From: will@kansas.westford.ccur.com (Will A.)
Subject: Nikon 6006 vs Cannon Elan; Questions on the Elan
Reply-To: will@kansas.westford.ccur.com (Will A.)
Organization: Concurrent Computer Corp. Westford MA.
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 14:30:50 GMT

I posted awhile back asking for some information on Maxxum
lenses.  I had such luck with you kind people that I've decided
once again to make use of your collective wisdom.  In other
words, HELP!  ;-)

I've decided to upgrade from my current camera, a Minolta 5000.
I looked at the Cannon Elan, the Nikon 6006, and the Pentax
PZ-10.  I didn't really like the PZ-10, so that one bit the dust
kind of early.  The decision between the Elan and the 6006 was a
lot more difficult.

The Nikon had the better optics, a more solid (read heavy) feel
to the body, and a plethora of third party lenses.  ( I had
tried and liked a 75-300 Tokina lens that is available for the
Nikon but not the Cannon)  I didn't like the weight of the Nikon
and it didn't seem as featureful as the Cannon.

The Elan was nice and light.  I liked how quite it was.  I 
liked how quickly and how quietly it focused.  I really liked the
amount of control I had over the camera.  I also liked the
'program-shift' feature that let you increase/decrease the f-stop
and shutter speed at the same time and still maintain the correct
exposure.  I don't however like the twist zoom lenses.  I much
prefer the push/pull lenses.   If lens must be the twist types, I
would prefer that a) the lenses are powered like the PZ-10
lenses, or b) that you don't have to go through contortions to
zoom the entire length of the lens.  I also don't like the fact that
there aren't very many third party lens makers for the Cannon
cameras.

Eventually, I ended up with the Elan and the Cannon 75-300 lens.
Now, the questions.

  1) The lens has quite a bit of slippage.  If I point the camera
at the ground, the lens 'walks' quite a bit.  It also makes it
very difficult to carry the camera in the lens down position.  Is
this common of the Cannon lenses?  Or did I just get a bad lens.
Does the same thing happen with the Nikon lenses?

  2) I could live/hate the above problem, but I've also noted
that sometimes the dial just behind the shutter release button on
the top of the camera, doesn't respond to being turned.
Frequently, I try to 'shift' the camera's exposure and end up
fighting with that stupid dial.  I thought I was doing something
wrong, but even in CF mode, sometimes the dial just doesn't seem
to respond.  Is this a real problem with the Elan?  Have other
people had this problem?

I've started thinking about returning the Elan and going with the
Nikon instead.

I would appreciate any info, answers, horror stories, love
stories or anything else people could tell me about these
cameras!!  THANKS.

Will.

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	     ___________     William Athanasiou, Software Engineer
	    /  ________/__   ...!{harvard,decvax,uunet}!masscomp!will
	   /__/_______/  /   will@westford.ccur.com
  Concurrent /__________/    Phone:  (508) 392-2647
Computer Corporation	     FAX: Fax? We don't need no stinkin Faxes!
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