I am not a guy that has any camera knowledge and am coming to this great group to get some advice. 25 years ago I delved into it a bit with a Canon AE1 (which I still have) and a bag full of lenses, but got tired of lugging that case full of attachments all over the place.

My wife is one of those people that takes a gazillion pictures but has yet to read the manual on how to use the camera.
Since getting here to MN she has been very excited about trying to capture pictures of all the critters in action. The other day while she was watching a beaver swimming around in the pond, a weasel was scurrying back and forth in front of her and came up to sniff her shoe before high tailing it across the road. She was lucky enough to capture the event on her cell phone but wants a telephoto lens for her camera.

She bought a Canon Rebel EOS T1i a few years ago but never used it 'because it was too complicated'. Well, now she is wanting to finally start using it and all it has for a lens is the factory 18-55mm (?). I am trying to find her a cheap telephoto lens that she can use for close up shots of birds and critters. I hate to spend a lot of money on one until she knows how to use and take care of it. Note: she has already dropped a couple of cameras and phones into rivers/lakes. I keep telling her that the strap is on there for a reason!!!

I saw this in my searches and thought it was super cheap and might be a good lens to learn with. Comments?

shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/ef-75-300mm-f-4-56-iii-usm-refurbished

I have that lens and for what you guys are looking to do, it's perfect. It's quite inexpensive too. Of course there are better telephotos but if you're shooting on auto mode and not looking to spend much money, this is a good bang for the buck. For that price you can beat the crap out of it. Some example shots from my travels:

All of your old ae1 lenses are comparable with the rebel t1. Some of the metering may or may not work though. In manual mode your old lenses are compatable.

Zane,
Thanks! Just the reply I was hoping for. I have seen your photos and if you reccomend it...that is all I need. And, yes, she does most of her pic taking on auto so it should be just the ticket until she learns how to read the manual.

boyfalldown,
Crap, I never even tried to put them on because I figured they needed all the electric gizmos stuff to be compatable. Learn something everyday!! I'll at least let her try them but will still get the one Zane okayed.

Don't get me wrong, more money does buy better photos. That's pretty much a universal fact when it comes to lenses. But if you're just having fun and not getting too serious, this cheapy is a great value. I've used the crap out of mine, and if it falls out the window of the plane I won't even cry a little bit.

Calling amacbean .