EOS 50/50e Elan II/IIe Operators Manual
prepared by Jim Strutz, updated by Niloy J. Mitra 9th August 2002
http://eosdoc.com/manuals.asp?q=ElanII

Contents

1 Introduction 2 Camera Top Controls 2.1 Shutter Button. 2.2 Main Dial. 2.3 Command Dial. 2.4 Metering Mode. 2.5 Self Timer / Remote Control 2.6 Focus Mode Switch. 2.7 Film Advance Switch. 2.8 Built In Flash. 2.9 Custom Functions. 22 22
3 Other Camera Controls & Features 3.1 Auto Exposure Lock Button. 3.2 Auto Focus Point Selection Button 3.3 Quick Control Dial. 3.4 Function Button. 3.5 Film Rewind Button. 3.6 Film Window. 3.7 Camera Back Release. 3.8 Lens Release Button. 3.9 Auto Focus Assist Light. 3.10 Remote Release Port. 3.11 Battery Compartment.
4 LCD and Viewnder Information 4.1 Liquid Crystal Display. 4.2 Viewnder Display. 5 Flash 5.1 Built In Flash. 5.2 Flash Metering. 5.3 E-TTL Features. 5.4 Flash Exposure Modes. 5.5 Auto Fill Flash Reduction 5.6 Other Flash Options.
6 Lenses 6.1 EF Mount Lenses. 6.2 Other Lenses.
7 Optional Equipment 7.1 Battery Packs / Grips. 7.2 Remotes. 7.3 Viewnder Options. 7.4 Off Camera Shoe Cord 2
8 Known Problems 8.1 Battery Compartment. 8.2 Lens Incompatability. 9 Specications

1 Introduction

Elan II/IIe (North American designation) is the same camera as the EOS 50/50e (international designation). The "e" in the name refers to the "eye control" option that is used to quickly select autofocus points as well as depth of eld (DOF) preview. EOS, by the way, stands for Electro Optical System. In writing this instruction manual for the Canon EOS 50/50e and Elan II/IIe, I have assumed that the user has a basic understanding of lens focal length, lens apertures, focusing, shutter speeds, exposure, lm type and speeds, as well as SLR cameras and photography in general. If you need instructions with these basics, you will have to nd them elsewhere. However, for the most part, this manual will often give you more advice and information than is available in the ofcial Elan II/IIe manual. The Elan II/IIe is a 35mm, Single Lens Reex (SLR) camera. This allows the operator to look through the same lens that is used for picture taking. It uses Canons exclusive Electro Focus (EF) bayonet lens mount. It has no mechanical linkages other than the mounting anges themselves. All communication between lens and camera body is done electronically. Several of the electrical connectors are used for power and grounding and others are used to pass information and data in a serial buss fashion. This has allowed Canon to bring several upgrades to their lenses and cameras while still allowing complete compatibility with their older EOS equipment. It is a very versatile system that is also being used in Canons newer digital SLRs.

2 Camera Top Controls

2.1 Shutter Button
The Elan II/IIe camera has several dials and buttons that you will need to familiarize yourself with. The most important button on the camera is the Shutter Button. Its in the typical position on the front, right corner of the camera near the top. Your right index nger usually falls right to it as you hold the camera. If you press the shutter button part way down until a slightly increased resistance is felt, the camera comes to life. The cameras usual response is that the exposure meter and auto focus (AF) are activated, but this half press is also used for several other functions as well. Pressing it all the way down usually res the shutter to expose the lm, depending on what mode the camera is in.

2.2 Main Dial

On the right side, just behind the shutter button is a vertical dial called the Main Dial or sometimes the Electronic Input Dial. Depending on the mode the camera is in, it is used to set the aperture or shutter speed and select different functions. This may sound confusing but actually its very logical in practice. If you need to make a value change, chances are the Main Dial does it.

