Canon 1200D kit lenses vs. XSi kit lenses. Which should I keep?

Question

I recently purchased a Canon 1200D kit in the UK (from Dixon Travel). I also have an older Canon Rebel XSi kit with similar lenses (purchased in the USA, around 6-7 years ago). I am trying to determine the benefits of the lenses in the two kits and decide which lenses to keep.

The 1200D kit has an EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 III and a EF75-300 f/4-5.6 III USM zoom. I am assuming that neither has image stabilization.

The older XSi kit has an EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II IS and a EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS zoom. Both have image stabilization. The zoom lens has a Hoya UV[0] filter.

Do the 1200D III lenses offer any extra features or improvements over the older XSi IS lenses? If so, are those benefits worth giving up the image-stabilization feature? All recommendations are appreciated.

Answer 1

Keep the 18-55 IS II and 55-250 IS.

The 1200D is a stripped down budget camera bundled with striped down budget lenses.

The lenses that came with your XSi are actually superior to the the 1200D kit lenses.

The 18-55 III has the same optics as the 18-55 IS II but lacks Image Stabilization.

The 75-300 USM has poor optics and lacks Image Stabilization. Many people regard it as one of the poorest lenses Canon has ever made. The 55-250 IS is much better optically and includes Image Stabilization.

Even though the 1200D is 6 years newer, it is really not much of an upgrade from the XSi. In some ways the XSI is superior to the 1200D. If it is not too late you might consider paying a little more for a T5i or T6i.