Review of the Canon A2e 35mm SLR

The Canon line of cameras has been a major competitor in the photographic world for many years and has a history of quality with there lenses and cameras. They have covered the spectrum from professional to amateur with the long standing EOS series.

While there have been many advances that have came along and digital format is now a mainstay, there were a number of great slr's that are still used. One of these that falls into a class referred to as prosumer was the Canon A2e or also known as the EOS 5.

The A2e was a name used for cameras in the Japanese market and is second to the A2 which did not have certain advanced features included.  This camera was produced from 1992 to 1998.

One significant development that makes this camera stand out was that it was the worlds first SLR with eye controlled focusing. The focusing screen has five points in a row that allow the photographer to chose what area to focus on simply by looking through the viewfinder on that point. The system recognizes pupil size and movement and responds.

The feature is useful as mentioned by some photographers, while others say it is not quite up to snuff. At the time it was the first camera to incorporate it and others since then included and improved upon it. Another nice feature is the 5 fps shooting ability in the advanced shooting modes and 3 fps in the normal modes.

This camera also has programming and custom settings that allow a number of special features such as dual manual and AF at same time, and a favorite feature of closeup and slow speed photographers, , mirror lockup with use of self timer.

One of the most important accessories has to be the VG10 Vertical Grip. This allows vertical shooting with one drawback. The eye focus feature is disabled in vertical mode. However the grip does include the major controls that are easily accessed to control shutter, control wheel, and buttons on back for additional controls in different modes.

Having just purchased this camera I can not attest as yet to the ability of the equipment. I will be taking it out this Labor Day weekend and taking some shots to see what result i'll get. In the hands of a seasoned pro it is sure to be an important piece of equipment. As a photographer of limited skill, I will see if the controls and features can be used by a basic user.

Wish me luck and I'll post some pics for your comments. Have a great weekend!