Figure 1: Top View

2.3 Command Dial
On the top left of the camera you will nd the Command Dial. It selects the cameras exposure modes and other functions. The red L position is Lock, or the camera off position. To turn the dial from the L position, press in the metal tab on the front of the dial. The green square is full auto mode. The four small symbols to the right are the PIC (Programmed Image Control) modes; portrait, landscape, macro, and action. Basically they bias the shutter/ aperture combinations to favor longer exposures and smaller apertures for landscape and macro modes and the other way around for portrait and action modes. Portrait & macro modes as well as full auto mode will also raise the ash when the camera thinks its appropriate. The major restriction with full auto and PIC modes is that you cannot shift the relative values of the shutter and aperture like you can in P mode. Nor can you bias the exposure up or down like you can in P mode. The camera picks what it thinks is appropriate without allowing any further advice from you. Now that you know what they are, ignore them. Using them will just retard your education of photography as well as learning about the camera. The other positions of the Command Dial are generally more useful. P is for Program mode. It sets both the shutter speed and the aperture. Its not much different than full auto but one thing it wont do is it wont raise the ash for you. This can be a useful mode when you need to grab the camera and shoot without much think-
Figure 2: Command Dial ing. The primary advantage of P mode over full auto mode is that in P mode you can use the Main Dial to shift the relative values of the shutter and aperture selection. This is called Program Shift and it provides a way for you to bias the exposure towards faster shutter speeds or smaller apertures while the camera insures accurate exposures. You can also use the Quick Control Dial (QCD) on the camera back, to bias the exposure up (lighter images) or down (darker images) depending on the effect that you want. This is called Auto Exposure Compensation (AEC), and is only the ambient exposure bias. It does not effect ash exposure. Tv is for time value mode, also called "shutter priority." You set the shutter speed with the Main Dial, based on the need to freeze action or portray subject movement or simply for hand hold ability. The camera then selects an appropriate aperture for correct exposure. While in Tv mode you can also use the QCD to change the exposure up or down (AEC). This is only ambient exposure bias and it does not effect the ash exposure. Any shutter speed can be set between 1/4000 second to 30 seconds. Below 30 seconds the shutter goes into Bulb mode where it will stay open as long as you hold the shutter button down or until the battery goes at. The remote controller, RC-1 and the remote switch, RS-60E3 both have methods to manually hold the shutter open as long as you like. Av is for aperture value mode, also called "aperture priority." You select the aperture with the Main Dial, based on the need to limit or expand depth of eld/focus, and the camera selects a shutter speed to provide the proper exposure. Av mode can also be used when you want to select the fastest shutter speed possible and still maintain proper exposure in changing light. To do that you just set the aperture to the largest setting 6

(smallest number) and the camera will automatically select the fastest shutter speed setting that will still provide the correct exposure. While in Av mode, you can also use the QCD to change/bias the exposure up or down (AEC). This is only the ambient exposure bias and it does not effect the ash exposure. In P, Av or Tv modes, a blinking aperture or shutter indicator may mean that it is out of its available range. So if your aperture is blinking f/5.6 and that is the lenss largest aperture, you will have to select a slower shutter speed to bring the required aperture in line with your lenss available aperture. Also if 4000 is blinking, then use a smaller aperture to bring the required shutter speed down to what the camera is capable of doing. The shutter speed also blinks as a shake warning if the shutter speed falls more than 1/2 stop below the reciprocal of the lens length. M is for manual exposure mode. You select the aperture with the Main Dial and shutter speed with the QCD. The cameras built-in light meter will still function in manual mode and you can follow its lead or ignore it completely. The meters display can be seen both in the viewnder as well as on the top mounted Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) on the top right side of the camera. A proper exposure, according to the cameras meter, is when the meter indicator is centered on the scale. The meter scale covers a four stop range. Each hash mark represents 1/2 stop of exposure deviation. A negative indication shows with underexposure and a positive indication shows with overexposure. DEP is for depth of eld auto exposure mode. It allows the camera to decide the appropriate aperture and focus position to provide enough depth of eld to keep two selected distances sharply in focus. The easiest way to use it is to turn the Command Dial to DEP, and use the center auto focus sensor, point the camera at the rst subject and press the shutter button half way to autofocus. Let the button up and then point the same AF sensor on the top of the second subject and press the shutter half way again to allow the lens to autofocus on the second subject. Then reframe your camera and take the picture. The camera will select a focus distance between the subject distances, then select an aperture small enough to keep both subjects in focus and then select a shutter speed that will provide proper exposure. If you select the same subject distance twice, the camera will select the widest aperture available to keep depth of eld very shallow. The lens must be set to AF for DEP mode to work and if you are using a zoom lens, you must not change its zoom setting during the entire procedure. You can also manually or eye control select the side AF sensors, but I think it just adds confusion. A blinking aperture indicated that sufcient depth of eld (DOF) can not be achieved. You must focus on subjects that are closer to the same distance apart or use a wider angle lens. Flash can not be used with DEP mode CF (Custom Function) is discussed below CAL (Elan IIe only) is used for calibrating the Eye Control Focus (ECF) of the Elan IIe to the shape and size of your eye. Turn the Command Dial to CAL, look directly at the blinking AF point, press and hold the shutter button until the camera beeps. Then look directly at the next blinking AF point and hold the shutter button until the camera beeps. Turn the camera to the vertical position and press and release the shutter briey. Then look directly at the blinking AF point, press and hold the shutter button until the camera beeps. Then look directly at the next blinking AF point 7

