I plan to buy a Canon EOS Rebel 2000 camera (it'll be my first SLR) and wondering which canon lens will match it better within my budget. I'm going to spend some $100-120 for lens and mainly use it for general photo taking though with good quality. Especially I’m interested in 28-80/28-90/35-80 lenses due to my budget. According to information on http://www.usa.canon.com for Rebel 2000 camera lens matching is 28-80 and 35-80 lenses. I guess 28-80 with it bigger zoom range is better choice but 35-80 has spherical lens. So I’m thinking to select 28-90 lens that has spherical lens and USM but the Canon USA matched it with Elan 7e. Does it really matter so much and how do you think will it affect the quality of picture.

Thanks in advance.

George

-- George Tabuashvili (geotabu@hotmail.com), November 28, 2001

Answers

George, It doesn't matter at all as far as the lens 'matching' the camera. Any Canon EF lens will work on any Canon EOS camera. The matching you are seeing is simply the marketing of those lenses, usually being sold as kits with those cameras.

I have the 28-90 USM you mention; it came with the Elan 7E kit my wife bought me. The lens currently resides in the toy box of my 21 month old daughter (she really took a liking to it!). The quality of that lens, and any other new zoom you will find in your price range, is extremely poor. If you are concerned about quality as you say you are, I suggest you buy the Canon 50mm 1.8. A very sharp lens that will give you excellent results - photos you can enlarge. It sells for about $90 at www.bhphotovideo.com

Many photographers (myself included) will argue that a 50mm lens is the best place to start regardless of your budget because it forces the photographer to think more about composition without the flexibility of a zoom, fostering greater creativity and a better developed eye for making photos. Good luck to you whatever your choice.

-- Derrick Morin (dmorin@oasisol.com), November 28, 2001.

yeah any of those lenses are okay. i own the 28-80 for my elan iie. it came with the camera. it is a good starter lens and will do you good for general purposes. i have had very good 5x7 enlargements that have won in contests. don't let people tell you that those starter zooms are bad. canon makes some of the best glass on earth! even its cheap stuff is pretty decent!

-- jeff nakayama (moonduck22@hotmail.com), November 28, 2001.

Any of those lenses will work and any will be good. To describe them as poor is stupid, but then so is giving a $100 lens to child as a toy. There are better lenses, optically, although the only one is the 50mm 1.8 that was mentioned. I have a 35-80 that I have perfectly good 8x10s from. I don't use it any longer but there is nothing particularly wrong with it.

If quality is your prime concern get the 50mm. If you want to learn something about photography the 50mm still works, but so do any of the other lenses you mentioned. Maybe your best bet would be to find the cheapest Rebel 2000 kit you can. B&H is a great place to start. Then, when your happy with how things are going, you can find cash for other, better lenses.

Have fun with this hobby, and when you swap over to better equipment ebay is a much better option than any kids you may have.

-- Marcus (Citizensmith@lanset.com), November 30, 2001.

I also just got a new Rebel 2000- It's a great camera,but since I am a newbie and on a budget I didn't want to spend a zillion dollars on lenses. So I got 2 Canon lenses,a 22-55 4-5.6,and the 55-200 4- 5.6. Both go for about $120,but take fine pics for an average Joe on a budget like me. I just bought the Sigma 28-70 -2.8 lens for indoor shoots. Again,for $100 it's an OK lens,it isn't USM so the autofocusing is slower and nosier then the Canon lenses but since I am just taking indoor shots of my kids and the cats,for the money it's a fine lens. BTW B&H gave me fine service,so did Adoramaphoto.com...Stay far away from Cambridge Camera Exchange. It would take another LONG posting for me to explain just how bad Cambridge is to deal with..

-- NewbieBill (kfsyn@yahoo.com), December 01, 2001.

Come on, marcus, she really likes the lens! I'm even thinking of giving her my 200 2.8 when I upgrade to the 1.8 - should make a nice kit. You should see the photos she gets with the (so called) $100 lens!

-- Derrick Morin (dmorin@oasisol.com), December 04, 2001.

Caution re: Cambridge Camera Exchange

This was the best/worst shopping experience I have yet had.

The good: I found a JVC CD car audio deck (KD-SX770) for $123.95 + shipping. I also found its A/V component for plugging in devices like an MP3 player or even a VCR for $35 or so. Even considering the cost of shipping, this is at least $50 cheaper than retail. (The JVC deck arrived in perfect condition: new in the box.)

The bad: I ordered the CD deck on 11/29/01 but had to call several times to find out that the company had the unit but not the accessory and were waiting to send both in one package (this is bad because the rep said the unit would arrive in 10 days). Well, the unit did not arrive until 12/20/01, and it took me calling them 4 or 5 times in between and having to deal with their terrible customer service reps. The excuse I got on three ocassions was, "our computers are down."

I still do not have the accessory which means that I can't listen to my MP3 player in the car. Not only is it long distance to continually call the "customer service" line, but every time I do, I end up speaking to a poorly mannered and badly trained employee (in particular, I am referring to the two times they have hung up the phone after telling me that they don't know who I should call to see if the item has been shipped or not, and to the first time I called when the rep wouldn't give me his name for later reference!).

The frustrating thing about this experience is that had I not braved the horrendous sales guys (who have somehow been deemed qualified to also be "customer service representatives"), the JVC deck would still be in their inventory while they waited for the accessory. It is now 6 weeks (almost seven) later, and I still don't have what I paid for. I just called today, 1/16/02, and the item is still on back order. The rep pessimistically said that it might arrive in 10 days (to them, same story) at which point it would be shipped to me...

So, the moral of the story is this: if you have a lot of free time to wait, call, and then talk to a bunch of New York sales guys who aren't paid to care about your purchase; and are looking for an inexpensive but (quality) name brand electronics good, then go to the Cambridge Camera Exchange.

Hope this helps.

-- Spyder Web (spy8der@go.com), January 16, 2002.