Canon EOS 300

 I dont know if cameras are like buses, but it seems like it this week. I've gone through life never owning a Canon camera and suddenly two show up at once. Grab a brew and a tissue, this might get emotional.

A dear friend of mine has been through a truly horrendous period in his life as his Father and Brother both passed away within a couple of weeks of each other. Losing one is bad enough, losing two big influences in his life damn near broke him. Thankfully he's a strong chap with a wonderful family, a dog and a hoss who helped each other get through it. Then it came time to go through his Dad's belongings.

His Dad was a photographer and took lots of photo's of his family as they grew up. My friend was reminded of this when he found his Dad's Canon EOS 300 35mm camera. It had been sat in its box, in a cupboard, since his Dad made the jump to digital. Cue floods of tears and much reminiscing with his family about photos his Dad had taken with it. As with many folks, they weren't sure if you could still buy film, or if the camera still worked, and didn't really know what to do with it. However, my friend knew what to do with it.

My friend promised his Mum he would find a good home for it and sent me a message asking me if I would like to have it. He wanted it to go to someone who would use it rather than it go to a charity shop or be lost in the dark recesses of ebay. He reads my blog and gawps at my photos from time to time and he asked if I would be interested. It took me less time than the fastest shutter speed on the planet to say yes.

A few days later the camera arrived with a nice note thanking me for providing a home for not just his Dad's Canon EOS 300, but his own Canon EOS 300 as well. His Dad was a huge influence on him and, naturally, he got the same camera when his own interest in photography grew. He felt it was important that a little piece of both of them stayed together. I suddenly got dust in my eyes and they started leaking...

Now I am custodian of two Canon EOS 300 35mm cameras, I need to get to know them. That began with sourcing batteries and a lens. Batteries were easy to find, but a lens was the hard bit, there's so much choice of lenses in the Canon EF lens mount, both native and 3rd party. Do I get the ubiquitous kit lens or do I splash out on something a little better? I went for the kit lens.

Yes, I could have got any number of lenses, but the kit lens was the cheap option and you all know I don't like paying much for anything. I don't have a lot of cash, after paying my bills and feeding my family the money I have left goes on film or the odd camera and/or lens. I don't drink, smoke or have my own transport, this is my vice, my midlife crisis, and occasionally it keeps me out of mischief. 

Film Photography doesn't have to be expensive, it's something I have championed since I started my blog. I also have an addiction to cameras costing less than £75 which is why I take part in the Frugal Film Project every year. A swift hunt sourced a Canon 28-90mm f/4-5.6 lens for less than £50 from a reputable retailer here in the UK. The listing described the lens as "like new" and when it arrived it was indeed like new. I fitted the lens, installed the new batteries and loaded a roll of Ilford HP5 ready to head out and pop my Canon cherry.

My first shots were taken in my gardens. Well, I say gardens, but wild meadow is more accurate. I'm not much of a gardener, I leave the wild flowers alone for the bees to feast upon, then my son mows the grass when they go to seed. I managed some photos of dandelions, buttercups and wild garlic on a sunny afternoon before "Sean the Lawn" got busy with his mower. 

I shot the rest of the roll during a visit to Salford Museum and Art Gallery. Our pal Keith had made his annual pilgrimage back up north and he took my wife and I on a day out to visit the museum. Keith had visited this museum when still at primary school half a century ago and it was good to rekindle some memories and grab a photo or two whilst we were there.

I developed my roll of Ilford HP5+ 400 a couple of days later using Kodak HC110, 1+31 dilution B for 5 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised my film with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5, Valoi 35mm film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 size led light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Photo 2.

I enjoyed using my Canon EOS 300 for the first time. It's a midrange 35mm film camera from the final years of film, but don't let "midrange" put you off giving one a try. It's light weight, easy to use and has a great metering system that makes sure you get great exposures with little effort. I'm a Nikon guy, but I found it easy to adapt to the competition and I shall suitably chastise myself before the next meeting of the Cult of Nikon.

It also shoots each frame backwards. When you load your film it winds all the film onto the take up side and each shot you take is immediately re-wound into the cartridge. This means you wont lose your photos if you accidentally open the back with half a roll already used. This is great for beginners and absent minded "experts". We have all done it at some point, I know I have. It's good that Canon decided to use this feature in this camera. 

The Canon EOS 300 is also called the Canon EOS Rebel 2000 in North America and the EOS Kiss III in Japan and it is very cheap to buy at the moment. The market for plastic fantastic auto focus slr's has seen good condition examples, often with a lens, selling for not a lot of cash on ebay and various used gear retailers for quite a while.

Canon full frame DSLR users will find it easy to pick one up and be relatively comfortable with it in no time at all. It uses the same EF mount lenses too. Canon APS-C DSLR users will have to get a full frame lens for it, but many are sold with one anyway. It's all part of the joy of trying different cameras and systems.

Here's a few of my favourite photos from my first experience with my Canon EOS 300. I really enjoyed using it for the first time and it wont be long before I am out and about with it again. I have placed them and more in an album on Flickr that you can visit via the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Canon EOS 300 - Ilford HP5+ 400