and hold the shutter button until the camera beeps. Youre all done, but you should do this repeatedly in different kinds of lighting. The more you recalibrate, the more accurate ECF will become. There are three different calibration settings that can be used for different people or for when you wear glasses, contacts, etc. You can change the calibration setting by turning the Command Dial to CAL and then turning the Main Dial. You can see the selection (1, 2 or 3) in both the viewnder and the LCD on the top of the camera. You can erase a calibration setting by selecting it and then holding the two small thumb buttons on the upper right of the camera back, until the setting blinks in the LCD screen on the top of the camera. You should always erase a calibration setting if it is to be used by another photographer. Then recalibrate to their eye. Otherwise someone elses previous calibrations will continue to effect their new ones.

2.4 Metering Mode

Just below, and on the same switch stem as the Command Dial is the Metering mode switch. The front (blank square) position sets the camera to center weighted metering. If you are very used to metering patterns of older manual cameras and automatically correct for their metering errors in difcult situations, you might feel more comfortable with this position. The middle position sets the camera to 9.5% partial area metering. This is basically a fat spot meter. The area it meters is a bit larger than the bright circular area surrounding the center AF point. By setting custom function #8 to "1", the partial metering area will move to the area surrounding the active AF point if that point is selected manually or by eye control, otherwise it stays in the center. The rear position (square with circle in it) of the metering mode switch sets the camera to evaluative metering mode. This divides the picture area up into several areas, meters them independently and then compares that to a database of possible images that would create such a pattern of light & dark areas. The cameras computer then decides what exposure to use. This mode works quite well and provides the highest percentage of accurate exposures with the least amount of effort, but its down side is, you never really know how much it is biasing the exposure towards the dark or light areas. If you know what youre doing, in difcult lighting, such as a backlit portrait or an arctic fox in the snow, you would be better off using the partial meter and making your own compensations. Youll also learn more this way.
2.5 Self Timer / Remote Control
Just to the front and left of the Command Dial is the Self Timer button that also activates the IR remote switch. Press this button and the Self Timer indicator appears in the LCD. If you press the shutter, you will have 10 seconds before the shutter res. This should give you time to get into the picture yourself. The red light on the front of the camera will blink every second and speed up for the last two seconds before it res. The beeper will also sound during this time if you dont have the beeper turned off. With custom function #5 set to "1", the self timer is reduced to a 2 second delay with the mirror raising as soon as you press the shutter. This is used primarily to reduce camera vibrations caused by the mirror movement. Its main purpose is in extreme 8

macro and telephoto use. You can cancel the Self Timer during this 2 or 10 second wait, before the shutter res by pressing the Self Timer button again. The RC-1 IR remote control is relatively inexpensive and works very well for numerous situations. You can use it instead of the Self Timer when you want to be in the picture, or when you want to trip the shutter without touching the camera that would cause vibration. It also has a three position switch, off, on and 2 second delay. The 2 second delay position is for when you are in the picture and want to hide the remote before the exposure.

