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Used Canon Rebel XT
horseman85
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
My friend is looking to offload his Canon Rebel XT and the kit lens. I do not know much about cameras so I'm coming here for advice. The kit lens is the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II (not IS). And he's willing to sell it to me for a 100 bucks. Is this a good deal provided the camera is in good condition? What should I be looking for when inspecting the camera? And if I were to get this camera and kit lens, what else should I be looking for in terms of lenses?
PSN ID: dropofh2o
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If you just want a camera to play around with and get started learning basic photography, as long as it is in reasonable working order, $100 is a pretty great deal for you. I'd take it.
Pick up the Canon 50mm lens off Amazon. It's less than $100 and is wonderful lens—extremely fast and very crisp.
You might want to pick up a Speedlite as well—the onboard flash is absolute garbage. They're expensive though so I'd look for a used one or wait a while.
One nice feature on the XT is it has the ability to record a RAW image and a JPEG of every photo you take. So if you want to try screwing around with RAW formats, but also want something you can just immediately email, it's ideal.
Fuck, even if the camera has 10k+ pictures it'd be a good deal for a starter imo.
Do that. The kit lens is garbage, and the cheap 50mm lens is fantastic for the price, though it's cheaply built.
This is a decent way to learn, but I would suggest learning with a 50mm fixed length lens as others have suggested. Learning with a zoom lens makes you lazy.
10 years ago I would agree with this but the 50mm on a crop camera is such a narrow field of view that I think a newbie is better off just taping down the zoom ring of the 18-55 at 30mm.
Actually it's pretty damn fine once stopped down. Bit soft wide open, but most every cheap lens is. If the cash is there, getting the 50mm in addition to the kit lens is a good idea - but the kit lens will be your only wide angle option until you can cobble together $600ish for the next step up.
I agree with you on the 50mm being amazing. I use it on my 5D all the time for paid work. I still think that the 18-55 is much more usable on a crop body though.