EOS Documentation Project

EOS Body Types (draft)

by Julian Loke and Gary Fisher

Contents

• Introduction
• Body Types
• Revision History
• Comments

Introduction

Canon categorizes its camera bodies in terms of compatibility with the advanced flash features of its EX Speedlites. Features such as High-Speed sync (Focal-Plane flash), wireless flash control, and Flash exposure lock (FEL) were made available to users of compatible EOS cameras, which were designated "Type A".

Older cameras could only make use of basic features, and were designated as "Type B" in Canon's literature.

Unfortunately, even within the designations "Type A" and "Type B", there are minor and confusing irregularities. The most important of these is that "Type A" film SLRs can shoot with older EZ Speedlites. However, "Type A" digital SLRs will NOT couple automatically with older EZ series Speedlites, and can only be operated with the Speedlite in (manual) fixed power modes.

This document tries to distinguish camera bodies into subtypes for clarity. To prevent surprises when shooting, check your equipment combination against the table below.

Body Types

		Type	C	B			A
		Subtype	C	B-	B	B+	A-	A			A+	AII	AII+
		Top			1, 1HS, RT	1N, 1NHS, 1NDP, 1NRS, DCS 1, DCS 3		DCS 2000, DCS 6000		1V, 1VHS	1D, 1DS		1DII, 1DS II
		High		620	600, 630	10, 10S, 5, A2, A2E				3
		Mid		650	100		Elan IIE, 50E, 55, IX Lite, IX 7, IX 50		Elan 7, Elan 7E, 7, 7E, 30, 33		D30, D60, 10D	Elan 7N, Elan 7NE, 7N, 7NE, 30V, 33V	20D
		Basic	EF-M	750, 850	1000, REBEL, 1000N, REBEL II	500, REBEL XS, Kiss, 500N, REBEL  G, New Kiss	IX, IX E, 300, REBEL 2000, Kiss III, 300V, REBEL Ti, Kiss 5				300D, Digital REBEL, Kiss Digital	300X,  REBEL T2, Kiss 7
		Value			700	3000, 5000, 888	3000N, REBEL XS N, 66, 3000V, REBEL K2, Kiss Lite
Auto flash	480EG	Auto	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
TTL flash	160E, 200E, 480EG, ML-3	TTL	n	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	n	Y	n
A-TTL flash	420EZ, 430EZ, 540EZ, 300EZ	A-TTL	n	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	n	Y	n
		FEC	n	n	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	n	Y	n
		AIM	n	n	n	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	n	Y	n
E-TTL flash	380EX, 420EX, 550EX, 580EX, MR-14EX, MT-24EX	TTL mode	n	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	n	Y	n
		E-TTL	n	n	n	n	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	n	n
		E-TTL II	n	n	n	n	n	n	n	n	n	Y	Y
		E-TTL II Average	n	n	n	n	n	n	n	n	n	n	Y
		FEC	n	n	n	n	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
		FEL	n	n	n	n	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
		FEM	n	n	n	n	n	?	n	Y	Y	n	Y/n
		HSS	n	n	n	n	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
	Master 550EX, ST-E2, MR-14EX, MT-24EX Slaves 420EX, 550EX	Wireless manual	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
		Wireless auto	n	n	n	n	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
		Wireless auto-ratio	n	n	n	n	n	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
		Modelling flash	n	n	n	n	n	n	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y

Auto flash Automatic flash- exposure sensor located on flash unit TTL Through-The-Lens automatic flash - sensor located under SLR mirror A-TTL Advanced TTL program flash - preflash sensor on flash unit, exposure sensor under SLR mirror E-TTL Evaluative TTL program flash - sensor located at focussing screen E-TTL II Evaluative TTL II program flash - sensor located at focussing screen, uses focus distance E-TTL II Average Selectable E-TTL II metering pattern - Evaluative vs. Average AIM Advanced Integrated Multi-point flash metering - for cameras with multiple focus sensors FEC Flash Exposure Compensation TTL mode E-TTL flash forced to operate in TTL mode FEL Flash Exposure Lock FEM Flash Exposure Metering for EX flash set to manual power HSS High-Speed Sync (Focal plane flash) Wireless manual Wireless multi-unit flash with manual power control Wireless auto Wireless multi-unit flash with automatic power control Wireless auto-ratio Wireless multi-unit flash with automatic power ratio control Modelling flash Modelling flash

? no data - not applicable n no Y YES

Revision History

v0.7 2005Feb12 mu: ETTL-II update
v0.6 2004Oct27 jul: 580EX
v0.5 2004Aug19 jul: 20D
v0.4 2004May11 js: D2000, D6000; jul: Type/subtype; Split A
v0.3 2004May09 jul: text, edits
v0.2 2004Feb18 jul: E-TTL II
v0.1 2003Dec29 jul: original draft; gaf: edits

Comments

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