The Canon EOS 300 – known as the Rebel 2000 in the US and the Kiss III in Japan – is low key one of the most important cameras that the company has ever made.
Launching in April 1999, the Canon EOS 300 came at a pivotal time in the industry – insofar as it was the time at which the industry was pivoting away from film and towards the digital age.
Which may have seemed a strange time to launch a cheap and cheerful film SLR, which was an example of plastic fantastic even by the standards of the time. But while the Canon EOS 300 may have represented the last hurrah for the budget 35mm SLR, it's a hurrah that has endured to this day.
Walk into any thrift store, flea market or second-hand shop that sells old cameras and there's a very high probability that you'll see an EOS 300 / Rebel 2000 (or, indeed, Kiss III if you're in one of Japan's Aladdin's cave camera stores).
Launching for just over $500 in the US, it offered an affordable way into film photography and sold like absolute gangbusters – which accounts for why there are so many of them still around today.
And the Canon EOS 300 was a surprisingly capable camera, with AF that punched well above its weight (more in line with cameras like the EOS 30, though without that camera's signature Eye Control), 35-zone evaluative metering (instead of the standard 6-zone system) and even a wireless remote.
Today you'll find this camera everywhere, going dirt cheap – I've just spotted one on eBay for $20, and there's invariably one with a kit lens or two whenever I'm hunting old cameras.
In 2025, as it was from 1999-2002 when this camera was new, the Canon EOS 300 marks incredibly good value for money for anyone looking to get into 35mm film shooting.
It's not the most advanced camera in the world, and nor does it need to be – and nor do you need it to be. The next time you see one, I highly recommend picking it up and throwing a roll of film in it – especially if you've never shot 35mm before.
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