James Leipnik (chief of communications and corporate relations, Canon Europe) brandished a mysterious black camera at us, but it wasn't the new EOS-300D, but a 27 year old Canon AE-1 film camera. Canon believes the 300D is the most important consumer SLR camera since the Canon AE-1 back in 1976. At the time the AE-1 revolutionised the market by introducing lightweight plastic materials to replace heavy metal body casings and, above all else, introducing a completely electronic camera control system. These developments brought more features at a lower price to the consumer market, just like Canon is doing with the 300D.
