I need some serious lens recommendation, I'm going crazy!

cyoung

I finally secured some funds to add some more glass to my inventory. I already have the EF-S 18-55 Kit, and 50mm 1.8 II.

I'm looking for a walk around lens and/or wide angle for my Rebel XT.

My impulse buy was the Tamron SP AF17-35MM F/2.8-4
Di LD Aspherical (IF)

but was talked out of it and told to try the 18-200 DiII for a few days, since it had the wide end and the reach for chasing down my little one when she starts to walk.

After trying that out for 2 days, I realized although is a good outdoor lens, this lens is useless indoors without going to ISO 800 or 1600. Not to mention if i ever go full frame this lens will not work since its designed for crop cameras.

So now I'm considering the following lenses and thats where I need some help here:

Tamron SP AF 28-75MM 2.8 XR Di
Canon EF 28-135 f.3.5 - 5.6 IS USM

Or a combo of a Tokina 19-35 and a Tamron 28-300?

Or either one of the 28 Zooms with say a Zenitar 16mm 2.8 fisheye manual focus for wides???:dunno:dunno:scratch:help:ear

NHBubba

What kind of photos do you shoot?

17-35 seems really narrow for a 'walk-around'. And 28 is not awefuly wide on a cropped camera, especially if you're interested in landscapes at all..

cyoung

Well I had bought the 17-35 in anticipation of a vacation to NYC this spring so I wanted to use that for cityscapes, but the camera store said to try the 17-200 instead given I have a baby girl.

So between family pics I can use the 50 1.8 for indoor portraits/lowlight

I'm really leaning to one of thos canon ef 28-135 3.5-5.6 IS USM or the Tamron 28-75 2.8 for a walk around and use my kit lens for 18mm for wides if need be.

I'm just looking to get a good start on canon mount lenses now so I want a good "workhorse" for now

quote=NHBubba]What kind of photos do you shoot?

17-35 seems really narrow for a 'walk-around'. And 28 is not awefuly wide on a cropped camera, especially if you're interested in landscapes at all..[/quote]

Bob Bell

cyoung wrote:

I finally secured some funds to add some more glass to my inventory. I already have the EF-S 18-55 Kit, and 50mm 1.8 II.

I'm looking for a walk around lens and/or wide angle for my Rebel XT.

My impulse buy was the Tamron SP AF17-35MM F/2.8-4
Di LD Aspherical (IF)

but was talked out of it and told to try the 18-200 DiII for a few days, since it had the wide end and the reach for chasing down my little one when she starts to walk.

After trying that out for 2 days, I realized although is a good outdoor lens, this lens is useless indoors without going to ISO 800 or 1600. Not to mention if i ever go full frame this lens will not work since its designed for crop cameras.

So now I'm considering the following lenses and thats where I need some help here:

Tamron SP AF 28-75MM 2.8 XR Di
Canon EF 28-135 f.3.5 - 5.6 IS USM

Or a combo of a Tokina 19-35 and a Tamron 28-300?

Or either one of the 28 Zooms with say a Zenitar 16mm 2.8 fisheye manual focus for wides???dunnohelp

For walk around, I usually grab a 50mm(1.4 or 1.8) or 28-70/2.8 L

Choosing lenses at the beginning is difficult, because high multiplier zooms are tempting and trying to cover a long range is tempting. Not knowing your experience, I would say the best bet would be the Tamron 28-75 that you listed. I know a lot of people think highly of it.

I will help you further by saying, keep your lens collection simple at first and remember that taking a step or two forward and back makes up for a lot of mm of focal length.

Hope this helps

NHBubba

I hear your concern about staying compadible w/ full-frame. I have a bit of that concern myself. However I question how important it is. Personally I don't see myself owning a FF body for quite some time unless something significant happens. And even then, I'm not sure I personally would be happy w/ something at 28mm at the wide end.

I've all but decided my next mid-range, walk-around zoom will be the Canon 24-105/4 IS L. I hear so many great things about it. I own the 10-22 EFS and in the short term I figure the gap from 22 to 24 isn't that bad. If/when I ever go FF I'll dump the 10-22 and go for a 17-40/4 L to replace it. Then I'd have tons of overlap and excellent quality at f/4 throughout, especially since I have the 70-200/4 L on the tele end.

Of course that's also a bumload of money, so it won't be happening anytime soon. And it's just my plan, it may not suit your needs at all.

cyoung

I was leaning towards that Tamron 2.8 a bit, but I like that Canon for its range, USM and IS, I know it wont stop action but it will be hand onthe long end where my hands are not the steadiest. But having the 50 1.8 and seeing what it does at 2.8, that Tamron at 2.8 is looking nice too.

As for experience I'm just beginning with my SLR collection and learning it. I'm the type that likes to have decent equipment then play with it and interpret the results and not second guessing saying to myself....what if I had something other than a kit lens on this shot?

But thanks for your comments!

Bob Bell wrote:

For walk around, I usually grab a 50mm(1.4 or 1.8) or 28-70/2.8 L

Choosing lenses at the beginning is difficult, because high multiplier zooms are tempting and trying to cover a long range is tempting. Not knowing your experience, I would say the best bet would be the Tamron 28-75 that you listed. I know a lot of people think highly of it.

I will help you further by saying, keep your lens collection simple at first and remember that taking a step or two forward and back makes up for a lot of mm of focal length.

Hope this helps

Red Bull

What is your budget?

Since you have a 1.6 crop camera you should take that factor into consideration. I would suggest a Canon 17-40 f/4 L or a Canon 24-70 f/2.8 L if you have the money. The 17-40 would be like having 27-64 mm lens on a full frame body. A 24-70 would be like a 38-112mm lens on a full frame body.

If you got the 17-40L you could use that to replace the cheapo 18-55 since it is about the same range. (You could use your 50 1.8 to cover the longer end of that)

DJ-S1

I have the Tamron and it's a very nice lens and a great value. I think it would fit your walk-around needs very well.

JimM

DJ-S1 wrote:

I have the Tamron and it's a very nice lens and a great value. I think it would fit your walk-around needs very well.

I just used it to shoot portraits too, and I am very happy with the results:

http://jimmitte.smugmug.com/gallery/1209740/1/56589801

(entire gallery was shot with this lens)

GraphyFotoz

Well......
I have a Sigma 28-70mm f2.8-4 that's a real nice walkaround lens!
Modest price and faily fast to boot.

cyoung

My budget is around $500, hence why im looking for quality alternatives to Canon L. I think I made up my mind, Tamron 28-75 2.8 and a Tamron 19-35 3.5-4 for wides, after some careful consdierations of what im goign to be shooting I don't think I need reach as much as I had thought. The Tamron 28-75 should give me enough reach for indoor birtday party shots, and outdoor playground shots.

Right now as we stand the 28-75 is 369.95 and the 19-35 is 219.95 and both have rebates for $30 each, that puts me around at $520 right around my range.


I dont shoot any wildlife or birds so reach isn't that imporatant now, but we'll leave it to the next lens purchase , what a fun and expensive hobby we all have

Thank you all for your help!

JimM wrote:

I just used it to shoot portraits too, and I am very happy with the results:

http://jimmitte.smugmug.com/gallery/1209740/1/56589801

(entire gallery was shot with this lens)