Which lens would you recommend?

Joined: 15 Feb 2007 Posts: 1

Does anyone have any experience with this lens?

http://www.amazon.com/Sigma-18-200mm-3-5-6-3-Optical-Stabilizer/dp/B000NOSCGM/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1199588501&sr=8-2

Or this one?

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-17-85mm-4-5-6-Stabilized-Digital/dp/B0002Y5WXO/ref=sr_1_27?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1199588977&sr=1-27

I have a Canon XTi that I am using for nature photography, as well as photos of my (active) 3 yr old daughter. I currently have a package that included 2 tamron lenses, 28-80 mm and 75-300 mm. I find the lenses are okay but the photos are not incredibly sharp, and they do not have IS which makes it hard to use the telephoto features without a tripod (which is hard to lug around with a 3 yr old!). I am looking for a good, general walk-around lens.

And to clarify, by looking in to the IS features, I am thinking of using it for the "still" nature photos, not of my 3 yr old :). I am aware that IS is for camera shake, not subject movement! Of course, a lens that can also handle taking great action shots would be preferred :).

Photography is just a hobby for me, but the idea of a zoom lens sounds nice for playing with macros.

Which lens would the experts here recommend? Or if there is another one for my needs I am open to suggestions!

As always, TIA!

Joined: 26 Jan 2005 Posts: 55 Location: Illinois, USA

I do not own either of these lenses so I can not comment on them. It's been my experience that for the use you want to put this lens to that you need a 'fast' lens. One with an aperture of f/2.8 or less.

Most zoom lenses with a f/2.8 aperture will be on the pricey side.

What I'd recommend would be a prime lens (fixed aperture lens), they will be fast, sharp and affordable.

A reasonable starter lens would be the Canon 50mm f/1.4

[url]http://www.amazon.com/Canon-50mm-Medium-Telephoto-Cameras/dp/B00009XVCZ/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1204243701&sr=8-1
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If you think that 50mm will not be wide enough then I'd suggest the 28mm:
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-50mm-Medium-Telephoto-Cameras/dp/B00009XVCZ/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1204243701&sr=8-1

I shoot with my 50mm f/1.4 about 60% of the time. It's a great lens.

Hope this helps.

Joined: 14 Feb 2006 Posts: 214 Location: Corona, CA

I own the EF-S 17-85 lens and I like it a lot. It has a lot of versatility. Ya, it's only 1mm wider then your other lens you mention but that matters a lot. It is just an easy lens to use because it's compact but has the range you need to get most shots.

My one gripe with is is with dust but that will affect any lens that is not sealed. This is one reason I went with an L lens for my next purchase.

Now as for the prime lens, if you want a started I would recommend the http://www.amazon.com/Canon-50mm-1-8-Camera-Lens/dp/B00007E7JU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1207862779&sr=1-1 EF 1.8 II lens because it is cheap. It's also cheaply built and has slow focus but for a starter it doesn't matter. Also the quality of the images (Which is what matters right?) is almost the same as the 1.4 version that costs almost $300 more.

Lastly, I haven't used the Sigma lens but I bet if you look it up that is suffers from some sort of distortion since it covers such a large range.