The Canon EOS 3 film body

The EOS 3 is Canon's second from the top body, behind the EOS 1V, with which it shares a number of features: Canon's fastest auto focus, 45 point focusing, speeds up to 1/8000, mirror lockup, E-TTL flash control, self timer, second curtain flash option, the usual features you would expect in a top of the line camera body these days.

What the 1V has that the 3 doesn't includes a heavier, and probably more durable, all-metal body; better weather sealing (although the 3 is quite good in this regard); and electronic data imprinting downloadable to a computer. Curiously, the 3 has faster film advance - 3.5 frames per second - without the heavy PB-E2 power booster than the 1V. (With the booster, the 1V whips along at 10 frames per second, compared to 7 frames per second with the 3.)

Beyond that the cameras are little different, and the EOS 3 is significantly lighter and less expensive. The 3 has eye-controlled focus point selection as an option. I like this feature on the A2E, where you choose among five focus points by looking at them through the viewfinder. On the 3, with 45 points much closer together, it's a lot harder to pick out the one you want with much accuracy. I usually let the camera choose, and it usually chooses right.

I like the 3 a lot and use it as my main camera for everything from wildlife and landscapes to sports, travel and informal portraiture. (For better portraits and occasional landscapes, I prefer the big Pentax 645 or even my old Mamiya TLR, and for backpacking, or any other time weight is an issue, I usually take my A2E.) For general shooting, I use either the 28-135 IS lens, which is a good all around package, or the 20-35 L zoom. For sports and wildlife photography I use the 100-400L zoom.

For flash photography the 550EX flash is good and powerful, though a bit more fiddly to adjust than I might like. Even better is using two 550EX flashes, with one on camera and one off; the on-camera unit can be set to control the other wirelessly with adjustable lighting ratios.

The 3's good points:

Fast auto focus.
Accurate exposure
Intuitive controls, after a little practice
Durable construction suitable for heavy use
Auto focus at f/8
Fast frame speed, especially with PB-E2 booster
Good flash control with dedicated flashes

Its bad points:

Heavy, especially with the power booster.
Bulky body for people with small hands.
Eye control is not as reliable as I'd like it to be
Uses expensive 2CR5 batteries unless you attach the booster
Custom features aren't labeled in English, so you need to keep a list of them handy.

New price is about $800 from most reputable mail order houses. Better idea, though, is to buy one used from KEH.com, an excellent and trustworthy retailer of used photo equipment.

Nov. 30, 2004