMT

In article <C09HMu.JJJ.2@cs.cmu.edu> rane+@CS.CMU.EDU (Aaron Hughes) writes:
>You may remember me - I asked about the 8008s vs the 10s a while
>ago - well, I've ruled out the 8008s as being too expensive
>at the moment and narrowed it to the Elan or the 10s. From what I
>understand, here are the differences between the 10s and Elan:
>
>Elan                      10s
>----                      ---
>1 focus point             3 selectable focus points
>7 custom functions        14 custom functions
>5 bar code programs       1 bar code program
>sophisticated flash       simple built in flash
>  red eye reduction         (i don't know what features it has)
>  2nd curtain sync
>  auto-zoom
>  balance flash/ambient 
>                          built in intervalometer
>                          faster film advance
>                          sturdier construction
>Quick Control Dial
>3 meter selections        2 meter selections
>
>
>Has anyone out there already made this choice? What made you 
>go one way or the other?  From what I understand, the 430 ez
>has the same functions as the Elans builtin flash, with more
>power behind it (and the abilty to bounce/swivel). Is there 
>anything I'm missing? Thanks.
>                            

I recently made this choice in favor of the Elan. This was my 2nd
EOS camera, the 1st one being the 630 and this did affect my decision.
Here is how I rated the features you mention above:

1) 3 vs. 1 focus point: important
	The reason I find this important is because the 10s evaluates
	flash exposure according to the sensor used for focusing.
2) sophisticated builtin flash: don't care
	Given the power consumption of the builtin flash I 'll try to use 
	it as little as possible. Besides, I already have the 430EZ.
3) bar code programs: don't care
	I would never spend the money to get the bar code reader plus
	the "booklets" with the bar codes. For that money, a better
	investment would be a book on how to determine proper exposure.
4) faster (10s) vs. quieter (Elan) motor drive: not very important
	There have been extremely few occasions where I needed the
	fast motor drive of the 630 (just as fast as the 10s).
	The Elan has a "quiet" motor drive which can be considered
	an advantage.
5) more custom functions in the 10s: not very important
	The most useful one missing is for leaving the film leader out
	but there are tools for doing that and by having 2 camera bodies
	I shouldn't have to change films at midroll anyway.
6) builtin intervalometer in the 10s: not very important
	Might be useful to some, but I can live without it.
7) sturdier construction (of the 10s):
	Hard to tell if that is really so. I haven't yet heard of
	a story of one of these camera models failing because of
	construction (any other Elan/10s owners care to comment ?)
8) Elan has center-weighted metering (in all modes): not very important
	I may change my mind on this but so far I haven't felt limited
	using evaluative+partial which are the only ones available on 
	the 630.
9) Quick Control Dial: important
	Makes the camera easier to use.


Here are a few factors that you don't mention:

1) Can't use infra-red film with Elan
	(I have never used any anyway and if I need to, I can use it 
	in the 630).
3) Automatic exposure bracketing: +/-2 (Elan) vs. +/-5 (10s)
	I have never used more than 2 on the 630 (which goes up to
	+/-5) so the Elan's AEB should do fine.
4) Exposure compensation: +/-2 (Elan) vs. +/-5 (10s)
	Same as AEB (and one can always use change ISO of the film
	for 1/3-stop exposure compensation)
5) Partial metering: 6.5% (Elan) vs. 8.5% (10s)
	Since I shoot slide film a lot, the smaller this number the better.
6) Price
	the Elan is cheaper

Finally, here are some features that are missing from both cameras:

1) LCD illumination
	Every time I have done any shooting during night time I have
	used this on the 630. I can't understand why Canon did not
	include it in any of these models (not even in the new A2).
	It makes me wonder who are the people that Canon is polling
	to determine what are the useful features in a camera model.
2) Use of the analog exposure scale in manual mode
	I am really perplexed about this one. Although both the 10s
	and the Elan have an analog exposure scale, they don't use
	it in manual mode. Instead they use '+','-' to indicate
	how to adjust exposure (when both '+' and '-' light up
	you have reached the correct exposure). The only models
	that do use the exposure scale in manual mode are the EOS-1
	and the Rebel (but not the Rebel II). And the use of the QCD
	coupled with the exposure scale make manual mode very easy
	to use plus you can tell by how much you are under/over exposing
	if you need to do this.
	BTW, the A2 also uses the +,- method (if it used the exposure
	scale in manual mode I would have bought it despite the price
	difference from the Elan).

Panos

-- 
Panos Tsirigotis, CS grad                        
Pmail: Computer Science Dept., U. of Colorado @ Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0430
Email: panos@cs.colorado.edu