Canon EOS 5 (A2, A2e)

Canon EOS 5 - front view

This is an early model EOS camera dating from 1992 to 1998. All EOS cameras have the same basic shape from the first film EOS (EOS 650) to the latest digital EOS . The main way in which the various EOS models vary is in size. This EOS 5 is a large and heavy camera. It weighs 665 g (with no lens, battery or strap) and measures 154 by 120 by 75 mm.

The EOS 5 was aimed at what is now called the prosumer market - that is, the lower-end professional and high-end amateur market.

The outside of the camera is black plastic - I think polycarbonate but I am far from certain about that. The weight of the camera clearly says that the camera has a metal chassis. The battery holder on the right acts as a grip and is covered in a rubbery material. The battery is a lithium 2CR5.

For its day, it has a lot of controls but very few compared to a modern digital SLR. The controls are in two places. The most used are on the top plate and the less used on the back.

On the far left of the top plate is a mode selector dial. This has the expected options for a serious photographer - Programme, Tv, Av and M. It also has DEP, x, CF and CAL - details later. On the opposite side of off ('L') are settings that declare this to be an amateur camera. Here are no words or letters, just icons. This offers four options: Portrait, Landscape, Macro and Action.

Next to the mode selector is a button to release the built-in flashgun. Once the flashgun is raised, this button allows you to set flash exposure compensation.

Towards the rear by the mode selector is the indicator for the position of the film plane.

Canon EOS 5 - top view

In the middle, as is usual with SLR cameras, is the pentaprism viewfinder.  This is an actual pentaprism - on lower-end EOS models, Canon used a penta-mirror which gives a smaller and darker image in the viewfinder. On top of this is the built-in flashgun. This is a sophisticated flashgun which has a zoom function to allow the best illumination of the subject. On top of the built-in flashgun is a Canon-specific hot shoe. I am not calling it an accessory shoe as I cannot imagine that anyone has ever fitted anything but a flashgun here.

The space to the right of the pentaprism is dominated  by an LCD screen. This displays various pieces of information depending on the set functions and the actions being carried out at the time. In front of this is a button to activate the self-timer which gives a ten second delay between pressing the shutter release and the shutter firing.

On the right, in front of the LCD screen, is the now ubiquitous selector wheel and in front of this is the shutter release. This last is a plain, smooth button - no cable release thread now.

On the back are more controls. On the top right are two buttons. The right-hand one allows you to set just one of the five autofocus points to be active - or all five. The left-hand one has two functions. Normally, it acts as the exposure lock. This allows you to point the camera at the most significant light source in your subject and then recompose without altering the exposure. Useful where too much sky will result in underexposure of the key elements. It is also used to toggle between 0 and 1 when setting the Custom Functions.

Canon EOS 5 - back view

In the centre of the back is a secondary selector wheel - this one has an on/off switch and it is not necessary to ever use it. On the left of the back are four more buttons. These are labelled 'Drive' (to select how many photographs are taken with one press of the shutter release), 'AF' (to select how the camera attempts to focus), '<icon>' (which selects the exposure metering system), and a multi-function button which allows you to override the ISO setting, set exposure bracketing, red-eye prevention, silence the beeper and, finally, allow multiple exposures on one frame. Right to the left is a window to allow you to see the cassette inside the camera. This is very useful to people with poor memory like me (although I prefer a holder for the film box end which allows you to add personal notes like pushed ISO rating).

On the front of the camera is the EF lens mount. As this is a 35mm camera, it is 'full frame' and will not accept the modern digital EF-S lenses. As is usual with EOS cameras, the lens release button is on the left of the lens mount.

To the right of the lens mount, towards the top of the camera, is an auxiliary light emitter for the autofocus system. This helps the camera focus in poor light.

On the right-hand end of the camera are three items - a button to rewind the film part way through, a socket for an electrical remote control and the catch for the battery compartment. The remote socket is of an older design - it has three electrical contacts - and is not compatible with the later remote controls with a jack plug.

