This camera is extremely easy to use. The price is just right for those just starting to get serious and also offers fairly close to professional features. The ability to shoot in full manual when needed is a great asset, and then when you want to get some help, the camera is there to give exactly what you require. Everything from full auto to aperature or shutter priority. The body is super comfortable; not too heavy, not too light. Pair this with an L series lens and you are shooting some magnificant photos!

The Elan 7 is right on the borderline of greatness. Autofocus tends to hunt a lot in low light. A faster lens might help remedy that. Eye control would have been a nice feature to have. I hear it''s worth the extra $$.

The Elan 7 has been such a wonderful asset to me. My first Canon was an IX (APS), but when I bought this camera, I could never go back. Many have commented to me that I should have gone Nikon, but after working with the Elan 7 for almost a year, I do not regret it.

Customer Service

Have not required any repair.

Similar Products Used:

Canon IX, Ricoh Singlex TLS

Excellent Control Layout, Intuitive, perfect exposure, toss out the zone system book

None

I went with the non eye controlled model on this as I wanted complete control over my images. This camera is near perfect in image control etc...Love the ability to idiot proof things by going complete auto. But still have the ability to go full manual if need be. As mentioned before the cameras control layout is very well done with large dials, viewfinder inf and camera top inf all easily read. A very affordable top of the line model. Image quality is extremely good with 28mm 2.8 / 50mm 1.8 / 80-200mm no complaints.

Similar Products Used:

None

Most controls in good well-thought out locations. Pretty easy to figure out given I had never used an Autofocus high-featured camera before. Quiet fast lens. Bought 28-105 zoom. Focuses quickly and quietly. Can be used as a Point and Shoot by other family members. Exposes correctly for the most part. Light considering all the features. Fits my hand well with the optional battery pack. Takes great closeups/portraits with 28-105mm. 420ex works well with unit. Powerful. Also will be good wireless setup when I get 550ex. Eye control works great and I love it(I wear glasses). Would be cumbersome to choose focus spot manually. Easy to change lenses.

Tripod screw hole on battery pack is off-center. Made it difficult to mount on my Stroboframe. Exposure gets fooled occasionally in contrasty day shots. Not as good as literature suggests at dealing with high contrast situations. Seems to do better with "spot metering." Overexposes when shooting night shots of bands on field. Granted this is a tough exposure situation. Will be trying exposure compensation to counter overexposure. Will "red eye" a lot with built in flash. Will "redeye" some with 420ex on camera. This happens mostly on night band competition pictures. Will be trying on bracket soon. If you use portrait mode, it sets film advance mode to continuous. Beware you can shoot three shots accidentally in a second.

I have found this to be a good camera. It has all features I need except for flash exposure bracketing. Where it has failed me seems to be areas where I need to hone my photographic skills. Night photography with flash is tricky. It has made focusing easy for my tired old eyes. have not had an out of focus picture yet.

Customer Service

Tried email to website. No response.

Similar Products Used:

Used manual Olympus for years.

solid and light,
easy read and comprehensive displays,
many useable features,
good customization

big spot meter,(10%)

I just bought this camera after looking at everything on the market below $1000. I love it so far and think it has almost all the right features. I havn't gotten the six rolls of film I shot yet but am excited to see the results. The camera is so easy to use and the controls are changeable to fit your preference. Has two dials(customizable)and well situated buttons. AF is pretty good and with the 28-90 usm lens it came with I get quick silent focus, also it auto focuses to about 8" (specs say 1'-4"). Coming from my AE1 I think this camera will satisfy my every hope of moving into auto everything.

Customer Service

Just bought it, so none yet(I hope Canon is still as good as 20 years ago)

Similar Products Used:

Looked @ all new auto slr's. I have an AE1 program that I am replacing as my main camera

Great little camera! Quieter than my original Elan (which I thought was very quiet). No pronounced mirror slap. The seven focus points seem to work just as I wanted them to do. Good displays - plenty of information is provided. Good manual, too. Works well with the 420 Speedlight. Controls in all the right places - significant improvement over the Elan. Bright viewfinder.

A tad heavy (or so it seems).

Great choice - I use the 70-200mm L zoom so Canon will always be my camera choice.

Customer Service

Never had to have a Canon fixed (knock on wood!!)

Similar Products Used:

Elan (the original), A-1, AE-1.

