Using an old kit lens for my new Rebel?? Good idea?

[Phazan]

Hi, my parents have an older film rebel, and they are about to replace it with a pocket sized digi-cam. I am about to upgrade from my Canon S3 IS, to a Rebel XTI, or an EOS 30D (haven't decided yet). I was curious, if it would be a good idea to just use the kit lens from the film rebel, and buy a cheap telephoto lens for my airshow stuff. I am thinking, if that lens is good, why not use the 100-something$ to go towards my telephoto lens?!
Thanks for any help!

 

[alrey]

That's probably a good idea. Kit lenses are rarely anything worth having except that they are given away for practically nothing with the body. If you've already got a lens to get you started, it makes a lot of sense to save a fistful of bucks and put it towards something better.

You might want to check around and make sure your parents' lens will autofocus on the XTI, though, since there's a good chance it won't. You might not be interested in manual focus when you're just learning to use the camera.

 

[DeepSpring]

If I'm not mistaken all the Rebels have the same mounts and everything as they do now. The lens should work just fine.

 

[Big Mike]

The lens will work perfectly well. All Canon EF lenses will work with all Canon EOS cameras.

Take note of the 'crop factor'. Lenses will 'feel' longer when used on a digital body (XT, XTi, 20D, 30D) then when used on a film EOS camera. For this reason, it might be a good idea to get the EF-S kit lens (18-55mm), which has a much shorter focal length than your parent's lens (probably 28-70mm).

 

[Iron Flatline]

You are right, it is a good idea.

 

[Mr_Bester]

I did this. I used my old rebel 28-90 and immediately got a new kit lens for $50 from craigslist. The 28-90 wasn't nearly wide enough and the new kit lens is much better quality. Everything looked darker on the old kit lens. If you plan on taking any landscape shots at all, spend the extra few bucks on a newer kit lens or better yet, a better than kit lens that is wide enough(18mm)
Dug

 

[WDodd]

I agree the film kit won't quite be long enough. But I would wait until you have your camera and test out your own style.

Kit lenses can be bought after the fact on forums or as mentioned craig's list fairly cheap.

 

[Phazan]

Ok awesome, thanks for the replies!

 

[Zoso]

I think the distance is just a little more and not exactly accurate but should work fine