Canon 50D Which Lens

I was going to wait till a bit later on in the year to purchase a Canon 5D MK II but my camera was stolen so need to buy one soon!
With the funds available to me now I am thinking of a Canon 50D but want to buy a better lens that what they come with.

Can anyone recommend a good overall lens to go with the 50D?

Thank you

Budget.. It's all in the budget.

If budget is not a concern, I believe the best general purpose lens for the 50D is the 17-55 f/2.8IS

haha!

Well I have found the body for £755 so im thinking maybe upto £750 so that lens could be well within my budget!

I am currently considering a 50D purchase, with a couple of lenses. (I currently have a rebel and a EF 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 EF IS USM.which is ok -- I can upgrade later.)

Here is what I narrowed my choices to:

Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM $400.00
Or
Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM $361.19

AND

EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM $1,030.00
Or
EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM $1,190.00


Checkout the thread on the EF-S 60mm -- very impressive!
Also, there are extremely favorable reviews on the EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM $1,030.00 which is why I am leaning toward that instead of the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L

If you're on a budget, the Tamron 28-75 2.8 performs very, very well on a 50D. The Wife recently got a 50D and while we wanted the 24-70L, the budget didn't. After a good amount of research, the Tammy seemed like a very good deal. Reviews are consistently glowing across the board. Thus far we haven't been disappointed.

Just for reference, her 50D came with the 18-55 IS. My 28-135 IS performed better on the camera, though, and the Tammy outshines both of those. I know it's popular to bash the 28-135 here, but it's a quality--if not spectacular--consumer lens.

jblaschke wrote in post #7795016
.. I know it's popular to bash the 28-135 here, but it's a quality--if not spectacular--consumer lens.

I think that the 28-135 gets it's bad rap because of quality control issues. I'v had three copies, sold two. Two were outstanding lenses and my daughter and son still enjoy them. The third has not so good. Noticably softer than the others.

I would add another vote for the Tamron 28-75, but depending on what you shoot, you may find yourself wanting something wider. I bought my 50D with the 28-135, and it's a fine lens, but starting at 28mm on a crop body just wasn't wide enough for me to use as a walk around. If you can justify the price of the 17-55, that would be the way to go.

+1 for the 17-55...its an amazing lens and imho the best lens in that range, by far, for a crop body...2.8 AND IS and super fast to focus, crisp...I love mine

This is a great thread! I too have just gotten the 50d and I'm trying to sort out some lenses. One that I have been looking at is the 90mm macro from Tamron. under 500 and has a 6 year warentee and if bought before 4/30 there is a 60.00 rebate! sweet deal if you ask me.

50D Newbe wrote in post #7795855
This is a great thread! I too have just gotten the 50d and I'm trying to sort out some lenses. One that I have been looking at is the 90mm macro from Tamron. under 500 and has a 6 year warentee and if bought before 4/30 there is a 60.00 rebate! sweet deal if you ask me.

For about the same cost you can get the canon 100mm macro. I prefer it's internal, non-extending front element. Nothing scares them little buggies like a huge piece of glass headed their way.

jblaschke wrote in post #7795016
...
Just for reference, her 50D came with the 18-55 IS. My 28-135 IS performed better on the camera, though, and the Tammy outshines both of those. I know it's popular to bash the 28-135 here, but it's a quality--if not spectacular--consumer lens.

interesting that hers came with the 18-55IS, and not the 17-85? was it used?

I like my 28-135, but i need to get something to cover the lower end, especially since i am heading to greece this summer. I need to compare the 28-135 vs the 17-85 in quality (can't justify the cost of the 17-55is right now). Also looking at 10-22.

No way to answer this until you tell us what you shoot. Only that will determine what kind of lens you need.

At that price, 70-200 or 17-55 or even 24-105, depending on what you shoot.

Looks like money is not an object. Given those choices, I'd probably select the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L, with the EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS being a close second choice. I agree that what you shoot mostly is going to make all the difference. In my world, money IS an object, and I chose the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8, that's my personal go to lens. But I got a wife and a child. I like sleeping in my house too...

jxg wrote in post #7795956
interesting that hers came with the 18-55IS, and not the 17-85? was it used?

No, it was new. But we got it from a small brick-and-mortar camera shop selling their own "kits" through Ebay. They offered the 50D plus the 18-55 IS for $1,100, which was too good a deal to pass up. Both lens and body were new. All the other cobbled-together packages on Ebay were more expensive and chok full of those worthless macro and fisheye filter attachments. Or packaged a EF 75-300 as the kit lens. No thank you, have one of those mediocre things already!

We'd originally planned to order body-only from B&H, but they started one of their extended holidays at the time we actually had money in hand, and The Wife decided she didn't want to wait. The Ebay seller checked out okay, and offered a decent lens for the same price as we'd pay body-only to B&H, plus free shipping. Very happy with the deal, even if the 81-55 IS was only used a couple of times.