Well, for those who thought film cameras might be on the way out and digital was taking over, Canon has announced a replacement for the EOS30 camera. An EOS-30V.

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CANON LAUNCHES NEW FILM CAMERA

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Hard on the heels of the digital EOS 1D Mark II, announced at the end of last month, comes a new EOS film camera.

The EOS 30V Date is an updated EOS 30. Improvements include a faster autofocus, an E-TTL flash metering system which now takes note of the subject distance, a film advance speed of 4 fps (maximum), and a backlit LCD display. The camera comes with a quartz-date back as standard.

The EOS 30V date will be available from April 2004 in a kit (with EF 28-105mm f4-5.6 lens) at a recommended retail price of £499.99.

Main features

· Exceptionally fast auto-focus
· 4 fps continuous shooting
· Rugged metal body with ergonomic design and quartz-date back
· Excellent flash output with distance-linked E-TTL II flash metering
· 7 wide-area focusing points, selected automatically, with eye-control or manually
· 35-zone metering linked to focusing points
· 13 custom functions with 34 settings to personalise your camera
· 11 shooting modes including six PIC modes
· Ultra-quiet operation and film transport system
· Full range of EF lenses and EOS accessories available



Canon is making a habit of launching new EOS cameras in pairs ­ one digital and one film. Last September saw the introduction of the EOS 300D and the EOS 3000V. Now we have the EOS 1D Mark II and the EOS 30V Date.

The EOS 30V Date is an upgrade of the EOS 30, a mid-range camera aimed at enthusiasts. A key feature for many users is the eye-control focus. After you have calibrated this to your eye-sight, the camera focuses the lens to match the area of the image you look at. As you look at different areas of the viewfinder screen, the focus follows your eye. This feature is mostly unchanged on the new EOS 30V Date.

Many of the changes are, in fact, fairly minor. Canon has taken the opportunity to enhance the appearance of the camera and add some features requested by users of the earlier model.

Exterior appearance
The EOS 30V Date camera body features an aluminium exterior with a black leather-tone finish. Some of the dials and buttons have been redesigned to make them easier to read. The LCD now has backlight illumination for use in low light. One of the main changes is the addition of a quartz-date back as standard. This enables you to imprint the date or time of shooting on your frames at the moment of exposure.

Improved flash
The EOS 30V Date (along with the new EOS 1D Mark II) uses an improved E-TTL flash system. On previous models, the E-TTL flash metering was based on the amount of a pre-flash reflected back to the camera from the subject. While this works well in most situations, exposure may not be correct if the subject is very light in tone, or there are highly reflective surfaces in the subject area.
The new cameras introduce subject distance into the flash algorithms. E-TTL flash metering is now able to identify and ignore areas of the subject which are showing unusually high levels of reflected light. The system is also able to prevent overexposure when there is no subject at a manually-selected focus point. The new E-TTL flash metering system is only effective with dedicated Speedlite flashguns; the built-in flash unit continues to use the original E-TTL system.

Faster focusing
The speed at which the camera focuses has been boosted and is now similar to the focusing speed of the EOS 1V. The predictive focusing capability also matches that of the EOS 1V and EOS 3. A new 'random-type' focusing screen provides a good balance between focusing accuracy and brightness.
There is an increase in the maximum shooting speed from 2.4fps on the EOS 30 to 4fps on the EOS 30V Date.

Price and availability
The EOS 30V Date will be available from April. The suggested retail price for the camera kit (includes camera body and EF 28-105mm f4-5.6 lens) is £499.99.


EOS 30V Date specification

TYPE
Type: 35mm SLR (single lens reflex) AF/AE camera with built-in winder and flash.
Lens mount: Canon EF mount (full electronic control).
Usable lenses: Canon EF (except EF-S lenses).

VIEWFINDER
Type: eye-level fixed pentaprism.
Standard diopter: ­1 diopter.
Dioptric adjustment: ­2.5 to +0.5 dioptre.
Focusing screen: compound-matte screen with 7 AF points (fixed).
Depth-of-field: enabled with depth-of-field preview button.

