Canon EOS-30 35mm Film Camera

Anticipating the birth of our second daughter we thought to upgrade our 15-year old fully manual SLR. My wife and I were both yearbook photographers in college, developed our own film, and like to think we are "prosumers". In reality we are probably just heavy consumer users and lack the focus we once had. We do shoot about 50-60 rolls of film a year. We narrowed our choices to the Nikon N80 and the Canon EOS Elan 7E. Ultimately we selected the Canon as we were impressed with the eye focus and ease of use. The quiet lens actions and flash/camera interface options also appeared superior at the time. Now that we have had the Canon for 6 months we are somewhat disappointed. It is a very nice SLR, intuitive, great photo quality. We read several reviews online that the low light action was sub-par. This may be true. In high light situations at the park, beach, pool, and sporting events the Canon is superb. However, when the light is lower such as indoors, in a restaurant, family gathering, infant in a dim crib sleeping, etc. the Canon AF can hunt mercilessly. It often cannot focus, or takes a picture out of focus. We have tried using more room lighting but then the camera appears to drop down to a slower shutter and we get no flash at all. Realizing the built in flash has limits, we even bought a new external Canon flash to no avail. I think the Canon is overall a solid camera but the low light issues have me deflated. Again, I generally love shooting with the camera, but the low light AF hunting has taken the bloom off the rose. As a side note we upgraded the standard lens to a Tamron 28-105mm f2.8. I would think that this fast lens should help, not hurt, the situation at hand. In hindsight I think I was up-sold (by myself) on the Canon's modern intuitive features vs. the antiquated appearances but solid performance reviews of the Nikon. Note: the price we paid for the body, lens upgrade, two 82mm filters, and flash was about $1,800, obviously the body alone was less. We happily purchased from B&H, I would buy from them again.