Need help with Canon body for a friend..

Backdoctor

A good friend of mine has a 14 year old daughter who is interested in photography. She does macro and model photos with a P&S, and wants to move up to a real camera. He wants to get her something that would be a decent intro into real photography.

I normally would have suggested a Nikon as I am familiar with that line, but he also mentions he has some Canon film gear and felt she may be able to use the lenses. I told him I would look into it for him.
He has an old Canon Rebel Ti with an EF 28-90 attached, and an EF 80-200 that is still in the box.

My question is can these lenses be used on lets say a Canon digital Rebel? He is up for spending $400-500, but is flexible. I know some canon lenses dont work with some bodies. I figured if these lenses work, they can get her a macro lens and she has a good start.

Also, I see there are three Rebel bodies. Is there one we should NOT consider for any reason? Any issues with any of them?

WillCAD

Backdoctor wrote:

A good friend of mine has a 14 year old daughter who is interested in photography. She does macro and model photos with a P&S, and wants to move up to a real camera. He wants to get her something that would be a decent intro into real photography.

I normally would have suggested a Nikon as I am familiar with that line, but he also mentions he has some Canon film gear and felt she may be able to use the lenses. I told him I would look into it for him.
He has an old Canon Rebel Ti with an EF 28-90 attached, and an EF 80-200 that is still in the box.

My question is can these lenses be used on lets say a Canon digital Rebel? He is up for spending $400-500, but is flexible. I know some canon lenses dont work with some bodies. I figured if these lenses work, they can get her a macro lens and she has a good start.

Also, I see there are three Rebel bodies. Is there one we should NOT consider for any reason? Any issues with any of them?

Canon EF series lenses all use the same mount, so in theory your friend's lenses would fit one of the current Digital Rebel series bodies.

There are some cases of older EF lenses form the film days not working with newer digital bodies, but mostly this was with third-party lenses like Sigma and Tamron.

If your friend's older lenses are less than 5 years old, chances are that they'll work with a current Digital Rebel body. But even if they don't, your friend's best bet is to get his daughter a kit rather than just a body, so she'll at least have one lens that works with her camera, and she can add more later. To find out for sure, all they have to do is take the old lenses to a local camera store and try them on a Digital Rebel body.

If your friend has any Speedlite flash units, they'll work with a Digital Rebel, too.

Jane B.

WillCAD wrote:

Canon EF series lenses all use the same mount, so in theory your friend's lenses would fit one of the current Digital Rebel series bodies.

There are some cases of older EF lenses form the film days not working with newer digital bodies, but mostly this was with third-party lenses like Sigma and Tamron.

If your friend's older lenses are less than 5 years old, chances are that they'll work with a current Digital Rebel body. But even if they don't, your friend's best bet is to get his daughter a kit rather than just a body, so she'll at least have one lens that works with her camera, and she can add more later. To find out for sure, all they have to do is take the old lenses to a local camera store and try them on a Digital Rebel body.

If your friend has any Speedlite flash units, they'll work with a Digital Rebel, too.

DON'T feel limited by AGE of CANON brand EOS lenses!! I am using an original version of the 28-70 3.5-4.5 originally purchased to use with a EOS 620 film camera in 1988 with no problems at all. In fact, have been told that those first EOS lenses are some of the best quality without being labeled "Ls" because they had the responsibality of establishing the new mount.

You DO have to watch that any flashes are EX rather than EZ. I did get bit by that change.
Jane B.

HeatherWB

Judging by your friend's budget, it sounds like the Rebel XS would be a great starter camera for his daughter; the XS with kit lens is running about $450 new. : Assuming his film lenses work on it like I would assume they would, she'll have a nice starter kit for not a whole lot of money.

Heather :

Robertk

He could get a her a used 20D or 30D.

LKN Dave

Robertk wrote:

He could get a her a used 20D or 30D.

For a 14 year old the XS would be a good size to fit in smaller hands. the 20-30Ds are quite a bit larger and heavier.

craig_d

WillCAD wrote:

Canon EF series lenses all use the same mount, so in theory your friend's lenses would fit one of the current Digital Rebel series bodies.

