Ralph D. wrote:
I do not shoot Canon but my kid has a Canon 10D. He is taking a photography
course in high school and could use a 50mm.

I have heard that the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens would make a fair
student budget lens but am not sure if it is fully compatible with the 10D.

EOS camera, EF lens --- works.
Only EF-S lenses don't work (without modifications) on the 10D.

I am also wondering, if he stays with photography, would this be compatible
with the newer Canons?

All EF lenses work with all EOS cameras, so yes.

He's been shooting point and shoots and the 10D in
auto modes for a good while so I think he might really go for it now that
he's getting some training... but he's a teenager so who knows.

Try to wean him off auto modes, at least to P (fully automatic,
but allows you to override aperture and exposure).

Is the EF 50mm f/1.8 II good to go with the 10D and forward?

It's a very inexpensive lens with good optical qualities (much
much better than the kit zoom) , but only mediocre bokeh[1]
and build quality. It's the cheapest way to get a fast (low
light capable) lens and find out if that's something of interest.
(If not, you can sell it with little loss.) It's a good length
for portraits (but see [1]) on crop cameras like the 10D.

http://www.photozone.de/canon-eos/16...report--review
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/r...ns-review.aspx
http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/...50_1p8_ii_c16/

-Wolfgang

[1] Unsharp areas, like the background in a portrait, aren't
the best.