Old Canon Lenses

[Svendle]

I recently bought an XSi to get started in the wonderful world of photography. While i've been using a point and shoot for a while now and I understand a lot of photographic principles, lenses are completely alien to me. The camera comes with the standard 18-55 kit lens, however I found a box of some of my dad's old lenses along with an old EOS 650 that he said could be mine. They're all EF and will work with the new camera but I was wondering if there were any not worth keeping that I should just sell for a few bucks. I know this is "digital" photography, but I'm sure that someone here will know about the days of film .

There's a 35-70mm f3.5-4.5 Zoom lens - the one with both auto and manual focus (a.k.a the old kit lens).
Is this worth keeping, or should I replace it with the new kit lens as it doesn't have IS?

A 70-210mm f1.4
This seems like an OK lens, although no IS, and if I got rid of it I'd be saving for a while to get a decent lens in this range.

A 50mm f1.8 (the old one, still has the old gold inspection sticker)
I was going to make the new fifty my first lens purchase anyway, is there any difference?
I feel like since the current one is newer it is "better" but is that really the case?

Any help/advice is appreciated Thank you in advance

* On a side note there's also the body and a 300EZ Speedlite, I figure they're both nearly worthless and better to keep in the box downstairs rather than try to sell them

[irispatch]

The new 5omm has a plastic mount which some do not like. Other wise it should give you very good service or sell it for 2x what a new nifty fifty will cost you.

As for the other two: read reviews.
the 35-70 is not well liked or rated by many experts. I have never used one hence I can only go by reviews.
quality of 35-70mm f3.5-4.5? - Photo.net Canon EOS Forum

The 70-210 are you sure it is f 1.4? is it the f4 version?
It will do ok until you can afford a 70-200 F4L

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by Svendle

There's a 35-70mm f3.5-4.5 Zoom lens - the one with both auto and manual focus (a.k.a the old kit lens).
Is this worth keeping, or should I replace it with the new kit lens as it doesn't have IS?

A 70-210mm f1.4
This seems like an OK lens, although no IS, and if I got rid of it I'd be saving for a while to get a decent lens in this range.

A 50mm f1.8 (the old one, still has the old gold inspection sticker)
I was going to make the new fifty my first lens purchase anyway, is there any difference?
I feel like since the current one is newer it is "better" but is that really the case?

Any help/advice is appreciated Thank you in advance

* On a side note there's also the body and a 300EZ Speedlite, I figure they're both nearly worthless and better to keep in the box downstairs rather than try to sell them

35-70 f/3.5-4.5 is the old kit lens. Probably not worth much.

70-210 f/1.4 DOES NOT EXIST. It's probably a 70-210 f/4. f/1.4 is impossible. I'd keep that: it's probably pretty decent.

50mm f/1.8 Give it a shot, if it works. If you like what you see, keep it.

The body could probably net you a couple hundred, but likely less. The flash probably wont net much either, though you might be able to use it off-cameras as a slave at some point

[inkista]

Originally Posted by Svendle

There's a 35-70mm f3.5-4.5 Zoom lens - the one with both auto and manual focus (a.k.a the old kit lens).
Is this worth keeping, or should I replace it with the new kit lens as it doesn't have IS?

Chances are good that the 18-55 IS is a better fit for the XSi, but before selling it, I'd try it out and see if there's something specific you like about this lens. You never know. But yeah, this is definitely a candidate for sale.

A 70-210mm f1.4

You're reading the 1:4 as 1.4, but 1:4 means f/4, as everyone else is saying. This is probably worth playing with and keeping for now just so you can get used to using a telephoto zoom and why you might want something faster or stabilized. It'll be a good interim "training wheels" lens, if nothing else. Sell it after it's taught you which lens you want as its successor.

A 50mm f1.8 (the old one, still has the old gold inspection sticker) I was going to make the new fifty my first lens purchase anyway, is there any difference?

I feel like since the current one is newer it is "better" but is that really the case?

Exactly the opposite. The 50/1.8 Mk I is the better lens. The optics between the two versions are the same, but the 50/1.8 has a better build qualty--more equivalent to the 50/1.4 USM. It has a metal mount, a decent manual focus ring, and a distance scale. On the used market, the 50/1.8 Mk I goes for about twice what a new 50/1.8 II does. I say keep it. If you do any manual focus work, it's the better lens. You can actually zone focus (shoot from the hip) with it because it has the distance scale (i.e., you can set a smaller aperture, and use the distance scale to focus without having to bring the viewfinder to your eye). This is a time-honored technique for street shooting without being conspicuous.

On a side note there's also the body and a 300EZ Speedlite, I figure they're both nearly worthless and better to keep in the box downstairs rather than try to sell them

Well, you might still be able to get a little cash, but overall, yeah. The 300EZ, while possibly usable, isn't great because it doesn't work with sensors vs. film, and you have no way of manually telling it what power level you want it to fire at.

Lastly, I highly recommend taking a spin through this basic lens primer, particularly the section on max. aperture. It's good at telling you what the numbers on the lenses all translate to in real world usage.

[Svendle]

Thanks so much everyone.
Yes the 70-210mm is f/4, I was looking at the fifty while writing about the zoom so f/1.4 is what came out.
Thanks for the advice, especially about the fifty which I will obviously be keeping, I did not expect to find out that it's actually worth more than the new ones.

It looks like I'll keep the 70-210mm as "training wheels" for a while like inkista said until I'm ready to move up to a mid range telephoto (there's an L series im thinking about I just can't remember which one it is). And I'll try out the old kit lens but unless there's something really great about it I'll sell it off.

If I sell something is it worth it to go to somewhere like B&H or is it better to try something online like eBay or Craigslist?

[OsmosisStudios]

We have something here called Kijiji. it may be Canada only, im not sure. I've had nothing but success with that. Other than that, you could try Craigslist and eBay, though eBay will cost you to put it up.

[BCampbell]

With the exception of the 50, I doubt any of those would fetch much secondhand. I check ebay pretty regularly and I don't recall either of those (especially the 35-70) selling for much. You can do a search in ebay and check the "show completed listing" box to get an idea of what they actually sell for.

If you don't use them (and you should use the 50, as others said, but keep the 1.4 in mind for later on down the road), you'll probably get more value out of them as conversation peices.

I say shoot with them and have fun. You just bought your camera, you're not going to make any Pulitzer winning photos, so you won't lose anything. In fact, using that 35-70 and comparing the output to your kit lens will be a great lesson on saving money for good glass. But these older lenses can be quirky and have their own unique charms. You might find the "flaws" nice or fitting for your style. A little while ago I picked up a Quantaray 19-35mm for $50, it's optically a pretty bad lens -- lots of CA, terrible distortion. But it's actually relaly grown on me, and I love to shoot with it for its deep contrast and decent color rendition. Here are some things I've done with a $50 lens. You never know.