On the left end is the catch for the back and a PC socket for a flash cable. The last (also known as a German socket) has become obsolete since this camera but its presence here means I can use any of my old flashguns as well as my Canon specific Speedlite.  The base has a connector for a motor drive and a standard (1/4 inch Whitworth) tripod socket.

Control details.

The mode selector has what has become standard (Tv, Av, M & P) but also has four extras. These are DEP, x, CF and CAL.

'DEP' is a system to optimise depth of field. It works by then user focusing on the nearest point of interest and pressing teh shutter release, then focusing on the furthest point of interest and pressing teh shutter release. At this point, the camera selects a focus point and aperture that will result in both these points being in focus. The user then presses the shutter release a third time to actually take the picture.

'x' allows for flash synchronisation with the PC socket. The user can select between shutter speeds of 1/200, 1/125, 1/90 or 1/60 using the rear selector wheel.

'CF' allows the user to set any of the custom functions. The only one of these I use is the custom function to leave the film leader out of the cassette when rewinding.

'CAL' is used to calibrate the eye controlled focusing system. I find this both useful and easy to use. The EOS 50e also has this system. I read reports on the Interweb about how poor this eye control focusing is but I suspect those people have not calibrated the system properly - or not at all.

In addition to these 'creative zone' settings (Canon's term) there are also 'image zone' settings. For anyone who understands the basics of photography these settings are unnecessary. Their big disadvantage is that they disable user control over shutter speed, aperture, focusing system, metering mode and flash. The only advantage to using image zone settings is that you can use the camera as a point-and-shoot camera with interchangeable lenses.  This also applies to modern Canon digital SLRs. The five image zone settings are full auto, portrait, landscape, close up and sport.

The button to release the built-in flashgun has two functions - it releases the flashgun and, when pressed a twice, it allows you to set flash exposure compensation. If an external flash is fitted to the hot shoe (rather than by way of the PC connector), the flash release button will not release the built-in flashgun but pressing it just the once will allow you to set the flash exposure compensation.

The built-in flashgun is rather sophisticated - at least when compared to the built-in flashguns on the EOS 650, EOS 50e, EOS 350D and EOS 650D. This flashgun has a zoom function and changes focus according to the focal length signal from the lens. This is supposed to optimise illumination for differing angles of view. You can hear this focusing of the flashgun taking place as you rotate the zoom control on the lens. I have not tried this out so I cannot comment on how well the flash illumination optimisation works.

This built-in flashgun also has a separate red-eye reduction lamp. The way this works, when set, is the subjects of a portrait are asked to look directly at teh flashgun and just before the shutter opens and the main flash fires, this small red-eye reduction lamp fires several times. Red-eye in flash portraits is caused by the pupil in the eye being dilated due to the low light level allowing the flash to enter the eye, bounce of the red coloured back of the eye and then going back to the camera. This red-eye reduction lamp causes the subjects' pupils to contract, allowing less light into the eye and even less reflected light to bounce out of the eye. So no more excuses for zombie-eyed portraits.

I like having the flash PC (Prontor-Compur) connector for using off-camera flashguns. For modern photographers this is obsolete as neither cameras nor flashguns have PC connectors, but I am not really a modern photographer.

I am not going to go over all the options available on this camera. As a computer-controlled camera, the options are legion, but there are a few things worth mentioning.

Film rewind is automatic at the end of the roll of film. This rewinds fairly slowly and retracts all the film into the cassette. This can be altered in two ways. Firstly, the rewind speed can be increased - useful at social functions where dead-time spent reloading the camera with film is not a good thing. Normally, slow rewind is better for the film (less scratches and less build-up of static to attract dust) but this is not always the most important thing. Secondly, you can set the camera to leave the film leader out of the cassette. This is what I was always taught to do as the presence of film between the velvet light seals of the cassette improves the blocking of light. It also makes it much easier to load the film into the spirals for developing.  It is also possible to force film rewind part-way through the roll of film. For an amateur, we are always going to finish all the film in the camera, but a professional is very likely to have a number of unexposed frames left at the end of an assignment.