2.6 Focus Mode Switch

On the other side of the prism/ash hump youll nd the Focus mode switch and the Film Advance switch. The Focus mode switch is on top and has three positions and of course, only works when the lens is set to AF mode itself. In One Shot mode, as soon as you press the shutter button half way down, the camera will autofocus and lock onto on a subject and it stays locked at this distance as long as you continue hold the shutter button half way down. In this mode the focus has to lock onto some distance before the shutter will re. This can prevent out of focus pictures as long as the subject doesnt move towards or away from the camera.
Figure 3: Focus Mode Switch In AI Servo mode the camera will focus on the subject but will not lock anything. 9
If the subject moves the focus follows. Sometimes you want to focus on a particular distance and then recompose with your subject off center. You can do this by selecting a side AF point, or by autofocusing in One Shot mode and holding the shutter button half way down to keep that focus distance selected. You cant do this in AI Servo mode, but then you cant track a moving object in One Shot mode. They both have their advantages. Most people prefer to keep the camera in One Shot mode and changing it when they need to. There is a middle position, the AI Focus mode that is the same as One Shot mode until the camera detects that the subject has moved closer or farther away. Then it automatically shifts into AI Servo mode. This is a good compromise, but there are times when it will shift into AI Servo mode when you dont want it to and then there are other times when you want it to but it doesnt react fast enough.

2.7 Film Advance Switch

The Film Advance switch is right under the Focus mode switch. It has two positions. Single Shot mode is the usual position and it will take one picture at a time. You have to raise your nger off the shutter button completely and then press it again to take another picture. In Continuous Advance mode the camera will continue to take pictures at 2.5 frames per second as long as you keep your nger pressed down and there is still lm to burn. In Continuous Advance mode, and if you are also in AI Servo focus mode, there will be a slight delay between frames as the camera looks to see if it is still in focus and then readjusts as necessary. However if you were in Continuous Advance mode and One Shot focus mode the camera would lock onto a distance and keep it there throughout its continuous shooting spree.

2.8 Built In Flash

Just in front of the Focus Mode switch there is a button that when pressed will raise the built-in ash. To get the ash to go back down you just push it down. The builtin ash is fairly weak and its also close enough to the lens to cause red eye in many situations. Its primary benet is when you have to have ash and didnt bring along a real one with you, and also when you need ll ash outdoors. As long as your distance isnt too great and your aperture isnt too small, it will work.

2.9 Custom Functions

CF mode is used to set the eleven available Custom Functions. These are used to customize the camera to your particular shooting style and to change the way the camera works for a particular situation. To use them, turn the Command Dial to the CF position, turn the Main Dial to select the custom function you want and then press the "*-cf" button to change its value. Custom Functions only work in the non-PIC modes. The custom functions are: 1) Rewind Speed 0 = quiet, 1 = fast 2) Film leader 0 = rewind it in, 1 = leave it out 10
3) Auto DX lm speed setting 0 = on, 1 = off 4) Use of * button 0 = AF start with shutter button, exposure lock with "*" button 1 = AF start with "*" button, exposure lock with shutter button 2 = same as 0, plus DOF check with "*" button 5) Mirror lock with self timer 0 = normal ten second self timer, 1 = mirror locks up and the self timer becomes two seconds 6) Second curtain ash sync 0 = off, 1) = on 7) AF assist beam 0 = off, 1) = on 8) Spot & FEL to focus point 0 = Partial meter & Flash Exposure Lock at center point only 1 = Partial meter and FEL follow the active AF sensor 9) Force 1/125 sync in AV mode 0 = In Av mode with ash provides full ambient exposure 1 = In Av mode the shutter is locked at 1/125 second 10) AF indicator lights 0 = off, 1) = on 11) Eye control DOF preview 0 = off, 1) = on (Elan IIe only)
3 Other Camera Controls & Features
3.1 Auto Exposure Lock Button
Just behind the top mounted LCD are two thumb buttons. The one on the left is the AE Lock button. Its marked with a "*-cf" symbol. The "cf" part of the symbol is to denote that it is used to set the values of the custom functions, explained above. When the camera is not set to the CF mode on the Command Dial, the AE Lock button can do several things. Its primary purpose is to set the exposure for one scene and then recompose the picture. This works particularly well with partial metering where you want to meter a subject but compose the scene with the subject off center. Normally pressing the shutter button half way activates autofocus, and pressing the AE Lock button locks the exposure value that is determined by the cameras metering system. This is called Auto Exposure Lock (AEL). However, if custom function #4 is set to "1" the functions are reversed. The primary reason you might want this is to move your auto focus away from the shutter button. That way you would only reactivate AF when you wanted to, not every time you press the shutter. If you couple this with Canons USM lenses that allow Full Time Manual focusing (FTM), you can autofocus by the push of the "*" button, and manually focus by turning the focus ring on the lens, all without switching the AF/MF switch on the lens. This may not sound like a big deal, but for many photographers this is the primary reason to buy Canon equipment. The low end line of Canon lenses use a micro motor USM that does not allow FTM, so pay attention to what youre putting your money down for. USM stands for UltraSonic Motor. They are nearly silent and the mid and upscale ones are fast! Nikon has recently started selling a few Silent Wave lenses that are essentially the same thing as USM. Only some of the high-end lenses have this "S" designation and