A wonderful feeling body (with the BP-300 battery packattached) and the whole unit is well balanced. All controls are easily reached. The 35 zone metering system seems to expose well in all modes. The eye control is very fast and easy to calibrate. The addition of the DoF preview button instead of being eye controlled is a great enhancement from the 50e/Elan IIe and is well positioned. The 13 custom functions allow almost total control of the camera functions.

10% spot metering. Not a 100% viewfinder. Canon should really develop an exposure details recording system (i.e. focal length, aperture and shutter speed) on the film. We know it should be possible (APS) and Canon must know it too.

The perfect body for any amateur photographer (and some pros too). Great value for money and maintains Canon's lead in this market.

Customer Service

Canon UK pre sales efforts are very good but I bought from Germany to save money and any problems I have had in the past have been sorted quickly by New York Camera (www.ny-camera.com).

Similar Products Used:

I am an EOS system user, so I only looked at the the EOS 3, but this was out of my current budget.

Compact, Great features for price, can grow with it, Big Viewfinder, Canon System

No true Spot meter, focus point selection buttons not as intuitive as on N-80

This is one hell of a camera. I've used a friends N-80 and the Elan 7 just feels better in my hand. I particularly think that the Focusing is noticeably faster on the Elan 7 than the N-80. Overall, the Elan 7 just feels like an overall more friendly and complete package. Not to say the N-80 isn't a great camera. Its really all about preference.

Customer Service

Hopefully very good. :-)

Similar Products Used:

Nikon N-80, Kodak DC-280

Quiet, fast, good feel in my hand, useful features, metal lens mount, accessory grip has AE lock button and can use the smaller lighter batteries, flash comes up quietly instead of popping up, sturdy solid feel without being so heavy that I would want to leave it at home.

I wish I had known about the focus selector buttons being right where my nose is. I am left eye dominant and cameras are set up for right eyed people. I have to be careful not to push my nose into the buttons.
I am uncertain about how to adjust the diopter knob. If I adjust to see the readout and focus points clearly in the viewfinder, I lose some sharpness of the subject and vice versa.
Others mention the lack of spot metering but that is a feature I don't know how to use anyway.

I am mad at myself for replacing my Rebel G with a Rebel 2000 KNOWING that the Elan 7 was on its way. I resisted it because I DO like the light weight of the Rebels. I have long thin fingers and the Rebel 2000 is small for my hands. I actually have used the mirror lockup on my Elan IIE and the auto flash control seems to be better in the higher Canons.
After playing with the Elan 7 in several stores, I decided I had to have it. I sold off a Rebel 2000 to a friend at work (too cheap) and bought my Elan 7. I shot one roll with it so far but I was amazed at the quiet operation. I have to get used to having a heavier camera as my primary camera. I have noticed that a heavy lens is better balanced on a heavy body. I have had my Tamron 28-300 and my Canon 100-400 IS on the Rebel body and it does feel quite front heavy.
I really like how Canon maintains a consistency in their controls so anyone can throw on a lens, add batteries and go if they have an EOS camera already.
The camera is a great value and I recommend it highly.

Customer Service

never needed

Similar Products Used:

Rebel G, Rebel 2000, Elan IIE

- Fast and very quiet.
- Good ergononmics
- Lots of good features (but no spot meetering)
- Very good AF
- . . .

-The flash is not very useful, nor the red eyes reductor.
- User interface is not so easy.

I think it is a very good product: seems solid, has a good user manual, no bad surprise,...
I did not buy Elan 7 E because I do not do sport photo, and I do not think the difference of price is worth the gadget. I am very glad of the AF: fast and accurate. A very good introduction for casual user who wants to begin to become serious. Amongst other photos, I succeeded to do several multiple exposures.

Customer Service

I did not need it.

Similar Products Used:

Mamiya (middle format)
Minolta (point and shoot)

Layout of controls is great! Nice to have the depth of field preview button so handy. Camera feels solid, good build. Meter seems to be right on.

No I/R A/F assist, no big deal really. I wish the viewfinder was closer to 100%.

I love this camera! I have the Elan 2 and Rebel G, but this is the camera I enjoy using the most, although I like the others as well, esp. the Elan 2. I have big hands, so I bought the BP 300 Battery Pack. Nice! Takes nice sharp slides using the 28-105 zoom and 85 1.8 lens. Recommend highly for the serious amateur or perhaps pro as well.

Customer Service

None required.

Similar Products Used:

Canon Rebel G
Canon Elan 2
Canon FTbn
Canon AE-1