Film speed is set automatically by the DX coding on the film cassette. If you are using Adox films (for example) with no DX coding or loading your own bulk film into reusable cassettes, you need to set the film speed manually. This is entirely as ISO (which I still think of as ASA) with no provision for DIN settings. Not a problem, really. If you are using DX encoded cassettes, you can still set the film speed manually - useful if you want to push the film speed.

This camera takes a single lithium 2CR5 battery. This is common with all my EOS film cameras - I have three currently and have previously owned three others. In normal use, this should last for about forty rolls of 24 exposure film. This battery life can be extended by not excessively refocusing the camera, not keeping your finger on the shutter release button too long, not using the eye-controlled focusing and turning the camera off if you are not actually using it. You can also seriously reduce battery life by doing the opposite of all those things.

test photographs:

Ivy flowers

 Field, Lincolnshire Wolds

Rockabilly Buskers, Lincoln.

Rockabilly Busker, Lincoln

Legacy lens adapters

In the course of collecting these old camera, I have also collected a number of old lenses, some of which are very good.

My Olympus OM10 camera has a Zuiko 50mm, f1.8 lens which six elements in five groups and a Vivitar zoom lens (75-205mm) which has a very good reputation.  I also have another Vivitar zoom lens (20-200mm) which doesn't have quite the same reputation as the other Vivitar but performs very well nonetheless.

My Zenit E came with the famous Helios-44 which is a superb copy of the Carl Zeiss Biotar (six elements in four groups) and my Praktica LT3 came with a Meyer Optiks Domiplan which is a triplet - so not in the Zuiko or Helios-44 league but a good performer when stopped down.

When thinking about a 50mm prime lens for my Canon DSLR, it occurred to me that I already had several good  50mm prime lenses and was there any point in buying another?

With this thought in mind, I looked into buying an adapter so I could use one of my old prime lenses (it would seem that these  have morphed into legacy lenses while i wasn't looking).

First, I looked into buying an adapter for my Olympus OM lenses.   There are a number of these available and they are quite cheap.  These range from simple metal rings with an OM female bayonet on one side and an EF male bayonet on the other - these cost £2 to £3 each - to more complex adapters with electrical contacts and a chip.  this is then one I bought and it cost me £12.99 including postage.

The adapter ring is very well made out of brass which has been chrome plated.  The EF bayonet fits smoothly into the Canon digital camera and, similarly, the Olympus lenses fit smoothly into the female side of the adapter.

When the lens, adapter and camera are all fitted together, the result is snug and secure.  There is no significant play, even with the heavy and long Vivitar zoom.    The electrical contacts make contact and the camera recognises the adapter.

The point of the contacts and chip is so that the focal length and aperture of the lens can be stored in the Exif data of the resulting digital file.  th achieve this it is necessary to programme the chip on the adapter.  t5rhis is actually quite easy - but not simple as it involves quite a few steps. Once the adapter is programmed for a particular lens, it is necessary to manually set the aperture on the lens and then separately set the aperture on the camera - this aperture is then stored in the Exif data.

If accurate Exif data is important to you, this process will be worthwhile (and will be necessary to repeat for each lens you use with the adapter) but I routinely ignore Exif data so I do not bother with the process.  If, like me, you want to be simple, you just focus the lens, set the aperture (you need the camera to be in Av mode) and let the camera select the shutter speed.

The adapter works well so long as you remember the lens is entirely manual - you need to focus and set the aperture for each shot.  Given that I use fully manual cameras a lot of the time, this should be second nature, but as soon as I pick up my digital DSLR I forget to worry about focus and exposure.

My next adapter is for M42 lenses (also known as Pentax fit, although developed by Zeiss Ikon in Dresden in the 1940s).

I had two M42 lenses when I bought this adapter - the Helios-44 Biotar copy and the Meyer-Optik Domiplan.  Both screwed nicely into the adapter but there is a problem with the Domiplan lens in that it is an automatic lens - there is a pin on the lens that must be depressed by the camera just before the shutter is released in order to close the diaphragm. The adapter leaves this pin alone so the Domiplan can only be used wide open.  