5.2 Flash Metering

The Elan II/IIe is capable of Through The Lens (TTL) and Advanced TTL (A-TTL) ash metering with external Canon E and EZ series Speedlites. It is also capable of Evaluative TTL (E-TTL) ash metering with external Canon EX series Speedlites. For several reasons, E-TTL is generally the preferred metering method. With TTL and A-TTL, the cameras built-in ash meter senses the light Through The Lens (TTL) and reected Off The Film (OTF). When enough light has reached the lm the camera signals the ash to stop its ash pulse. This all takes place in less than 1/1000 second. On the Elan II/IIe this exposure is metered by a four area, three zone ash meter and metering is biased toward the general area of whatever autofocus point is active at the time. With E-TTL mode, the ash exposure control is determined before the shutter opens by means of a pre-ash that is metered by the same meter as the cameras regular, ambient light, evaluative meter. This pre-ash occurs about 1/20 second before the main ash and you can usually see it in the viewnder just before it blacks out for the exposure. This system compares the ambient light reading with the ash reading and adjusts both the ambient exposure and ash exposure to, hopefully, provide the optimal
exposure. E-TTL also biases the ash exposure towards the area surrounding the active AF point. E-TTL usually works better than TTL and A-TTL when the lighting is difcult such as a backlit or small nearby subject with a distant background, or an off-center subject. E-TTL is also an improvement with daylight ll ash, providing a more natural look.

5.3 E-TTL Features

Canons E-TTL system allows the pre-ash to be red up to 16 seconds before the main ash, so you can have Flash Exposure Lock (FEL) by pressing the AE Lock button. This allows you to point the camera at the subject, determine and set the ash exposure for the subject, and then recompose to shoot. It is very similar to Auto Exposure Lock (AEL) but for the ash exposure. FEL normally biases the exposure to the area surrounding the central AF, but if custom function #8 is set to "1" the ash is biased to the active AF point if the AF point is either manually chosen or selected by eye control. E-TTL also provides a method of metered high speed sync (FP Flash) to allow you to use an EX series Speedlite at a shutter speed faster than the normal top sync speed of the camera (1/125 sec.) This will allow you to use faster lm and wider apertures when using daylight ll ash. Canons FP Flash mode works in E-TTL mode so it automatically calculates ash exposures. Wireless E-TTL Flash can also be done with some Canon Speedlites. You need a master mounted on camera (or attached to an Off Camera Shoe Cord 2) and at least one slave. The 550EX works best as a master and you use either a 420EX or another 550EX as the slave. The wireless mode only works in E-TTL or wireless manual modes, and only with the Speedlites that have this feature built in. At the time of this writing, this limits you to the 420EX, 550EX, or one of Canons two E-TTL ring ashes. The STE2 has no ash built in, but can be used as the shoe mounted master instead of using another ash for this. The Sigma EF-500 Super is a third party 550EX clone and can also be used as either a slave or a master. Second Curtain Sync with custom function #6 set to "1", is a feature that effects ash exposures with relatively long shutter speeds. Its primary purpose is to get light trails to follow the ash instead of leading it. In normal sync mode the ash res at the beginning of the exposure. If the exposure is long and the subject moves, some of that movement might be recorded on lm, and it will look like its in front of the ash exposure. Scenes like moving cars with headlights on will appear to be moving backwards. Setting the sync to the second curtain makes the trailing movement appear behind the subject. Second curtain sync can usually be left on without any negative results and it works with the built-in ash. There will be a multi headed arrow symbol that shows on the LCD of an external Speedlite when second curtain sync is on. Second Curtain Sync works with all of Canons E, EZ and EX series Speedlites.

