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Covington Innovations Home > Astronomy and Astrophotography > Links > Digital SLR Notes > Digital Rebel Misc. Notes
Miscellaneous Notes on the
Canon EOS 300D Digital Rebel
(also applicable to other Canon DSLRs)
Angle finders
The Canon Angle Finder C provides you a bright, high-eyepoint (long-eye-relief) right-angle view through any EOS viewfinder, with a choice of magnifications (1.2x or 2.5x). Note that this is on top of the approximately 4x magnification of the viewfinder eyepiece, so Canon's 2.5x would be considered 10x compared to Nikon's 6x "stovepipe" viewfinder.
But there are cheaper alternatives. To my delight, my old Olympus Varimagni Finder fits my Digital Rebel. It ends up slightly off center, but because the Canon viewfinder has lower magnification, I can still see the whole picture through it.
This suggests that many Pentax and Minolta angle finders will also fit the Digital Rebel and other EOS cameras. Or even that the excellent Canon angle finder may fit Pentaxes and Minoltas. Who wants to try it and let me know?
A third-party angle finder for Canons is offered by Galaxy Ltd. of Hong Kong on eBay. I hear that it works well.
Why older Sigma lenses do not work on the Digital Rebel
Early Sigma lenses for Canon EOS do not conform totally to the EOS's electrical specifications. Industry gossip is that instead of licensing the EOS patent as Tamron and others did, Sigma chose to reverse-engineer it, and they got it slightly wrong.As a result, the first generation of Sigma lenses for EOS do not work on the latest generation of EOS cameras (except when set wide open).
Quoting from Sigma's web site:
Q: Are Sigma lenses compatible with my new Canon Elan 7 camera? The Digital Rebel? How about EOS 10D.Reportedly, Quantaray lenses are made by Sigma and have the same problem.A: All current production Sigma lenses for Canon autofocus cameras are fully compatible with the new Elan 7, Digital Rebel, or EOS 10D camera. This includes all HSM type lenses. Some earlier production non-HSM lenses may require modification in order to perform normally with the new camera. If you have a question about a particular lens, please contact Sigma's service department (in the U.S.) at (631) 585-1144 or via email at info@sigmaphoto.com.
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