Canon Rebel XT Lense

[jonaatewong]

hey everybody..what lense should i get that is one level up from the kit lens they give u. the 15-85mm one..i want to spend about 5-600 dollars THANKS

[bestfromnw]

get tamron 28-78 f/2.8 or sigma 24-70 f/2.8 - both of them are about 5 steps up and in $400 budget.

also 50mm f/1.8 is a great sharp lens for under $80

[fWord]

Both the Tamron 28-75mm and Sigma 24-70mm are said to be excellent lenses, but they won't go as wide as a kit lens on an XT. For me, they would not be wide enough at all.

The Canon 17-85mm is quite a few steps up from the kit lens, and the price reflects this. It gets a bad rap from quite a few around here. I've used it myself before and found it to be a great walkaround lens with excellent focal length range and IS on top. It tends to be a little soft at the shorter end until stopped down to past f/5.6.

But at the longer end, past about 60mm or so, it's optically very strong. Other issues are CA and barrel distortions at the wide end.

The other good lenses on the market would be the Sigma 17-70mm and Tamron 17-50mm. There's a newer Tokina 16-50mm also, but I have had no experience with any of these three lenses.

$500-600 is quite a good budget, but you'll need to consider if you want a lens that can go more tele than the kit lens or if the kit lens focal length range is enough. Do you often use the wider end of your kit lens? Or do you zoom in most of the time?

Also, you'll need to think whether you often photograph action shots in lower light without flash. If this is the case then you should be looking at lenses with a f/2.8 constant aperture, namely the Tamron 17-50mm and the Tokina 16-50mm.

[Tee Why]

Sigma 17-70 or Canon 17-85. Of the two I'd get the Sigma, a bit sharper, less distortion, less CA, faster, has "macro", and cheaper.

Canon has a touch more reach, nicer build, USM, and IS.

[timbop]

Look at 1 of the several "17-40L vs. tamron 17-50" threads going on right now, and google all 4 lenses for reviews. The 17-85 and sigma 17-70 are nice lenses, as well as the tamron 17-50. For $430, you can't go wrong with the tammy, IMHO it has the best combo of image quality, speed, and cost.