5.4 Flash Exposure Modes

In low light with the camera in P, Full Auto, and PIC modes the camera will usually select a wide aperture. Also the shutter speed will be held to no slower than 1/60 second, but as light levels increase the shutter speed will rise to be equal to the cameras 20
highest sync speed (1/125 sec.). Also as light levels increase, to the point of over exposure by the brighter ambient light, the lens aperture will get increasingly smaller. With the camera in Av, Tv and M modes, the camera meter will insist on a full and proper ambient light exposure in addition to your ash exposure. Its the same thing as night ash mode in some other cameras. The background will be properly exposed by the ambient light exposure and the ash will insure that the subject in the foreground is properly exposed by the ash. However, if the light is dim, the shutter speed will get very slow, often too slow to hand hold the camera. If that happens you can simply turn the camera back to P mode which will raise the shutter to 1/60 second, but this will usually create dark, underexposed backgrounds. A slow shutter speed with the camera mounted on a tripod is often the best solution. Also, the Elan II/IIe has custom function # 9 to keep the shutter speed at 1/125 sec. in Av mode if you want that. I nd that when using ash, setting the camera to manual mode is usually easier to keep everything in control. Since the ash exposure is being determined automatically anyway, having the camera on manual really doesnt slow much of anything down. Also, remember, that with ash the aperture effects both ambient lighting and ash lighting, but the shutter speed only effects ambient lighting. This is because the ash pulse is much faster than the shutter.
5.5 Auto Fill Flash Reduction
The Elan II/IIe automatically provides negative Flash Exposure Compensation (FEC) when shooting in bright light. If using ash with light levels above 10EV (equal to f/5.6 @ 1/30 seconds) the camera assumes you want a normal ambient light exposure with ll ash to brighten the nearby subject, so it reduces the normal ash output. This effect fades in as the brightness of the ambient lighting increases above EV10. The maximum of -1.5 stops of FEC is applied with TTL/A-TTL metering and up to 2 stops with E-TTL. This auto FEC happens in all camera modes and is designed to make your ll ash pictures more natural looking. Most people like the effect but many photographers want even more reduction for their ll ash pictures. This can be easily done with the Elan II/IIE by means of the FEC control on the camera body. This FEC will be in addition to any auto FEC the camera decides on. Some EOS cameras have a custom function to eliminate this Auto Fill Flash Reduction, but the Elan II/IIe does not.

5.6 Other Flash Options

Other Flash Options: The Elan II/IIe does not have a ash PC connector to use with studio lights and other manual ash units, but you can use a generic hot shoe to PC adapter. Nikons AS-15 is a good quality one, but there are lower cost versions as well. With a manual or studio ash you will need a ash meter to get consistent ash exposure. Published guide numbers cant always be trusted. The Elan II/IIe can also use auto ash units like the venerable Vivitar 283/285 or Sunpak 383. This is a way to get a more powerful ash without breaking the bank to do it. There are several big limitations however. The meter is in the ash unit and it will not take into account the lenss eld of view. This can give inaccurate exposures. 21
You will also have more things to set on the ash (ISO, aperture, zoom) and on the camera you will have to manually set the lens aperture to what the ash says, and you will have to make sure that your shutter doesnt exceed 1/125 second. Still, with all that, auto ash is a bargain if power and versatility are the main considerations. But if speed & ease of use are a priority get an EX series Speedlite. The most important consideration with non-dedicated ash units is the sync voltage. You must test this with a good volt meter (at least 20,000 ohms per volt). With the ash charged up & ready to re, lay one lead across the contact at the side of the ash foot and the other on the center pin. Canon says it has to be 6 volts or less, although up to 10 volts is probably close enough. Some ash units like the older models of the Vivitar 283 have more than a 200 volt sync trigger. These can fry your camera in one pop, and accumulated use of even a 20 volt sync could damage your camera. The most complete information about Canon ash technology, metering and theory can be found at: http://teladesign.com/photo/eos-ash/

