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The Birth of EOS (1987-1988)
윗 사진은 내 카메라다.
Canon EOS 620 and 50mm f/1.4 USM (27.2 oz/772g wet with no lens; EOS 650 looks the same). enlarge. I'd get it at this direct link to it at <eBay, where you can take your chances for about $15, and also Adorama who sometimes has guaranteed EOS 620s and EOS 650s for around $50-$75. It helps me keep adding to this site when you get yours through these links, thanks! Ken.
July 2009 More Canon Reviews Shooting these digitally
Introduction
"Fewer controls mean greater control."
"Extraordinary, ultra-fast autofocus system."
"The faster you can respond to each photo opportunity, the more opportunities you can take advantage of."
"Unlimited potential for future development."
"Operation is incredibly easy."
"Exceptionally easy to obtain truly creative flash effects."
These are from Canon's literature, and boy are they right.
The EOS 620 and EOS 650 are solid cameras with big, sharp, beautiful viewfinders that do everything you need, and nothing you don't.
This means that you can shoot faster and get a higher percentage of keepers, instead of missing shots because you were off fiddling with some pointless setting.
Because of this, I astounded myself when I realized that I've already published over 50% of the images I shot on the very first roll with the EOS 620. I never get that percentage of keepers on newer cameras; I waste too many pictures dicking with their settings.
The model number will never tell you this, but the EOS 650 is the world's first EOS camera. The EOS 650 is the camera from which all Canon SLRs and DSLRs descend. For example, today's 5D Mark II takes the same eyecups and has its controls in the same places. Whether you like it or not, it has exactly the same uncomfortable front control dial as today's EOS DSLRs from the Rebels to the 5D Mark II and 1Ds Mk III.
The EOS 620 came out two months after the EOS 650. It adds a faster shutter, shiftable program, exposure bracketing, multiple exposures and the world's first electroluminescent LCD illuminator. It lacks the confusing depth-of-field priority mode of the EOS 650.
The Canon EOS 620 and EOS 650 are otherwise the same camera and will be discussed together. The EOS 650 is wonderful, but get the EOS 620 if you have the choice.
The Canon EOS 620 and EOS 650 have everything you need, like 6-segment evaluative (matrix) metering and the smartest, easiest TTL flash control system I've ever seen, and nothing you don't need to get in the way.
It is extraordinarily refreshing to use these advanced cameras because they just go. Nothing, no menus, no custom functions, nor anything else needs to be twiddled to make a picture because they are designed properly. All you do is compose and shoot, exactly as photography should be.
They are relatively heavy, advanced amateur cameras. The Canon EOS 620 and EOS 650 are solidly built SLRs with big, sharp glass-prism viewfinders, which are bigger and with less distractions than even the full-frame 5D Mark II!
Everything (shutter, aperture and compensation) works in half-stops. If you want third stops, change the ISO, and if you want sixth stops, use both. Of course actual automatic exposure is stepless.
They work great with infra-red film. There are no IR sensors inside the camera to fog IR film, as there are with newer EOS cameras.
Since Canon started the EOS system as a completely brand-new, ground-up design, the EOS 650 and EOS 620 are complete masterpieces of modern simplicity. They are not sloppy hacks like Nikon's first attempts at AF cameras.
Because they are original EOS cameras, every Canon lens made today, like L, USM and IS, work perfectly, unlike with Nikon, where nothing from 1987 works well with Nikon's newest cameras or lenses.
Top, Canon EOS 620 and 50mm f/1.4 USM. The EOS 650 is the same, minus the "ME" mark. enlarge.
People today will spend $8,000 to buy a LEICA simply because it has no superfluous controls to get in the way of making a great picture. The Canon EOS 650 and EOS 620 share this simplicity, along with advanced Matrix TTL metering and superior viewfinders, and many other important features simply not available in today's LEICA at any price.
So why do more expensive cameras offer more stuff? To sell more cameras. Each year, no matter how great a product, every company, except for LEICA, feels the need to pile on more silly features to get people to buy more cameras.
Today, cameras are so overloaded with crap that no one knows how to use them. I write the guidebooks, and even I have to refer to them to figure out basics like where to find the self timer on newer cameras.
I much prefer simpler cameras that work as they should, instead of having to waste time in menus working around useless fluff instead of having direct access to what matters, as I get with the EOS 650 and EOS 620.
Canon got it right the first time. Newer EOS cameras are nice, but not necessarily better while definitely more complicated.
Features
EOS (Electro-Optical System): a brand-new, clean slate, all-electronic lens control system that throws Nikon back to the 1950s.
Autofocus: High-speed and precise.
Built-in 3 FPS Motor Drive: This was hot stuff in 1987.
6-Segment Evaluative (Matrix) Metering: P, Tv, Av and Manual Exposure modes.
World's First EL Illuminated LCD (EOS 620).
Automatic ISO Setting.
Fully Automatic Film Loading and Rewinding.
Full-Information Finder: Shutter, Aperture, Focus Lock, Exposure compensation warning,
Rear Control Buttons: Behind a magnetic flip-down door, later copied by Nikon in the F5 and F6.
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