There are some cases of older EF lenses form the film days not working with newer digital bodies, but mostly this was with third-party lenses like Sigma and Tamron.

Not "mostly" -- entirely! I've never heard of a Canon-brand EF-mount lens that worked on older EOS cameras but not newer ones, whether film or digital. I've used some of the very earliest EF lenses, such as the original 50mm f/1.8 and the 15mm fisheye, on current Canon cameras such as the 5D Mark II and Rebel XSi, and they work perfectly.

In my experience, Tokina lenses also work well on current Canon cameras, even if the lenses are a decade or more old.

Sigma is the brand that I have heard the most about having trouble with newer cameras. Some older Sigma lenses need to be re-chipped to work with newer cameras.

WillCAD wrote:

If your friend has any Speedlite flash units, they'll work with a Digital Rebel, too.

This actually is less certain. Canon has gone through a few distinct technologies for flash control since introducing the EOS cameras in the 1980s. Older, pre-ETTL flashes won't work well on newer cameras.

waygard33

Canon XS

I purchased one for my daughter last year at Christmas and she loves it.

Wayne in Oregon

craig_d

Backdoctor wrote:

...he also mentions he has some Canon film gear and felt she may be able to use the lenses. I told him I would look into it for him.
He has an old Canon Rebel Ti with an EF 28-90 attached, and an EF 80-200 that is still in the box.

My question is can these lenses be used on lets say a Canon digital Rebel? He is up for spending $400-500, but is flexible. I know some canon lenses dont work with some bodies.

The Canon lenses that don't work with current cameras are the older manual-focus-only lenses that predated the introduction of autofocus in the 1980s. A Canon lens that says "FD" or "FL" instead of "EF" won't work on a modern camera. But any Canon-brand lens that says "EF" will work.

There are a few different versions of EF 28-90mm and 80-200mm lenses. The 28-90s actually aren't very old; they were introduced between 2000 and 2004. They're cheap lenses, and in fact if you buy one of the current Digital Rebels in a kit with a lens, it will come with an 18-55mm lens that is actually much better than the 28-90mm.

The 80-200mm models were introduced between 1989 and 1995 and are also very cheap in both price and quality except for the earliest one, the EF 80-200 f/2.8L, which in all likelihood is not the one your friend has.

These lenses may be adequate to get a young photographer started, but their limitations will probably lead to frustration before very long.

Backdoctor wrote:

Also, I see there are three Rebel bodies. Is there one we should NOT consider for any reason? Any issues with any of them?

No, all the current Digital Rebels are good cameras. I usually recommend the XSi, or the T1i if the buyer is interested in video capability, but the XS is a decent, inexpensive choice for a young beginner.

Red Bull

Also don't forget about buying used cameras. You can get a camera used for much cheaper which will allow more of a budget for a good lens or two.

Backdoctor

Thanks all, he is looking at the 15mp Rebel kit with two IS lenses. B&H had a great price on it once you put it in the cart.

Brett1000

Backdoctor wrote:

Thanks all, he is looking at the 15mp Rebel kit with two IS lenses. B&H had a great price on it once you put it in the cart.

sounds like the T1i/500D and the Canon 55-250IS and 18-55IS lens - a good combination!

Backdoctor

After reading some posts at dpreview, and looking at reviews of this body and the Nikon D5000 I also suggested he look at a kit with the Nikon D5000 with 18-55 and 55-200 lenses. They are priced similarly. In reality, she probably wont be using the old Canon glass should he get a kit.

Jekyll & Hyde

Backdoctor wrote:

Thanks all, he is looking at the 15mp Rebel kit with two IS lenses. B&H had a great price on it once you put it in the cart.

Have him add the Raynox DCR-250 close up lens to his cart for Macros. It'll work great with the 55-250.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002YBXBY/qid=1137642964/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-0558605-1475857?n=507846&s=electronics&v=glance

J&H