6 Lenses

6.1 EF Mount Lenses
All lenses that are designed for EOS cameras have an EF mount on them. They all should work with the Elan II/IIe. Some older third party lenses are known to cause the camera to temporarily lock up due to an incompatibility problem that is discussed below. All Canon EF mount lenses will work ne. The better grade of Canon USM lenses (28-105 USM, etc.) use a ring type AF motor that allows Full Time Manual (FTM) focusing without selecting MF on the lens switch. FTM allows you to auto focus and then quickly touch up your focus manually. Used with custom function #4 to move the AF start to the AE Lock button, these lenses will change the way you take pictures. Or at least the way you focus. Before you buy one of Canons cheaper lenses try one of the better versions. Be warned that cheaper USM lenses (28-90 USM, 75-300 USM) will not allow FTM. In my opinion there are no good reasons to buy a cheap third party lens with any Canon EOS camera. There are too many incompatibility problems and they are no better than Canon lenses of equal price. However there are quite a number of better third party lenses that can save you money over Canons good but pricey selection of better lenses. Keep in mind that you get what you pay for. At least sometimes you do.

6.2 Other Lenses

In addition you can use any T mount lens with a T mount adapter ring. T mounts are frequently used for cheap mirror lenses that have nearly worthless image quality. But the T-Mount is also used for macro bellows, attaching the camera to a microscope or telescope as well as some worthwhile older lenses. You can also use any M42 screw mount lens with a M42 to Screw mount adapter. Very decent, low cost sheye lenses are often found in M42 mount. These lenses were
designed for cameras like the early Pentax Spotmatics. Some of the lenses were very good and can be found cheap. There are also adapters made to t older Canon manual focus lenses, but these will either not allow innity focus or will increase the focal length of your lens with a small teleconverter built in. They are not really worth the price or limitations unless you have a very special old Canon lens to use with your EOS camera. There are also adapters made to t the EF mount camera to Nikon, Tamron Adaptall and other lenses. The downsides to using any of these adapted lenses is that they can be manual focused only and they will have to be metered in the stop down mode. That is, they will not have an auto aperture, so metering will be done in M, Av or P mode, with a slightly darkened viewnder. So focus rst. The LCD and viewnder display will show the aperture as "00" but you set the aperture on the lens barrel with these anyway.

7 Optional Equipment

7.1 Battery Packs / Grips
The BP-50 Vertical Grip is available for the Elan II/IIe. It is also a battery pack as it takes either four AA batteries or the 2CR-5 that the camera normally uses. It also has an additional shutter button to use in the vertical position and a switch to disable it. Its quite handy and I usually leave mine on unless Im trying to reduce the size of my photo equipment. One problem with the vertical grip is that it displaces the tripod mount from directly under the lens axis to a position just over an inch to the right side. It also would be more useful to add a Main Dial, AE Lock button and AF point selector button. But at least this leaves an upgrade path for future cameras. The BP-5B is an external battery pack that is used with the vertical grip. It has a dummy 2CR-5 battery attached to a coiled wire, and at the other end is a battery pack for 4 D cells. You can keep the batteries warm in your coat & still take pictures in sub zero temperatures. The BP-5B is the same as a BP- 5 (for the EOS 5/A2/A2e) but adds a top plate for the BP-50 that has a hole for the power cord to go through. You can use the slightly cheaper BP-5 and modify the top plate yourself if you want.

7.2 Remotes

The RC-1 Infra Red Remote is also available and will trip the shutter from up to 15 feet in front of the camera. You can also use it to trip a tripod mounted camera from directly overhead if you are close enough, so it can be used for macro and long lens use as well. With custom function #5 set to "1" and the shutter set to bulb, a quick press of the RC-1 will raise the mirror, wait two seconds, then open the shutter and hold it open until you press the RC-1s button again. The RS-60E3 Cord Remote is short, but convenient for tripod use. It plugs into the small connector at the lower right side of the camera. It uses a small mini-plug and some stereo audio extension cords can be used with it to extend its range. It has a two position switch just like the camera shutter button. Half a press to activate AF and a

full press to re the shutter. It also has a switch lock to keep the lens open in bulb mode without having to hold the button.

