General purpose lens - 1770, 1750, 24-70/60?

[Neilyb]

Decisions, decisions.....Having decided to buy the Tokina 12-24 I am now faced with the eternal question of which gerneral purpose walkaround lens to buy...so here are my options.

Sigma 17-70 or 18-50, one has constant f2.8 the other has reach, so far reviews on the 17-70 have been favourable.
Sigma 24-70/60, both good lenses but I fear that swapping lenses constantly when walking around (to get the wider angles) will become a pain, plus there are times when I can only carry one lens with me.
I considered the 17-40 L but this won't give me much reach as a walkaround and it is only f4.

I thought buying a DSLR would be the end of my problems..... :rolleyes:

[kvdnberg]

I'm considering the 17-70 myself. Though I like what I see about it so far I wish there was some more info still. I don't have a kit lens so I would 'need' it for the wide angle. I'm planning on trying to find a store that will let me do a side by side test with the Canon 28-105 which I'm also considering. The latter does not have much wide of course and I would have to buy a kit lens or something else to fill up the gap and I have the same lens swaping concern. That would make my total 4 instead of 3. And I just bought my DSLR a week ago.

No the problems for me started when I bought the DSLR. The DSLR was actually the thing I was really sure about!

[Lightstream]

17-85 IS USM - my preferred walkaround.

IS makes your walk last longer into the evenings or indoors. ;) The aperture thing didn't really come into my decision, f/4-5.6 is fine for a walkaround and IS certainly helps. The wide range of focal lengths is very useful too. 17mm has saved me many a tedious swap with my 10-22.

[Dorman]

I'm kind of facing the same decision now, except rather than your 12-24 I'm using the 17-40 as my wide-angle and walkaround. The Sigma 17-70 DC is tempting due to price but since I already have 17-40 it's a bit redundant. I'm considering the Sigma 24-70 and the Tamron 28-75 to pair up for a dual-lens walkabout solution. I'll be keeping an eye on this thread for sure!

I'd pop over to www.fredmiranda.com and read some reviews on the 17-70, 18-50, 24-70 Sigma's, the 28-75 Tamron, and the Canon 17-85 IS.

Don't fear swapping lenses, this is why you went with a DSLR!

[Neilyb]

I guess it is not so much a fear of swapping as a fear of carrying too much, especially on a short weekend trip. The 12-24 is primarily for my countryside stuff where I use small apperatures alot and a tripod (so don't mind swapping and taking my time). On a walk around weight becomes more an issue than actually swapping.

The 17-40 was tempting, but I need wider for the landscapes and there would be too much overlap.

17-85 costs a little more, but is also a possible! The comparison on Fredmiranda was pretty equal with the 17-70!

[Dorman]

I understand what you mean about the 17-40 being a bit too short and causing overlap with the 12-24. I really like what little I've seen about the 17-70, but then again, the 17-85 has been put through it's paces already...

[Neilyb]

And it has USM.....and IS.....

[Dorman]

Well, it sounds like you have your mind made up, what are ya waiting for? ;)

[vjack]

For a comparison of the 17-70 and 17-85, see http://www.pbase.com/lightrules/17701785

[farrukh]

Sigma 18-50 f/2.8 got good reviews. or you can wait a month for new Tamron lens.
I like my Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 but 24mm is not so wide on a 1.6x crop camera.

[Neilyb]

But the 17-85 does have alot of distortion at the wide end, more so than the 17-70, easily sorted in PS I suppose...

[Tee Why]

If you have an ultrawide like the toke and get a 17-85 ish lens, then there is too much overlap.

I'd recommend getting a normal zoom like a Sig 24-70 EX DG macro or a Tamron 28-75XR Di. Both are fast and sharp with similar price. You'd get a faster lens over this range than getting a 17-85.

[Neilyb]

I had a 24-70 for a few days, got took back as it was a bad copy. It was heavy and takes 82mm filters. Plus as said above I don't want to be swapping all the time, I realised when using the 18-55 that sometime even 18 isn't wide enough....

So I ordered my 17-85 IS today :) reason is the 17-70 is only 2.8 for a few mm, so the canon is only half a stop at most slower than the Siggy, plus it has IS and USM (HSM doesn't do it for me!)....plus the CPL filter is half the price as for the 24-70..... :)

The Toki is also on order from Germany....I feel poor suddenly!