Canon EOS 620 and the 30th anniversary of the EOS System

The last time I used film was 10 years ago, when I photographed The Wind of Storm, one of my all time favorite images. Although, I loved shooting film, since then I used digital technique exclusively. However, I’ve always missed the feel of analog photography and recently I’ve been thinking more and more about using film again. Because this year is the 30th anniversary of the Canon EOS System, I decided to celebrate with my favorite camera manufacturer and buy one of the first EOS cameras. Canon’s EOS System debuted in March 1987 with the EOS 650 camera and a few EF lenses. EOS is the acronym of “Electro Optical System” and it was the world’s first fully electronic mount system. Two months later, Canon introduced the EOS 620, a more advanced camera with higher technical specifications. It adds a faster shutter, exposure bracketing, multiple exposure and an electroluminescent LCD illuminator. The Canon EOS 650 and EOS 620 are otherwise the same camera and they are the fathers of all modern Canon SLRs and DSLRs. I chose to buy the EOS 620, because I need the “pro features” it offers. I got mine for $20 on eBay. This classic camera is actually very modern and works perfectly with every Canon EF lens, even newer technologies, like Image Stabilization works flawlessly. It’s also compatible with my Canon 430EX flash, so I don’t need to buy anything to start using this film camera. It’s a relatively heavy camera with a huge and bright glass-prism viewfinder. It has a 6-segment evaluative (matrix) metering, manual, program, TV and AV modes, a fully automatic film loading and rewinding and of course a fast and precise autofocus. Basically it has everything I need and even more. I plan to use it for landscape photography with a hybrid workflow in which I scan the images then take advantage of digital processing. Of course I will still use my digital camera as well, mainly for wildlife photography and night photography or whenever I feel it. For me it’s not film vs. digital, I love using both techniques and I only bought the EOS 620, because I wanted to shoot film again. So far, I have been really enjoying this historical piece of gear.

Canon EOS 620

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