Have an Elan 7e and want the 20D

I thought I wanted to try digital so I bought a Camedia 7 hundred something and should have known better! After I unsuccessfully developed the pictures, I took the camera back. I should have stuck with Canon! It's spoiled me for anything else!

I'm strictly amateur and can't even remember all the equipment I have.........it's in the car at the moment! I do know I have the 4 hundred something speedlight, a few signa zoom lenses and a 75-300 canon zoom, a teleconverter and a 500mm mirror (that was also a mistake!).

The camedia taught me one valuable lesson.........I want to go digital. I have my heart set on the 20D and perhaps upgrading to some decent lenses later. I shoot mostly softball league shots and thought the film/developing costs would be less. Ebay has good prices right now!

My point is.........I don't want to make this purchase in haste. I REALLY want this camera and feel it will be comparable to my Elan 7e in the quality of pics it takes........am I right? I don't want to outgrow the digital camera I decide to buy and plan to keep it for about five years or so. Is this possible with the 20d?

What are the disadvantages to owning the 20D? I WILL be able to shoot fast action sports with it, won't I? It appears so from the specs I glanced at! How does it compare with the Elan 7e?

Any opinions will be appreciated and sorry this post is sooooooooo long!

Thanks,
Cathy

Hi CathyWelcome to the forums.
I'm from the UK, so I'm not sure about US camera names, but if your Elan 7e is a consumer film SLR, then the 20D will be every bit as good.
If you've got the PC already, then DSLRs' are great as you can shoot away to your heart's content and not worry about processing costs.
As far as longevity is concerned, it depends on how you look after it! If shown TLC then it should be fine, although you may need the sensor cleaned from time to time.
Of course, in five years who knows, you may want the latest and greatest available (EOS 80D??)
As far as shooting fast action is concerned, it will depend on your lenses to a great extent. The fastest speed is 1/8000th sec, which again is dependent on maximum lens aperture and light conditions.

If you can afford it and its what you really want - go for it.
Good luck

Greetings,
I just bought the 350D after months of lusting over the 20D, which the latter is beyond my wallet. I still have the 30, or Elan 7E, as it is known to you. I love every single thing about this film camera but after trying digicam, I'm hooked to digital camera. After 2 weeks, apart from handling and the lack of rear command dial, I think the 350D is a great tool. Its 3.5 fps is same as the 30 or 7e. May be its lack of eye control focusing point, if you like that feature, is a step back ward to you.

If your purse allows you, 20D is a very capable tool.

Well, the Camedias are actually very competent cameras. I've recently had published an article on underwater photography, with photos taken exclusively with an Olympus C3000 ancient 3mp camera. In fact, Oly's advanced amateur digicams actually offer better value for money than the equivalent Canon prosumer digicams.

Still, since you are asking about the 7E and the 20D: I have both the cameras. From a usage point of view, DSLRs have arrived, especially this latest generation. The picture quality is equivalent to film, with all the additional workflow advantages of digital. The AF is fast, the ergonomics of the camera are pretty much identical to the 7E, and all the custom functions and similar options are also there.

Of course, in 5 years, DSLRs will have improved significantly as well, and you may be tempted to upgrade if you compare your 20D to the latest models around then. If you are able to resist that, then the 20D should continue to serve you just as faithfully as it did from day 1.

Cheers,
Vandit

I have an Olympus Camedia and a 300D. I also recently tested the 20D for a couple of weeks. I wrote an article on it, maybe it'll help you decide.

http://www.pbase.com/c​managinged/sevilla

I believe that your 7e has eye controlled autofocus. The 20D does not have that. Other than that the 20D does everything as well or better than the 7e.

I have eye control autofocus on my EOS 3. I played around getting it set up when I first got the camera, then never used it again. If it is important for you, you will have to wait for another generation of cameras. None of the Canon DSLRs have it yet. It is probably part of Canon's plan for incremental introduction of features to keep people upgrading their cameras.

Scott

Cathy- welcome.

I too have both the Elan 7 (non eye control version) and the 20D. Both are similar in features. The 20D (in my opinion) has slightly faster focusing and low light focusing (it also has 9 AF points instead of 7). It also has a top frame rate of 5/second versus the Elan's 4/second. It also has the "joystick" knob for changing focus points. Although I have trouble activating the corner AF points from time to time on the 20D using the joystick now, it is much better than using the arrows on the camera back (similar to the new XT, I think). Maybe the eye control does a good job of this for you - I sometimes wonder if I should have gotten the 7E instead.

All in all, I think if the 7E is a good camera for you, the 20D will be as well. I agree with ScottE when he says that the 20D does everything as well as or better than the 7E. As far as camera controls, I found the 20D very similar to the 7, so you would have no problem making the conversion (except for some specific digital functions which, for me, were similar enough from my G2).

Cyclone

I also upgraded from the 7e to the 20D. While I do not regret the move, I do miss two features of the 7e; the eye-controlled focus and the full-frame sensor (film in that case ). Since none of the digital SLR cameras have eye-controlled focus (yet?) and the only one with a full frame sensor is about $8000US (YIKES!), this this is a good option. I truly did not anticipate how much I would miss those features until I got the camera. It is always focusing in the wrong place (not where I am looking ) so I ususally set it to the center focus point. Maybe I'll get the hang of it someday). The smaller sensor was also disappointing because I really enjoyed the WIDE angles of my 24-70mm lens. It would take a 15mm lens on the 20D to match the image I can get on film with the 24mm. Now instead of dreaming of getting a new long lens, I find that I would prefer a wider lens, which is why I got the 24-70mm a few yeas ago. Oh well.

It's not all bad though. I enjoy the five frames per second, the ability to change ISO anytime I want, and the ability to see if I got the shot right away. I find that I will sometimes use the contiuous shooting mode and take several pictures of my kids as they are doing something and then just choose the best one and delete the rest. The battery life is fantastic and the startup time and shooting time are great. The fact that it takes pictures exactly when I push the button is very important. Too often, with the point-and-shoot digicams we have owned, I would miss the shot because of the lag time between the time I push the button and the time it decided it is ready to take a picture (unacceptable). Not so with the 20D, which is why I finally decided it was time to move to digital.

All in all I am glad I "upgraded". Maybe someday Canon will come out with a DSLR that has all of the features I want at a price I can afford. Until then the 20D is the best option to replace the ablilties of the 7e, in my opinion, of course.

-Jeff

Once you get the 20D you'll wonder why you are keeping the 7e, if you do.

I bought a 10D in July '03 and decided I wanted to shoot some film again. I bought a 7ne last May and really like it but it is no replacement for my 10D. I shoot 99 to 1 with my 10D and I like the prints I get from the 10D much better. Pretty much use the 7ne for slide, B&W and special films and very little color print film.

I also like the eye control on the 7ne but found it confusing when I'd go from the 7ne to the 10D so i haven't used the eye control in a long time (suppose I should give it a try again)

My 10D is going on 2 years and I see no need for me to upgrade and probably won't for a few more years (unless I hit the lottery). I'm just amature but digital really lights a fire for photography, so be prepared to take it a lot more serious (as in you'll want to shoot and shoot and shoot some more). Greatest thing about digital, it cost nothing more than your time to improve your skill. I notice even my slides are so much better since I've been using digital than they were before.

BTW ... one of the best things I like about the 7ne is a wide angle lens IS a wide angle lens. I don't mind the 1.6 crop factor of the 10D but it sure is nice being able to get a wide angle with the 7ne