The Quest for the Perfect Camera: Canon EOS 630 – Electro-Optical System @ the son of the 650... (which was used to take the first photo uploaded to the Internet)

Posted: 1/10/2023

Summary

The next camera I had, which I thoroughly researched before getting. My step-dad was working in Japan and on one of his trips he picked this up duty-free, with a couple of Lens’s ;) Thanks mate, and still works … well, all my cameras still work, so kinda superflous to keep saying – but if you start reading at this one, or the next one, or the n+10 one then I will have to say it because it could be the first one you read :)

@ the EOS 630 – the son of the 650 which was used to take the first photo uploaded to the Internet

Year of release

1989 – the year commercial internet providers started (the internet? Just a fad!) and the World Wide Web became a thing. The Exxon Valdez ran aground, which also resulted in a treasure trove of emails still being used for digital forensic research to this day. The fall of the Berlin Wall, the Hillsborough Stadium :( and the demonstration in Tiananmen Square … and I was coding on a C-128, the VIC-20 carefully stored in a cupboard. Happily snapping with the Cylon, but wanting more control over shutters and apertures and such.

A bit heavier than the last two!

Specs:

Film or Pixels	35mm – 24 x 36 mm – 3:2 ratio
Type	SLR
Auto or Manual	Auto – pretty much everything – or manual – pretty much everything
Lens / Aperture	Canon EF (Electro-Focus) lens mount, with a LOT of lenses available (now – in 2014 Canon says they made the 100-millionth EF lens!))
Image Stabilisation	No (well, not on the camera, but you can get on EF lenses – Canon were the first to make a lens with IS, in 1995)
Shutter Speed	30 sec to 1/2000 sec, Auto and Manual control
Self Timer	Yes :) with blinking LED (kinda like the Cylon, but only for self-timer)
Viewfinder	Pentaprism, 0.8x mag – 94% coverage
Film Advance	Auto, 5 fps in one-shot, or 2.5 fps in servo mode
Film Retract	Automatic rewind, mid-roll rewind possible, option to leave out the leader
ISO / ASA	ISO 6 to 6400 – DX coded 25-5000, 6! ISO 6! where can I get some of this?!? (here!)
Flash	Yes, quite a flash unit ;) but, seriously, Hot Shoe: I had a few Canon flash units over time, but don’t use flash very much, so haven’t really focussed on flashy flashies
Power / Battery	1x 2CR5 Lithium
Weatherproof	no
Dimensions	148 x 108 x 68 mm
Weight	670g, 993g with battery and 35-70 (kit) lens

Based on the EOS 650 (circa 1987) which was the camera used to take the first photo uploaded to the World Wide Web thing in 1992 - The first photo on the Internet. Oh, interesting story there too The story of The first photo on the Internet

Lens’s

I got the kit 35-70mm-f/3.5-4.5 with the camera, and a telephoto zoom 100-300mm f/5.6 (not the L version, i.e. pushme-pullme thermos).

The 35-70 was quite good, got some decent pictures with it. The 100-300 was a bit of a struggle, 100 isn’t too bad, but really soft at 300. And, as I discovered, not as good on a digital SLR compared to a film SLR.

I later got a nifty-50 f/1.8 II (awesome pic quality for not much $$) and then a 28mm f/1.8 Ultrasonic prime, also awesome picture quality and wider than the nifty and the 35-70.

I picked up a Cosina 19-35mm/3.5-4.5 which was ultra wide, but I don’t remember putting any film through it – as soon afterwards I got a G1 and the world of digital snaps opened up (i.e. you can take a heap of pictures, see them on the screen, and not have to wait to get them developed!)

I recently got some L (Luxury) glass (17-35) and I’m itching to use the 630 with it, and also a Holga lens with EF mount – keen to see the results with that too!

Viewfinder

No diopter adjust (you can buy correction lenses). AF marker, in focus – metering circle, shutter speed, aperture, flash indicator.

Pros

Like the Cylon, I used it for many many years, learning more about photography, the triangle (shutter, Aperture, ISO – TxAvISO), light, multi exposure, etc.

Cons

without a battery you can’t do a thing

Rating

It’s good, and I still love using it – Pixels and Megapixels date, film never does – it’s always 35mm

Film or Pixels / Storage

35mm film – which you can still get – and ISO 6!

Ergonomics

it’s big and not-as chunky

Buttons and Controls:

Top	LCD Display (Shutter, Aperture, AF, Film, Mode, Bracketing, Multi, Battery, etc) Shutter release, Input dial, Main switch, Ev, Multiple Exposure, Mode button - P mode select: P1=Standard, P2=Quickshot, P3=Landscape up to P7
Bottom	Tripod socket – perfect in the centre of the lens, as it should be!
Front	Depth of Field preview, manual aperture.
Sides	Camera strap lugs, film door opening latch
Back	Top – LCD display illumination button and Partial metering button Bottom behind a panel: Film rewind button AF mode selector: Film wind selector and Self timer Battery check

Ease of use

Can be really easy – point and click (and no more blinding red light!) or you can take full control

Image Quality

Depends on the lens (as is the case for every cam).

I took some great images with this, and was what I used when I did the photographics course/s: lighting, composition, developing, enlarging, film, etc.

I have a few lenses, 35-70, 100-300, nifty 50, 28mm, and some L glass :) I’ll cover these in a separate post (when I get access to full-frame Canon Digital SLR – film gets $$$$ but I will run some through the 630 - promise)

Image Samples