AUTOFOCUS
AF control system: TTL-CT-SIR (through-the-lens secondary image registration, center-cross type) with CMOS sensor.
Focusing modes: one-shot AF; predictive AI servo AF; AI focus AF; manual.
Focusing methods: focusing point selection with eye-control; automatic focusing point selection; manual focusing point selection.
Eye control selection: focusing point selection possible in one-shot AF, AI servo AF, AI focus AF.
Eye control calibration: enabled by switching eye-control switch to CAL.
AF Working Range: EV 1 to 18 at ISO 100.
AF assist beam: built-in AF-assist beam; lights automatically in low light.
AF point display: superimposed display in viewfinder and display on LCD panel on top of camera.

EXPOSURE CONTROL
Light metering: TTL full aperture metering with a 35-zone silicon photocell.
Metering modes: evaluative metering; partial metering at centre (approx.10% of viewfinder); centre-weighted average metering.
Metering range: EV 1 - 20 (20°C with 50mm f/1.4 lens, ISO 100).
Shooting modes: green mode (full auto); programmed image control (portrait, landscape, close-up, sports, night portrait, flash-off); intelligent program AE (P); shutter-priority AE (Tv); aperture-priority AE (Av); manual (M); auto depth-of-field AE (A-DEP).
Exposure compensation: AEB (autoexposure compensation), manual, flash exposure compensation (built-in and external).
Multiple exposures: up to nine can be set.

SHUTTER
Type: vertical-travel, focal-plane shutter with all speeds electronically controlled.
Shutter speeds: 1/4000 second to 30 seconds (with 0.5 stop increments), bulb.
Self timer: electronically controlled, 10 second delay.
Camera shake warning: provided for full auto and programmed image control modes.

FILM HANDLING
Film speed setting: automatic setting with DX code ­ ISO 25 to 5000 in 1/3 stop increments; manual setting ­ ISO 6 to 6400 in 1/3 stop increments.
Film loading: automatic (after loading cartridge and closing back cover, the film winds to frame 1).
Film advance: single frame shooting or 4 fps (maximum) continuous shooting (automatically selected according to shooting modes).
Film rewind: automatic at end of the roll; mid-roll rewind possible. Silent mode (approx.13 seconds with 24-exposure film); high speed rewind (approx. 5 seconds with 24-exposure film).

POWER SOURCE
Battery: two CR123A lithium batteries (6 volt).
With Battery Pack BP-300: four LR6 (AA alkaline batteries) or two CR123A lithium batteries.
Battery check: battery level is displayed on LCD panel in one of four levels.

BUILT-IN FLASH
Type: built-in, auto pop-up TTL autoflash head in the pentaprism; also manually retractable.
Guide number: 13 (ISO 100, metres).
Coverage: down to 28mm lens angle.
Recycling time: approximately 2 seconds.
X-sync: 1/125 second and slower.
Shooting distance range: 1 to 5.2 metres (ISO 100 negative film, EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM lens at 28mm).
Red-eye reduction function: available in all picture-taking modes except landscape and sports.
Flash exposure system: TTL off-the-film, 3-zone, autoflash metering linked to AF points.
Flash exposure compensation: up to ±2 stops in 0.5 stop increments for built-in flash or external Speedlite.
Flash contact: accessory shoe for external Speedlites.
External Speedlite flash metering: E-TTL/A-TTL/TTL autoflash. E-TTL autoflash algorithm incorporating lens focusing distance.
Curtain synchronization: first curtain; second curtain synchronization possible with custom function.

LCD PANEL
External display: LCD panel on top of camera.
Illumination: lights with the LCD panel illumination button (approx. 5 seconds).

OTHER SPECIFICATIONS
Custom functions: 13 functions with 34 settings.
Camera orientation detection switch: provided.
Tripod Socket: CU 1/4
Remote control terminal: for Remote Switch RS-60E3.
Body material: aluminum and polycarbonate resin with glass fibre.
Body colour: black.

Dimensions
Size: 146.7 x 103 x 69mm
Weight: 580g

DATE IMPRINTING
Type: built-in auto calendar (with automatic adjustment for leap years).
Imprinting formats: month, day, year; day, month, year; year, month, day; day, hour, minute; blank.
Imprinting position: lower right of picture in orange.
Wireless remote control: compatible with Remote Control RC-1.

All data is based on Canon 's standard testing methods. Final specifications are subject to change without notice.