[Tangata]

I’ll shortly be purchasing a Canon 7D and I’m considering what lenses to get with it.

My initial thought was to get a 17 – 55 mm f2.8 IS and to couple it with a 70 – 200 mm lens.

However that leaves a “hole” between 55 and 70. Maybe that is not too much of a problem, with 18 mega pixels you can probably crop down to the equivalent of 70 mm and still get a fair sized print.

The alternative short lens is a 15 – 85 mm f 3.5- 5.6 IS I like the 15 mm, but will I regret the loss of “speed”?

Turning to the long lens I have a similar problem. A 70 – 200 mm f 2.8 L or a 70 – 300 f 4 – 5.6L IS.

Given that the 70 – 200 f 2.8 IS is outside my budget, do I go for the slower but longer lens with IS, or the faster lens?

There is also an outsider, the EF-S 55 – 250 mm f/4-5.6 IS. It is incredible cheap, but most reviews are not encouraging and I don’t see it measuring up against either of the “L” lenses.

Your thoughts/comments and any experience with any of these lenses would be much appreciated.