Canon EOS 5/A2/A2e
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Canon EOS A2 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | 35mm SLR |
| Lens mount | Canon EF lens mount |
| Focus | TTL Phase Detection Autofocus (5 zone) |
| Exposure | PASM autoexposure 16 zone evaluative metering |
| Flash | Built-in flash |
| Frame rate | Up to 5 fps |
| Dimensions | 154 x 121 x 74 mm, 675 g |
The Canon EOS A2/A2e (American models) / EOS 5 (international model) is an autofocus, autoexposure 35mm SLR camera sold beginning in November 1992. As part of the EOS line of cameras, the 5/A2/A2e utilized Canon's EF bayonet lens mount, first introduced in 1987.
The 5/A2/A2e featured a built-in zoom flash, fast motor drives and several pre-set autoexposure modes. Although marketed towards the "prosumer" user, the 5/A2/A2e were popular among professional photographers. The camera was powered by a 6 volt lithium 2CR5 battery, or, with the optional Canon BP-5 Battery Pack, could be powered by D batteries attached to the belt of the user. The Canon VG-10 Vertical Grip added a shutter release, control wheel, AE Lock button and Focus Point Selection button to the bottom of the camera for portrait orientation use, but did not add AA batteries as a power source.
The camera had many operational modes available, selected by the dial on the left-hand side of the camera. These modes selected whether the exposure settings were set automatically, semiautomatically or fully manually. This dial also doubled as an on/off switch.
The Canon EOS 5/A2/A2e had three built-in metering modes; Evaluative, center-weight average and spot. These were user-selectable by means of a button on the back of the camera and the command dial.
Unique (at the time of the EOS 5/A2e's introduction) to the EOS 5/A2e was Canon's eye-controlled focussing, which allowed the user to select from one of five focus points by looking at it through the viewfinder (but only using the camera horizontally). Although the A2 had the same five focus points, they had to be selected by pressing one of the thumb buttons on the back of the camera and turning the command dial above the shutter.
Peculiar to the Canon EOS line of cameras is the tendency of the dials to change function based on user mode. The 5/A2/A2e has two dials to control exposure, one over the shutter button and one on the back of the camera. Although this is not unusual, in a Canon EOS, the dial above the shutter button will adjust the shutter speed in Tv or Time Variance mode (shutter priority), but in Av or aperture variance (aperture priority) mode this same dial will adjust the opening of the lens. In full manual mode, the dial above the shutter reverts to adjusting the shutter speed, and the back dial controls the aperture. This is in contrast to other camera manufacturers who keep dials down to a single function. Some photographers love this feature, other dislike it, most never think about it. Custom functions allow one to change this behavior so that the shutter and aperture controls are always linked to the same dials no matter which mode the camera is in.
At the time of the camera's production, there was a U.S. patent on the use of a digital scale to show under or over exposure in a metered-manual SLR. Canon didn't want to pay this patent holder and therefore omitted the -2/+2 (in half-stops) scale in the A2/A2e, leaving just an over or under indication. The European/Japanese market EOS 5 had the scale and on account of this many American photographers preferred the imported model. This is a firmware difference only, and there is at least one third-party firm which will install EOS 5 firmware on an A2/A2e, thereby adding this scale.
[edit] Features
- TTL Phase Detection AF
- Shutter 30 sec - 1/8000 sec
- Viewfinder 92% vertical coverage, 94% horizontal coverage, 0.73 magnification
- 16 zone evaluative metering
- AF operating range at ISO 100: EV 0 - 18
- Built-in flash
- Five frames per second in one shot AF mode
- Three frames per second in AI servo AF mode
- Five horizontal autofocus sensors
- Eye-controlled focussing (EOS 5/A2e)
- Custom functions
- Requires one 6V 2CR5 battery
- Dimensions and weight 154 x 121 x 74 mm, 675 g
Sources:
| Canon SLR cameras | ||
| Lens Mount | Series | Model |
|---|---|---|
| FL | FX (1964), FP (1964), Pellix (1965), FT QL (1966), Pellix QL (1966), TL (1968) | |
| FD | F | Amateur: FTb (1971), FTbn (1973), EF (1973), TLb (1974), TX (1975) |
| Professional: F-1(1971), F-1n (1976), New F-1 (1981) | ||
| A | AE-1 (1976), AT-1 (1976), A-1 (1978), AV-1 (1979), AE-1 Program (1981), AL-1 (1982) | |
| T | T50 (1983), T70 (1984), T80 (1985), T90 (1986), T60 (1990) | |
| EF | ||
| 1 | EOS-1 (1989), EOS-1N (1994), EOS-1N RS (1995), EOS-1V (2001) | |
|
EOS 650 (1987), EOS 620 (1987), EOS 750QD (1988), EOS 850QD (1988), EOS 630QD (1989), EOS RT (1989), EOS 700QD (1989), EOS 10sQD (1990), EOS 1000F (1990), EOS 100 (1991), EOS EF-M (1991), EOS 5/5QD/A2/A2e (1992), EOS 1000FN (1992), EOS 500 (1993), EOS 888 (1993), EOS 50 (1995), EOS 500N (1996), EOS-3 (1998), EOS 88 (1999), EOS 300 (1999), EOS 30 (2000), EOS 3000N (2002), EOS 300V (2002), EOS 3000V (2003), EOS 30V (2004), EOS 300X (2004) |
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| IX | EOS IX, EOS IX Lite | |
| Edit | ||