7.3 Viewnder Options

Dioptric Corrective Lenses ED are available to correct vision problems. The Elan II/IIe has 19.5mm of eye relief. Normally people with glasses or contacts have no problem with the viewnder of the Elan II/IIe but glasses wearers may have to move their eye around some to see all of the image or the data display at the bottom of the screen. For this and other reasons some people prefer to take their glasses off while shooting. For these people and others that have a hard time seeing the viewnder image sharply Canon makes Dioptric Corrective Lenses (DC lenses) for the Elan II/IIe. The viewnder has a -1 built in making the image appear about 1 meter away. The DC lenses are marked to take this into account so a 0 DC lens is actually a +1 to compensate for the built in -1. If your normal distance prescription is -4, buy the Canon -4 DC lens. But you may want to try them out before you buy. The Eyecup Ec II is standard but the optional larger Eyecup Ed-E can also be used. The viewnder attachments, Angle Finder B and Magnier S can be used but you have to use the Adapter Ed to mount them to the larger than normal viewnder of the Elan II/IIe.
7.4 Off Camera Shoe Cord 2
The Off Camera Shoe Cord 2 (OCSC2) is used to get an external Speedlite ash mounted off the cameras hot shoe. It provides about 2 feet of easy extension and if you pull on the coiled wire you can stretch it to about 3 feet. Canon recommends against it, but you can extend this by adding two OCSC2s together, end-to-end. Check this out thoroughly before you need to make sure you dont have any impedance induced exposure errors.

8 Known Problems

8.1 Battery Compartment
Not all 2CR-5s are exactly the same dimensions. Some are just a wee bit short and this can cause problems with the Elan II/IIe. The usual problem is the camera will lock up when you take a picture and the battery indicator in the LCD will blink. (There are other problems that can also cause this same symptom however.) This can be easily remedied by putting a small piece of cardboard between the bottom of the battery and the battery door. This will press the battery farther into it compartment, insuring better contact. You can also reach into the battery compartment with a small hook and raise the battery contacts as they seem to bend down too far with use. For what its worth, Sanyo 2CR-5 are reported to work best with the Elan II/IIe. The battery door hinge is just a thin piece of plastic that bends when you open it. With a lot of use or abuse this can fail. Canon USA sold me one for cheap although

the repair process was a bit tricky. Fortunately this hasnt proven to be as frequent a problem as many people expected that it would be.

8.2 Lens Incompatability

Other than problems with the battery compartment, the most frequently reported trouble seems to be an incompatibility with some third party lenses. They sometimes cause the camera to lock up with the battery indicator ashing in the LCD. Some lenses will simply not work at all with the Elan II/IIe and others will lock up only if you use it with the motor drive set on continuous. Some third party lenses will not cause this symptom but the aperture will not work or it will display some other malady.

9 Specications

The EOS Elan II/IIe is a great camera with plenty of features for the enthusiast. It has proven to be reliable and easy to use. It has been upgraded to the EOS 30/Elan 7/7e which has a few more AF point, a bit faster operation and a few other improvements, but the Elan II/IIe isnt far behind. Viewnder coverage: 90% vertical and 92% horizontal with 19.5mm of eye relief Metering system: 6 zone evaluative, 9.5% partial and center weighted Metering range: EV1 to EV 20 with 50mm f/1.4 lens and 100ISO lm Film Speed range: ISO 6 to ISO 6400, or ISO 25 to ISO 5000 with DX coding AF working range: EV 0 to EV18 with ISO 100 lm AF assist beam: Near infrared, up to 21 feet for center AF point and 13 feet for side AF points Shutter: Electronically timed, 30 seconds to 1/4000 second, top ash sync at 1/125 sec. Film advance: 2.5 frames per second max. Built in ash: GN of 42 feet with ISO 100 lm, coverage for 28m lens Dimensions & weight: 152.5mm (W) x 104.4mm (H) x 71mm (D), 590 grams