Canon Lens or Tamron Lens

[Xisthreweyes]

So I have a question. Withen the next fews days, I will be buying a digital camera off of ebay. My question is this. I have the option between these three sets of lens. Either I go with a Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Zoom Lens , and a Canon EF 75-300 F/4.0-5.6 III Lens. Or I go with these. A Sigma 28-70mm f2.8-4 HIGH SPEED lens, and a Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG Macro Lens. Or these. Sigma 28-70mm f2.8-4 HIGH SPEED lens, and a Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG Macro Lens. Or these: Canon 28-90mm F4-5.6 III AF Lens and a Canon 90-300/4.5-5.6 EF Zoom Lens. My question is which do you guys think are better, and is the macro lens only good for macro, or does it just give me the option to use it that way? I'm looking for quality and variety. Any help would be appreciated.

[gasrocks]

How about some idea of what you really need - what you take pix of? None of the ones you menitoned get me going.

[Xisthreweyes]

Okay, well I want to focus on portraits and I want to be able to do wildlife and sports. I haven't really found my niche yet, but those are the ones that interest me most. This is my first dslr, so lens in general are foreign to me. I can't even begin to understand them right now, I just want to make the best choice. I am even thinking about just buying the camera by itself and getting one nice lens, but I'm not sure what the best option is for me.

[runninmann]

Any particular reason you're buying from eBay as opposed to other online retailers such as B&H, Amazon.com, Adorama?

[KCMO Al]

Be careful of these bundles. The extra components are usually low-level quality. I can say from personal experience, the Canon 75-300 and 28-90 are not quality lenses.
Also, you can pretty much ignore extra words like HIGH SPEED and Macro that are added to zooms. They're just marketing terms. Macro in this case implies that the lens focuses a bit closer than the previous version. It is not a true macro lens.
And I'm curious about the title of your post. I don't see Tamron mentioned.

[Pete-eos]

I personally wouldn't buy a body of eBay, post up the store and links, see if they are legit or not..

I'd personally take the body and kit lens and go from there...

[jr_senator]

I would rather see you get one lens of high quality than two or more so-so lenses. Glass is almost forever. 17-40L, 24-70L, 24-105L, perhaps the EF-S 17-55mm.

[Andy_T]

What the others said.

I would be weary of those eBay bundles ... sometimes they also include some items like CF cards, camera bags, 'digital flashes' and else that does not really add value.

Start with the camera (which one?) and EF-S 18-55. That will take care of wide angle. To shoot portraits, you might look at something like the Sigma 24-70/2.8 (NOT 28-70/2.8-4 'High Speed'), Tamron 28-75/2.8 XR DI (both in the 300-400$ range) or the 75$ Canon 50/1.8. Experiment with that gear and find out what else you might be needing in the future.

Sports ... well, let's say that you either have to pick a sport that is pursued in bright daytime (dragracing in the desert maybe :wink: ) or spend $$$ on lenses that are actually capable ... so maybe don't start out with that in mind. Come back when you have saved an additional $ 600 for a Cano EF 70-200/4.0 L or if you do something like basketball where the shorter EF 85/1.8 (also $ 350ish) is long enough.

Best regards,
Andy

[kumicho]

I'd say buy body only and the 17-70mm Sigma. I'd rather have one good medium zoom than two crappy ones. FYI, the "28-70 + 70-300" combo is selling for $185 online from a store (not ebay) if that gives you an idea of how much they're both worth.

I'd also avoid ebay packages like the plague, you have no idea whether the equipment is USA warranty or greymarket (at least the packages I saw), what brand/model the storage cards are, and most of the peripherals are junk. just checked out this combo (http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-EOS-Digital-Rebel-XTi-18-55-75-300-Kit-400D-XT-i_W0QQitemZ280083318224QQihZ018QQcategoryZ147173QQ rdZ1QQcmdZViewItem) for the heck of it, and at best you're paying $835 for the body and lenses. probably less (if it's greymarket). that means you're paying 200-250 (including shipping and insurance) for a no-name memory card, a *very* cheap flash, probably $5 worth of filters, $20 for the tripod, etc.

:)

[angryhampster]

Do not buy a bundle. I bought one a couple years ago and regret it every time I look in my camera bag. I have nothing left of that bundle except for the camera. Everything that comes in it is crap.

[T Kubik]

I'd say buy body only and the 17-70mm Sigma. I'd rather have one good medium zoom than two crappy ones. FYI, the "28-70 + 70-300" combo is selling for $185 online from a store (not ebay) if that gives you an idea of how much they're both worth.

I'd also avoid ebay packages like the plague, you have no idea whether the equipment is USA warranty or greymarket (at least the packages I saw), what brand/model the storage cards are, and most of the peripherals are junk. just checked out this combo (http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-EOS-Digital-Rebel-XTi-18-55-75-300-Kit-400D-XT-i_W0QQitemZ280083318224QQihZ018QQcategoryZ147173QQ rdZ1QQcmdZViewItem) for the heck of it, and at best you're paying $835 for the body and lenses. probably less (if it's greymarket). that means you're paying 200-250 (including shipping and insurance) for a no-name memory card, a *very* cheap flash, probably $5 worth of filters, $20 for the tripod, etc.

:)

I agree with buying the body only from B&H with the PSjAN code and buying the Sigma 17-70mm f2.8-4.5 DC and a Thrifty Fifty (Canon 50mm f1.8). It would probably be close to the same price, and the lenses will give you WAAYY better pics. From personal experience I can tell you, you probably won't be satisfied with the 75-300mm, as far as image quality, and any 28mm-xxmm probably won't be wide enough on any crop body camera (i.e.- Rebel xt, xti 20d, 30d).

You might want to check out this website: www.photozone.de/reviews and check out the reviews about those lenses that are coming with the kits, then check out the review on the Sigma 17-70mm and the Canon 50mm f1.8. You might be suprised ;)

[Xisthreweyes]

Thanks for all the responses. I posted this late last night and started researching on my own. I came to the realization that I should buy body only, and then purchase a quality lens instead of a few crappy ones. I also found the "Beginner Lens" Thread. That was a huge huge help. I am buying a 30d, and probably going to purchase the Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS. I've heard good things about it, or I might just go with the Canon EF 50 1.8. People really seem to love that thing, and with that price you can't go wrong I guess. As soon as I can afford it I will get a longer lens. I am looking at Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS. It seems solid. Anyway I really appriciate you guys helping me out and look forward to posting my pictures once I get my new camera.