Your top 3 "bang for buck" lenses?

1 - Autofocus : Tamron 70-300 f/3.5-5.6 macro 1:2 (100 bucks in 2nd hand, very good from 70-200mm at every aperture, on 300mm enough good at f8/f11, and does 1:2 macro)
2 - Manual focus: Olympus Zuiko 100mm f/2.8 (OM adapted - 50 to 80 bucks in 2nd hand), really compact/light, gives very good portraits images with creamy bokeh
3 - Manual focus: Carl Zeiss Jena 135mm f3.5 (M42 mount - 60 to 80 bucks in 2nd hand), same reasons as Zuiko 100mm f/2.8, except it's bigger, better for close-up shots, "Carl Zeiss" rendering & sharpness, very sharp at every aperture.

Others would be Olympus Zuiko 24mm f/2.8, 35mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.4, Tamron adaptall SP 35-80mm f/2.8-3.8

Titi

Tokina 16-28mm ATX Pro. May be equal to or better than the 16-35L for about half the price
70-200 F/4L non-IS
Samyang 35mm f/1.4

135 L
24-85mm
100mm macro

all Canon

tovarish wrote in post #14293625
Any lens is great "bang for the buck" because if I spend one more buck my wife is going to shoot me.

I had the exact same problem
new wife isn't much better either

Sigma 50mm 2.8 macro
Tamron 17-50mm 2.8
Canon 85mm 1.8

24L II (I use this for environmental portraits, it's amazing)
70-200 f2.8 II (best IQ for a zoom, seriously)
17-40L (budget UWA L lens, I've had some of my best shots on this)

Canon 17-40L
Sigma 85 F1.4
Canon 24-105L

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Sigma 200-500mm f/2.8 (sarcasm)

Foggiest wrote in post #14293632
18-55 IS (free with camera)
70-200 F4 non IS
400 5.6

Can shoot a lot with those three
As what Talley said too , biased for my own kit :P

I have to agree with these 3.
the 18-55 is sharp and dirt cheap at about $100 used.
the 70-200 f4 (IS or not) is an awesome lens
the 400 5.6 is probably the sharpest 400mm that is under $4k (its only $1100)

^ It's the only 400mm under 4k.... unless you are adding in the zooms, which wont be as sharp as the primes.

EF 50mm f/1.8 II
Sigma 30mm F/1.4
EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

85L II - it's not cheap. in fact, it's expensive. but the images it produces are just unique!
70-200/2.8L IS II - best zoom
Rokinon 14/2.8 - it's manual focus, but for the price it's an amazing piece of glass

Best bang for the buck:

EF 35 f/2
EF 85 f/1.8
EF 100 f/2.8 Macro

If you look at Canon's entire lineup they do have some very good value at all the different focal lengths.

EF 15/2.8
EF 35/2
EF 85/1.8
EF 200/2.8
EF 400/5.6

One that I haven't seen mentioned which would be on any bang for the buck list I make is:

Canon EF-S 60mm f2.8 macro. $429 for one of the sharpest lenses around, with the benefit of full 1:1 macro. Nice short tele with great portrait capabilities.

Then also:

Canon EF-S 10-22 f3.5-f4.5 -- again, tack sharp, low distortion for an ultra wide and low flare -- ~$800 new around $650 used

EF-S 18-55 IS II -- Just a good lens optically for about $100. Not fast and not the best AF but super cheap with good IQ