which one? 18-55 or 17-85?

Hi,
i´m about to buy a canon eos 20d but i have 2 options:

1500 € canon eos 20d + EF-S 18-55 mm
2000 € canon eos 20d + EF-S 17-85mm

should i buy the EF-S 17-85 mm or the cost difference does not worth it?

could you help me?

thanks

Is this your first DSLR? Your first SLR? What do you intend to photograph?

I personally own the 17-85 and love it. Despite couple negative drawbacks, this is a great lens with great range.

it is my first one and i intendo to take every kind of pictures (sports action, landscapes,etc)

If you want to do sports s well as ordinary shooting around, I'd get the 18-55 and then put the extra 500€ into a longer lens. I don't think the 17-85 will be long enough for outdoor sports or fast enough for indoor. Maybe the 70-200 f/4 L if you mean outdoor; an 85 f/1.8 for indoor.

The 17-85 has a great range for a walkabout lens on the 20D. It is not a fast lens but produces great shots. The IS works great too. Here is a sample, shoulda got him to smile though.

save the $ and buy a tamron 28-75 f/2.8

Should have got him to shave ... Are people still wearing Goatee's with pride in 2005/6? Nice shot tho'!

Jon makes a good point about sports ... but, in your case, I would plump for the 17-85 IS because even though there are faster, cheaper, frankly better lenses covering a similarish range (the Sigma and Tamron standard zooms) I reckon for a single lens start up solution it is about as safe a buy as can be made. Excellent travel lens that is only rivaled IMHO by the 24-105 IS L. There'll always be a place in your bag for it and should you sell then resale is good.

I would just buy the body and maybe the 50mm 1.8 and do some reasearch before i really invest in a lens that will end up sitting in its box for instance my 18-55 lens but i do mosty portaits.I only use it for walk abouts and thats really caring around my 20 gets a bit heavy especially with my 1 year old.

I would buy the body only and then a Tamron 28-75 or a Sigma 24-70. The kit lens is only for those "not really into photography" who want the speed of a DSLR camera. The Tamron and Sigma are cheaper than the Canon but offer the same quality.

Early this year I went with the 17-85 because the specs and bundling make it a better deal. I'm totally happy with it, but will at some point get a faster and/or "L" len(s) in the same range.

KAC

condyk wrote:
Should have got him to shave ... Are people still wearing Goatee's with pride in 2005/6? Nice shot tho'!

Yes we are.

Hey, look, I don't wanna cause trouble buddy. I mean ... hell ... I never even shaved today myself

And all those folks who say a Goatee indicates a lazy nature, or Goatee wearers can only go as far as shifting the easy stuff but fall short when they get to the tougher stuff in life ... hey, those folks ain't no friends of mine Honest!