I have been using Canon equipment now for many years, my first was an Tlb, and I have gone through the AE1 EF and F1, but I must say that the best Canon that I have ever used is the EOS5,never had any problems with it, never lets me down. but what I would like to know is where in the UK can I get replacement focusing screens now. I have not seen any for sale and found none on E-Bay. any ideas?

Good morning, e been us;

It has been a while, hasn't it. No response yet. OK. Let me add to the confusion:

Finding some of the more rare, or at least less popular accessories, for a camera can be a challenge. My own chosen or preferred brand is Minolta, where the new purchasers and owners of the marque ordered that all of the parts, literature, accessories, and everything else associated with the manual focusing forms of that brand of camera, were to be thrown out and destroyed. What a shame.

I have purchased a camera or a camera kit, just to get one of the accessory items in it or with it.

For getting a non-common focusing screen for the Minolta X-700, I bought another camera (Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.) which had that particular focusing screen in it, just to get the screen. Clearly I did not need yet another X-700 body, but that was the only sample of that screen I have ever seen, and it was attached to that body. Just to compound the problem, yes, I did send the X-700 body out for a full CLA also, and that added significantly to the overall cost of the purchase of that focusing screen. I do have many samples of the regular X-700 focusing screen here already (no, please do not ask) so having the normal screen put into that body was easy during the CLA; they "did it for free." And, now the body I wanted to have that special focusing screen is now equipped with it.

Yes, some of us are much more susceptible to GAS than most others. Fortunately for me, the Canon marque is not one for which I have a strong urge, so it has been possible to resist up to this point. However, I do admit that there are a couple of Canon EOS original Elan bodies here (all I wanted was a film body that my other EOS lenses for the DSLR could go onto), and there is the Canon Pellix QL that just "arrived" one day (another repair and CLA), and there are the Canon EOS-20D bodies and the venerable EOS-D60 body and the lenses for them. There might be an EOS-50D body some day. And at some point, there is still a Canon F1 and some lenses to be purchased to replace what a kid "lost" a few years back.

I really do need to find a chapter of Cameras Anonymous.

Enjoy; Ralph, Latte Land, Washington

Has everybody left the planet, I can't believe this web site is so quiet.

I have Canon slr's of both flavors and became a firm fan when the Newspapers (I worked for Fairfax at the time) switched from Nikon to Canon.

I have a Canon eos5 which I find to be one of the most useful cameras I have used or owned, no fuss and no trouble.

The lenses are good, even the cheap ones which I find adequate for my purpose, I would like to try an expensive Canon lens but they are out of my reach, price wise.

Still, it's the doing and not the talking that makes great photographs.

Dai.

Good morning, Dai;

Yeah, it does seem to be quiet, doesn't it? I do check the forum an average of 5 or 6 times per week, but there does not seem to be a lot of activity with many film camera forums. One other forum here on APUG had lain fallow for a couple of years. I discovered it just last week, started posting messages on it, and the thing doubled in membership in one day. It is amazing what can happen with a group if there is just a little bit of activity.

My own Canon Elan film cameras are limited to the original Elan model; the one with the IR LED sprocket hole detection system that fogged Infra Red film if you tried to use it in the Elan. Great system for a motor drive; you just had to be careful with your selection of film.

There are also a few Canon 35mm lenses here. Probably the most impressive is the 10:1 zoom lens from 35mm to 350mm. I am still not sure why I bought it, but it has come in handy a couple of times. It does help me to justify the size of tripods I have here.

Good photographs. Yes. It is amazing what can be done if you just take the equipment you have and go out and use some film. There are a lot of "other manufacturers" lenses here (Vivitar, Soligor, Tamron, Komura, KIRON, Albinar, and others); mainly single focal length or "prime" lenses. When we look at the results that come from those lenses, it is not easy to justify the cost of the "modern formula lenses" available from the shops. By the time we reached the 1960s, the optical lens design for single focal length lenses had reached a pretty advanced level. In the following years, the main advances with them was in the lens coatings, but we can often make those even better if we just put a good lens hood or lens shade on the front of them. It is amazing what effect on contrast and color saturation a lens hood will provide. I am still enjoying my older lenses.

Enjoy;

Ralph
Latte Land, Washington

Regarding focusing screens I'm not sure you can get the new ones for EOS5, but I believe the ones for EOS 1/1N/1V are the same as EOS 1D/1Ds and those can be bought from warehouseexpress.co.uk Camera can be probably bought from apertureuk.com

My advise is check their web sites. Also buy Black and White Photography magazine. They tend to advertise a lot of used equipment shops.

PS. I first used EOS 300X - still has it. Superb camera. Took it few times on winter hike- weather was so bad I had to blow on dials so I can use them, that was 4-5 years ago and the camera is still fine. I have since got a second one. 20 year old EOS 1 - heavy as hell and I love it. Quite good AF too - I was surprised how fast it was. I admit the new DSLR's have better AF but still...