Indeed this can be confusing. When you put a 50mm lens on the Rebel, the angle of view you get is exactly the same as if you put an 50*1.6 = 80mm lens on a film camera or a DSLR with a full-frame sensor (5D, 1DS2.) So on the Rebel, every lens seems to behave more like a telephoto. The lens does not somehow magically resize itself. It projects the same size image on either camera. The Rebel just crops off the edges so all you get is the center part of the picture. The same principle is at work in a small pocket camera. With a certain pocket camera, an 8-24mm lens will see the same angles of view as a 35-105mm lens on a 35mm film camera. The "film" or digital sensor in this camera is tiny, so it takes a tiny focal length to get the same angle of view.
Raymond, The 1.6x factor (or 1.5x for Nikon) is across the entire focal length of your zoom lens. Your 80-210 will "feel" like a 128-336 zoom lens on a film camera.
This can also lead to confusion about depth of field. That 8mm setting on a pocket camera will have greater depth of field than a 35mm settting on a 35mm fim camera. These tiny imagers do have some advantages.