Actually, while trying to get this lens to work with the adapter, I noticed that the lens has a significant fungal growth on one of the inner glass surfaces.  This lens is now in the dustbin!

The Helios-44 lens worked well.  This adapter is a simple aluminium disc with no contacts or chip sop there is no need to set anything up.  The same working method as with the OM adapter is required - focus with the lens diaphragm wide open, stop down the lens to the required aperture and let the camera sort out the shutter speed.  As there are no contacts, no lens details are stored in the Exif data.

Both adapters are easy to use and work well.  Not being interested in the Exif data, I would have been better off buying a cheaper and simpler OM adapter, but the one I did buy was certainly cheap enough.

Theoretically, as the camera is metering the light through the lens it should give the right exposure regardless of the lens used.  It has been suggested to me that TTL meters do not cope well at low light levels so will give poor exposure at small apertures.  I have not found that.  Initially, using the OM adapter with the Zuiko 50mm lens, the camera consistently overexposed at all apertures with the highlights clipping in all photographs.  The cause of this is that I was not setting the aperture on the camera as well as on the lens so the metering system assumed - incorrectly - that the lens would shut down when I pressed the shutter release.

Repeating my OM test exposures with the camera set to f1.8, the exposures were fine with the histograms coming up well to the left with no clipping.  This setting of the aperture on the camera as well as on the lens is only a problem with chipped adapters - or you can do as I now will and keep the camera set to its smallest aperture.

When using the Helios-44 with its simple adapter, the exposure histograms were well to the left and without any clipping so giving usable photographs.  This is regardless of the aperture set on the lens.  With this adapter, it is not possible to set an aperture on the camera as the absence of contacts makes the camera default to f00

Test pictures:  first, the same scene at different apertures (after these, a focal plane test).

OM adapter with a Zuiko 50mm, f1.8 lens.

 

aperture f16

aperture f5.6

aperture f1.8

M42 adapter with Helios-44 58mm, f2 lens.

aperture f16

aperture f56.

aperture f2

Focal plane test:  in order to focus on infinity, it is necessary that the focal node of the lens is the right distance from the film/sensor.  For a 50mm lens, this distance is 50mm (in some designs, the node might be in front of the physical lens).  This distance is split in two.  The first part is the film/sensor to mount distance (obviously, this never changes) and the second part is the mount to node distance.  This second part is susceptible to being changed by the adapter.  If the mount is too thin, the lens will still focus on infinity but its near focus point will be further away than intended.  If the mount is too thick, the lens will focus on nearer objects ok but will not be able to focus on infinity.  It is this last that I want to check.  I am not too bothered if I cannot focus on an object two feet away but I am very bothered about not being able to focus on infinity.  To be clear, I had better define 'infinity' - for this purpose, it is anything over 50metres away.

First the OM adapter.  The first picture is a standard scene in Lincoln.  The second picture is an enlarged crop from the centre to critically check the focus.

detail from the centre

Now the M42 adapter.

detail from the centre

You can see by comparing the two details that the Zuiko is performing better at a distance.  I think I can safely say that this lens adapter is correctly placing the lens in the mount.  The detail from the Helios-44 photograph is a lot less clear - but I cannot say if it is down to the adapter or the lens performance.  It is certainly good enough to use.

Canon EOS 650

Canon EOS 650 front view

This is Canon's first EOS camera (and not to be confused with the digital EOS 650D!) and came out in 1987. The numbering is misleading.  On subsequent models they used three digits for amateur cameras, two digits for serious amateur/professional cameras and one digit for professional cameras.  You could be misled into thinking this is a thoroughly amateur camera  -  my almost new digital camera is an EOS 650D (in this case definitely an amateur camera).  In fact, it is aimed at very serious amateur and professional photographers.  While Canon make good use of plastic, the camera chassis is metal - evidenced by its weight.

