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You can get a lot of camera for under $500—well built, great performance, and lots of features. A step or two (or three, in one case) up from the entry-level AF 35mm SLR models are a whole flock of reasonably priced first-rate cameras. Here are our favorites in the under-$500 (street price) category: Canon's EOS Elan 7, Minolta's Maxxum 5, Nikon's N80, the Pentax PZ-1p, and Sigma's SA-9. Canon EOS Elan 7 The third-generation model in Canon's super-silent EOS Elan series, the Elan 7 (the numeral refers to the number of AF areas it provides, not to its generation) comes in three versions: standard, Elan 7e with Canon's exclusive Eye Controlled Focus, and Elan 7e QD with Eye Control and a quartz date back.  | | Canon's EOS Elan 7 offers great performance and lots of "serious" features, along with simple operation for SLR newcomers. The Elan 7e version at above adds Eye Controlled Focus, which lets you choose where the camera will focus simply by looking there. | Focusing—Seven AF points—a central cross-type sensor, two vertical line sensors on each side, plus one horizontal line sensor above and one horizontal line sensor below the center sensor—provide a wide AF area. You can also select any of the points yourself, or let the camera select the AF point. In One-Shot AF mode, the camera will focus on the closest subject to appear in the wide seven-point AF area, and let you know which AF point it's using by flashing it in the viewfinder. In AI Servo AF, the camera starts to track subject with the center AF point, and once the subject has been acquired, will automatically switch to other AF points with predictive AF to track it. Eye Controlled Focus makes autofocusing quicker and easier: To select one of the seven AF points, just look at it. In continuous AF mode (AI Servo AF), you can keep the focusing point on the moving subject just by looking at it in the finder. The Elan 7's AF system operates in light levels from EV 1 to EV 18 (at ISO 100). In dim light, the built-in flash will emit a series of quick bursts to help the AF system focus (when the flash is popped up, which must be done manually in the Creative exposure modes). When an accessory EOS Speedlite flash unit is used, its AF-assist beam will be used instead of the built-in unit's series of flashes. You can use Custom Function 7 to deactivate the AF-assist beam in situations where it might prove annoying, such as a recital. There are three AF modes: One-Shot, AI Servo with predictive AF, and AI Focus. In One-Shot AF, the camera focuses on whatever falls under the active AF point, then locks focus there until you either take the picture or let go of the shutter button. In AI Servo with predictive AF, the camera focuses continuously on whatever falls under the active AF point, at up to 3.5 fps (the top 4 fps advance rate applies to One-Shot AF and manual-focus modes). In AI Focus AF, the camera automatically selects One-Shot or AI Servo AF to suit the shooting situation. Of course, you can also focus manually—and with Canon USM lenses, you don't even have to switch to MF first. Exposure—There are three metering modes: 35-zone Evaluative (linked to the active AF point), center-weighted, and partial, which reads the central 10% of the image area. A full array of exposure modes, including Canon's exclusive Depth-of-Field AE, can be engaged by rotating the Command Dial to the desired setting. The dial is divided into two sections by the OFF position. On the aft half of the dial are the point-and-shoot Basic Zone modes: full auto, and five Programmed Image Control (PIC) modes that set the camera for shooting portraits, landscapes, close-ups, sports action and night scenes. On the front half of the dial are the Creative Zone modes: shiftable program AE, shutter- and aperture-priority AE, metered manual and Depth-of-Field AE (which set the focus point and aperture to cover two prefocused subjects).  | | Photo by Lynne Eodice | You can set ±2 stops of exposure compensation in the Creative AE modes, in 0.5-stop increments. Auto Exposure Bracketing is also available in any of the Creative modes, including metered manual. Flash—The Elan 7's built-in TTL autoflash has an ISO 100 guide number of 42 (in feet), and covers the field of view of a 28mm lens. It automatically pops up and fires when needed in Full Auto, Portrait, Close-up and Night Scene PIC modes, and can be activated manually in the Creative Zone modes. Three-zone flash metering is linked to the active AF point for increased accuracy. In the Creative modes, you can set ±2 stops of flash exposure compensation, in 0.5-stop increments, and you can activate red-eye reduction in any mode except the two no-flash PIC modes (Landscape and Action). Maximum flash-sync shutter speed is 1/125. Add an EX-series Canon Speedlite (such as the 550EX), and you get more power, bounce capability and some amazing flash features. Thirty-five-zone E-TTL flash uses preflash evaluative metering to naturally balance flash and background exposures. High-Speed Sync (FP Flash) lets you shoot flash pictures at any shutter speed up to the camera's top 1/4000 (at close range, due to reduced power output). FE Lock and Flash Exposure Compensation work like their ambient-light counterparts, and can be used in conjunction with them. Flash Exposure Bracketing works like ambient-light exposure bracketing, but changes the flash output instead of the background exposure. The 550EX, 420EX and MR-14EX ringlight have a modeling flash feature that lets you preview the lighting effect (in Creative modes). Wireless E-TTL flash is possible with a Speedlite 550EX, MR-14EX Ring Lite, or Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2 mounted on the camera, and one or more 550EX or 420EX units used off-camera as slave units, with all of the above features. The Off-Camera Shoe Cord 2 lets you move the accessory Speedlite off-camera with full TTL control. Other Features—Shutter speeds range from 30 seconds to 1/4000, plus bulb. Film threading, advance (single-shot or continuous at 4 fps; 3.5 fps in AI Servo AF mode) and rewind are automatic and very quiet, thanks to the built-in Whisper Drive advance system. You can choose fast or silent rewind, and activate rewind in mid-roll if desired. There's a full-time depth-of-field preview button, and you can lock the mirror up before exposure via Custom Function 5, to let the mirror vibration (which is minimal anyway) settle down before exposure—especially useful for high-magnification work. Multi-exposure mode lets you make up to nine exposures on a single frame. The built-in eye-level pentaprism viewfinder has a high (19.5mm) eyepoint so that eyeglasses wearers can see the whole image while wearing their glasses. Viewfinder eyepiece correction from -2.5 to +1 diopters is built in. The external LCD panel atop the camera shows everything applicable to the current camera status (only the applicable items are displayed at any one time to avoid confusion). Like all EOS cameras, the Elan 7 can use all of the excellent EOS lenses, which currently number more than 50, from a 14mm f/2.8 superwide-angle and a 15mm f/2.8 full-frame fisheye to a monstrous 1200mm f/5.6 supertelephoto, including soft-focus, true macro and tilt-shift lenses, and more than 20 zooms from a 17-35mm f/2.8 to a 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6. Thirteen Custom Functions are built into the Elan 7, providing 34 different settings that allow you to tailor the camera to your preferences. The functions allow you to do such things as leave the film leader out after rewind, change the functions of the shutter and AE-lock button, set first or second-curtain flash sync, and disable or enable in-focus focusing-point flashing.
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