Hi,

I am a beginner I am looking into purchasing the Canon EOS50 as the reviews I have read have been positive and it is in my price range. I am not sure about the standard lens that comes with the camera. Will this lens do for a beginner? The lens itself is quite cheap, can anybody recommend a better lens that will not cost me an arm and a leg?

-- Paul Cave (yeah_paul@yahoo.com.au), July 16, 2001

Answers

If you mean a zoom lens in the 28-80mm range with horribly slow optics, then yes, avoid it like the plague. If you mean a standard lens which is a 50mm f/1.8, then run, don't walk to get that lens. It is one of the sharpest, lowest cost lenses available. Very light (under .25 Kg). It's all plastic including the mounting area, but not the glass of course, but you don't need durability when the price is $80 USD. I've had mine for over 2 years with a Canon hood attached and no problems ever. You will learn so much being forced to frame and compose without the help of a ring on your lens. You have to "zoom" with your feet!! Additionally, for many years the 50mm f/1.8 was regarded as the lens for beginners. It closely matches what your eyes see and again, is very inexpensive to build. Recently, with the popularity of p&s cameras, people who want to buy SLR cameras also demanded a zoom lens. No matter how horrible it is. Sad, no?

The 50 is a great camera, but is no longer in production. That might throw a wrinkle in your plans, but it's something you should know. I have an Elan IIe (50e) and have had it for over 2 years. I was a little upset they stopped the Elan (50) series for the Elan 7 (30), but it's not my choice.

-- Colin Miller (ckmiller@pond.net), July 16, 2001.

I have had an Elan IIe (50e) since 1996 and it is a great camera. I have looked for reasons to sell it and buy a 7e but can't come up with any :) I first used it with a 50mm standard lens, then an older Canon 35-105 lens and now have a Tamron 28-200. I like the 28-200 a lot. They have come down in price with the introduction of the 28- 300. I have heard that the 28-80 that Canon sold in a kit with the 50 was also a nice lens but there is a lot more "reach" with the 200mm long end. Many here don't care for the 28-200 but I have used mine with a high degree of success and feel that the combination of the two would be great for a beginner. I have sold many photographs using this exact combination.

-- Victor Kunkel (Catmanman@aol.com), July 16, 2001.

The 28-80 and 28-90 zooms from Canon aren't really all that bad, they're just not all that good either. Built cheaply and optically. Most people buy an SLR like the EOS 50/Elan II because the want something better than a point & shoot. For that reason a better lens is almost always preferred.

The 50 f/1.8 is also built cheaply but is optically quite good. The 24-85, 28-105 and 28-135 Canon lenses are usually regarded as the better choices in reasonably priced zooms. They are built better, have better optics an they all offer Full Time Manual focusing. The 28-135 also offers optical Image Stabilization.

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), July 16, 2001.

The zooms in the starter kits are good for 4x6 prints; 5x7 if your requirements aren't that high. I've seen 8x12 prints taken via a 28-200mm lens, and chromatic aberration was obvious. When a friend and I compared her 28-200mm and a 180mm lens, we didn't use any film after discovering that the latter resolved so much more detail that the difference was obvious in the viewfinder. The 50mm/f:1.8 is cheap monetarily and feels as if were about to fall apart, but mine hasn't yet :-) and optically it keeps up with that 180mm.

Paul, if you want to go beyond 4x6 prints, choose that 50mm, or a Canon 28-105mm/f:3.5-4.5 (not quite as good, but OK). Regarding the body, end of production doesn't mean the EOS 50 isn't a good camera. In Europe, used EOS 50s have hit the shelves in droves because the gearheads have been desperate to get rid of them since the appearance of the EOS 30. (I'm willing to sell mine not because it's too slow.) Did you consider a used camera body?

-- Oliver Schrinner (piraya@hispavista.com), July 17, 2001.