As a modern electrical camera, it will not work without a battery.  It takes a six volt 2CR5 battery.  The camera takes all EF lenses (but not EF-S as they are solely for crop-sensor digital cameras) and I am trying out the camera with Canon's EF35-80 mm lens  This is an old lens and I suspect from very early on in the history of EF lenses.  It has an optically flat element sealing the rear of the lens so that the zoom mechanism cannot act as an air pump and pump air onto the film.  It is a pity that Canon abandoned this practise.

Canon EOS 650 top view

There are few controls compared to a more modern camera.  No knob to select mode - in fact only five modes available (P, Tv, Av, M, and Depth).  In P mode the camera sets both shutter speed and aperture.  In other cameras (including this camera's sister the EOS 620) the shutter speed/aperture combination can be altered by setting wheel, but not with this camera.  Tv, Av and M are as you would expect on a modern EOS camera with the camera setting the value you do not.  Depth mode effectively forces the camera to focus on the hyperfocal distance to maximise the depth of field.  There is also a full auto mode (designated by a green square).  This full auto mode is selected by the on/off knob while P, Tv, Av, M, and Depth are selected by the mode button and the setting wheel.  The only other control on the left of this camera is an exposure compensation button used in conjunction with the setting wheel.

The right of the viewfinder is dominated by the LCD display.  In front of this is they setting wheel and shutter release button.  Behind the LCD display is a button to alter the method of light metering.  Normally, this camera uses evaluative metering where it uses all of the field in the viewfinder.  Pressing this button restricts the metering to a central circle so that it almost becomes spot metering.

At first sight this is all the controls - absolutely miserly by modern standards - but there are further controls hidden behind a door below then hinged back.  These are not intended to be used very often so they are hidden away for safety. 

The controls are: film rewind button for when you want to rewind the film before the end (it is automatic at the end of the roll), AF to change between the focussing method (one shot or servo), S-C to change between single shot and continuous shooting (at three frames per second).  This button also sets the ten second shutter delay.  The fourth button is to check the state of the battery.  If the second and third buttons are pressed simultaneously you can over-ride the DX ISO setting - useful for either pushing film or using Adox film which is not DX coded.

EOS 650 - rear view

The viewfinder contains one autofocus point.  As this is intended to be an autofocus camera, the focus screen is plain - no microprisms, no split image circle in the centre.  Other focus screens were available as extras but not as standard.

Shutter speed and aperture are repeated in the viewfinder together with a focus lock indicator (a green circle).  The viewfinder also reminds you if you are in manual exposure mode or Depth mode.

Underneath the lens in the front are two more buttons.  Canon seem to have been keen to spread them around the camera.  These buttons are depth of field preview (which stops the aperture down) and a manual aperture button.  This last is used in manual mode in conjunction with the setting wheel to change the aperture.  It has no effect in other modes.

This is all the controls.  They are certainly sufficient - I, for one, do not miss the plethora of buttons that appeared later.  What I do miss is the ability to attach either a cable release or an electric version.  The EOS 650's sister the EOS 620 has a jack socket for a remote release in the grip/battery cover.  As the 650 has contacts inside this grip/battery cover I suspect the 620's grip could be used here.  There also seems to be no facility to use a remote release.  However, this was Canon's very first EOS camera and Canon learnt to add both electric and remote releases to future models.

Loading film is easy, as it is with all modern film cameras.  Open the back, insert the film cassette in the left chamber, pull the film across the shutter to the orange mark and close the back.  When you turn the camera on - if it isn't already - the camera automatically pulls the film leader onto the take-up spool and the camera is ready for frame 1.

The back is replaceable, Canon offering at least two alternative backs.  One simply printed the date and time on each negative.  The other back has an on-board computer that will record the date, time, frame number aperture and shutter speed in its memory.  These details can then be downloaded to a computer (I suspect you would need a 1980s computer to get the necessary interface).  The only evidence for these other backs with the standard back fitted is a row of  electrical contacts by the hinge.

