Lens, which ?

[Gulliver911]

Am bidding at the moment on a Sigma 18-200, thinking this could be my one 'do it all' everyday lens, but am getting second thoughts on quality.

I am now considering either a Sigma EX 28-70 or a Canon EF-S IS 17-85

I have a 350D and getting a 30D in a few months, I am thinking that the 18-200 is a great idea in theory, but in practice, a quality 28-70 or 17-85 is a better bet long term.

What are your communal thoughts ?

Also does the 17-85 Canon justify the added price vs the Sigma 28-70 ? It is nearly twice teh price.

I have a Sigma EX 30mm and love it, but I do find I am missing great shots with some miss focus problems.

Thanks for your wisdom

[DavidY]

I've just bought a one month old 18-75 EFS-IS for £260, at that price it was a no brainer. If you had done this a month ago you could have claimed on the Canon cashback on the lens too (£100), which probably explains why I got mine so cheaply. With a careful bit of hunting you may be able to get a similar deal.

The Canon offers IS.

Personally I don't think that 28mm is low enough on a crop sensor for an everyday multipurpose lens.

davidy

[GF350]

I've got a 24-105 as my walk around lens, like all canon L lenses its not that light but it works well and the quality is good, it has IS as well.
The prices of these have come down a lot recently.

ie

http://www.onestop-digital.com/catalog/product_inf...

[TheStoat]

How short a lense you want depends on whether you're shooting indoors or not (unless you're shooting bugs etc!). I'd say in my experience around the 18mm mark works well. Less than that and you're going to begin seeing distortions in the image e.g. around the borders. Organise a trip to Jessops to play with a couple lenses and you'll see what size works best. After that you'll be able to rank suitable lenses on quality etc. I would advise to go for the best quality you can afford. There are some exceptions but the L glass is really the way to go if you can stretch to it

This gives you a problem because the cost of a lense to go from 18mm ish to 300mm ish with L quality will be high. Maybe you would be better off with a short to medium (~18-100mm) and a long lense (~100-300mm)? Maybe you might want to reach further e.g. 400mm?

Andy

[Podie]

A lot depends on your budget... and at the moment I can't stretch to L-series lenses...

My general lens is now a Canon EF 28-105mm F3.5-4.5 II USM, which has been cracking value thus far. I bought it to replace the boggo kit lens, and the difference is startling. Macro function is a nice bonus too.

I got the missus a Canon EF 24-85mm F3.5-4.5 USM as a pressie, and that's a corker too. 67mm rather than the usual 58mm lets in loads more light too.

As I said, not in the same league, but people on a lower budget might be interested.