suggest a lens

[mirax]

Im looking to replace my canon 18-55 kit lens and i have arround £200 to spend on a walkabout telephoto. which ones do you guys recommend im not too bothered if its new or secondhand just as long as it has much better optics

a few ive looked at are

canon 28-135 is
canon 17- 85 is
Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5
Sigma AF 18-125mm

help would be much appreciated im awful at making decissions

[Birdsnapper]

Try 'Photozone' or 'Fredmiranda' for lens reviews - you'll have to google them as I haven't got their addresses.

[yelvertoft]

One to consider is the Tamron 24-135, it used to be my everyday walkabout lens, until I lent it to Mrs Y. Now it's her everyday walkabout lens and I have great difficulty prising it off her. It was originally designed for use on full frame film bodies, so using it on a dSLR makes use of the sweet spot in the centre of the frame. Good close focus too. Pin sharp at all but wide open on full zoom. Only real down side of this lens is that it's not the smallest or lightest of beasts.

I'd avoid the Sigma 18-125, not a good lens IMHO.

[miketoll]

I have the Canon 17-85 lens which I like as it is sharp and with good contrast and has 3 stop IS. The one downside is it does have barrel distortion at the wide end like most wide to telephoto zooms which does not bother me for the type of photography I do and I do not notice it.

[Lee]

i use the Canon 28-135 is, which is (to me)nicely balanced,fairly sharp and doesn't mind the occassional bump.

[Joe]

Hi Mirax,
I will echo Yelvertofts thoughts re the Sigma 18-125mm. I have to agree, it's not a lens I would go for either. It never quite achieved what it promised by normal Sigma standards.
From the ones you've shortlisted. the canon 28-135mm is certainly one of the better ones.
I've been pleased with my sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 as a general lens, but it certainly isn't small or particularly light weight, but it's the price you pay for a full frame, bright lens unfortunately. Nice and quick AF too with good macro capability, Many go s/h on ebay for a reasonable price of around the £150 mark.
There's some real s/h bargains around.

[sassan]

If you need a cheap but good quality lens with max zoom range, look anywhere you can find old items, such as ebay etc for Canon 28-200 mm f/3.5-5.6 USM EF Lens
I got mine at $200 and am very happy with image quality (Not the best by any means but a lot better than Kit lens). Usual price is about $300 to $500 that is still lower than your proposed price.

But if you really need quality more than zoom, look for Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di LD. Its about 3 to 4 hundred dollars but IQ and sharpness is very close to Canon's EF 24-70mm F/2.8 L USM that goes for about $1200. Believe me when I say picture quality is very close between both of them as I hate Tamron (Except this one that I own) and Love Canon (Shame on me for this advice). I can't tell you how sharp this Tamron lens is...

One thing you may want to take into consideration, very importantly is your F number especially if you are thinking of mostly using it out door in UK or for that mater anywhere you can not count on excess daylight, most of time. Don't get fooled by the zooms that have 2 F in range, that is you get the more visible smaller F number only for wide, say 3.5 but when you zoom in, your apparture gets very narrow, say F5.6

[Derekb]

Sassan,

You say you hate Tamron but have you tried the 90mm Macro?

I bought the much more expensive Nikon 105mm macro and then was shown images taken by a friend with the Tamron. I sold the nikon and bought one, 'nuff said.

Best lens on the planet atm imho is the Nikon 14-24mm f2.8

[mirax]

The sigma 105mm 2.8 Marco was my best purchase @ £180 Brand new Superb lens optically equal to the canon 100 2.8, recently purchased the canon 55-250IS excellent lens for the price and superb IS also i replaced my 18-55 mark II for the newer 18-55IS IMO a much better lens and at a budget price.

[mirax]

Regarding Tamron i've only really heard mixed feedback regarding the lens quailty being very hit or miss on all there models you either get a good 1 or a Bad 1