I now have sample pictures available for this camera.  The one problem I have had is with the auto-focus.  I do not know if this was the lens (Canon EF 50mm f1.8 II) or the camera but the combination would not focus in sub-zero conditions - see the last picture.  It was fine above zero.  I have not used this lens in the cold before (we don't get a lot freezing weather in Lincoln) so I don't know how it would behave with another body.

Canon EOS 50E

Canon EOS 50E

This is a serious amateur camera aimed at the top of the amateur (or "consumer" to be modern) market.  It contains a number of features not found on most EOS cameras.  The most significant of these is eye-controlled focussing.  More of this later.

One of the problems of modern cameras is that they are all much of a muchness and Canon's EOS range is no exception.  It seems that the desire by designers to produce something that stands out has gone.  The 50E is instantly recognisable as an EOS camera.  The basic shape and design concepts are much as in others of the range.  So, we have the facilities we expect: a choice of three focussing modes, a choice of three metering modes, five pre-sets - portrait, landscape, macro, sport and automatic - and Tv, Av, M, Dep and program.

Focussing lock is accessed by partially depressing the shutter button and exposure lock has its own button on the top right rear of the camera.  It is possible to alter this arrangement using the Custom Functions - see below.  There is a built in flash and a hot shoe for connecting Canon's Speedlite flashguns.  So far, no surprises.

EOS 50E rear view

There are six settings that can be set in the software - ISO, usually read from the cassette via the DX system - auto exposure bracketing - red eye reduction - beeper/no beeper - multiple exposures - flash exposure compensation.

In addition to the normal shutter release, there are two forms of remote shutter release.  1) a cable plugged into the jack socket at the right hand side near the bottom & 2) a zapper that can only be used from in front of the camera but will work at a significant distance.  The zapper will allow a two second delay if required.

Lenses - this is an EOS camera and will take all of Canon's EF lenses.  As this is a 35mm camera and so a full frame camera it will not take the EF-S range of lenses intended for the APS-C format digital cameras.  It is not possible to make any mistake here as the EF-S lenses will not fit into the EF bayonet fitting.

EOS 50E with flash raised

The only other feature worth mentioning is the ability to rewind a film part way through.  This might be easy on a manual camera but the EOS 50E automatically rewinds the film when the film is finished and there is no rewind crank as there is on the other 35mm cameras I describe in this blog.  I think that it is Canon's assumption that you will develop the partially used film, but if you want to finish the roll of film you have partially used, you will need to note the frame number of the last shot and take that many shots in manual mode with the lens cap on.

Eye controlled focussing.  Using this, you look at the focussing point you want to use (there are three focussing points) and press the shutter release half way.  The camera then focusses on that focussing point.  Canon take this further and by looking at the top left of the viewfinder image and then half-depressing the shutter release, you can activate the depth of field preview, albeit in a dark (very dark at f22!) image.  Personally, I prefer to have depth of field figures printed on the lens barrel alongside the focussing scale - but neither of those is at all common on modern lenses.    This eye control works better than I expected it to, particularly as I wear spectacles.  As there are only three focussing points with this camera, what eye controlled focussing really means is that you can decide to focus on the left, the right or the centre of the intended image.

Custom Functions:

1 - automatic film rewind mode (fast and noisy or slow and quite)

2 -   Film leader position after rewind leave leader out of the cassette or not)

3 - ISO film setting method (uses DX system or not)

4 - AF and AE operation (AF via shutter release, AE via button; AE via shutter release, AF via button, AF and AE via shutter release button)

5 - Self timer and mirror lock up.

6 - Second curtain synchronisation for flash

7 - AF assist beam on or off

8 - Partial metering and FE lock on centre focussing point or not

9 - Flash sync in Av mode

10 - Focussing point flashing or not

11 - Eye-controlled depth of field preview on or off.

7-5-2012:  

Some sample pictures taken on Agfa Vista plus 200 ISO print film:

The Witch and Wardrobe pub, Lincoln

Church reflected in office block, Hull

Busker, Castle Hill, Lincoln

And on Adox Silvermax film:

Lincoln cathedral

Arboretum, Lincoln

Arboretum, Lincoln