For those photographic tasks best handled with
35mm SLRs, I use (and like) the Canon EOS system. I find the
usual arguments about the merits of various SLR bodies to be a
little tiresome, and as a result I don’t own top of the line
bodies. Instead, I have an A2e and I have had an Elan (the Elan
has become my daughter’s camera). I like the EOS system
because I find that the autofocus performance is excellent, the
cameras are robust, and the user interface matches my personal
preferences. The major downside of the A2e is the horrendous
delay between pressing the shutter button and the shutter opening
when you have the eye-controlled focus enabled. I generally use
that body with the eye-controlled focus disabled. [I was tempted to upgrade by
the introduction of the EOS-3. Since then, I've gone and examined one
closely. I think, in general, that on the whole I prefer the EOS-1n.
The prices on the EOS-1n are falling, and perhaps soon I'll relent and buy a
pair.]
At one point, I had a fairly complete set of
fixed focal length lenses: 24mm, 35mm, 85mm, 100mm macro, and a
70-200mm f/2.8 zoom. I’ve also owned the 35-135mm zoom and
the 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM zoom, both of which I found to be less
than stellar. In particular, the 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 zoom was
disappointing.
Since then, I’ve sold all of the fixed
focal length lenses except the 100mm f/2.8 macro, which is an
excellent lens that I just can’t bring myself to part with.
All of the fixed focal length lenses were replaced with a 28-70mm
f/2.8L zoom, which is an excellent lens. Now that my daughter is
using the Elan, I find myself wishing (just a little bit) that
I’d hung on to at least the 35mm and 85mm, both of which
were very nice. I’ve bought her the 50mm f/1.4, which is
very nice. Other than that regret, I find the line up of the
28-70 and 70-200mm f/2.8L lenses to be a good combo. On rare
occasion I'm tempted to pick up the 17-35mm f/2.8L or whatever it
is, but I find that I use really wide lenses rarely, so I've
resisted so far.
One of the major downsides to the Canon gear is
that it’s huge. Even the smaller cameras, such as the
original Elan, are huge compared to, say, an old Pentax or
Olympus. The lenses are monstrously huge. I sometimes use an A2e
with the 70-200mm f/2.8L and the 1.4x extender, along with the
lens shade. Such a combination draws a crowd. It’s not
possible to be inconspicuous. I've had people comment that that
particular combination probably contravenes some strategic arms
limitations treaty. This means that for work where an inconspicuous camera
is a help, I end up using a Leica M6 instead of the Canon EOS gear.
On the bright side, at least the Canon EOS bodies
(or some of them) are relatively quiet. The EOS A2e is silent
compared to, say, a Nikon F4.
There are basically three reasons why the Canon
gear gets taken out: closeup work, where the 100mm f/2.8 macro
gets used and an SLR is a big win; stuff which needs long focal
lengths like the 70-200mm lens with the 1.4x extender (like
photos of birds in the back yard), and stuff where autofocus is
essential (like sports). For those purposes, it’s stellar
equipment. For all 35mm work that doesn’t fall into that
category (and my major project right now is being done primarily
in 35mm) I use a Leica M6, for reasons which are described in the
M6 section.