Need some direction for a good multi use lens

bossman27 wrote in post #14918240
I really hate to invest in an EF-S lens although the 15-85mm sounds like a great lens. In the future I can see myself purchasing a full frame camera and I don't believe the EF-S lens are compatible with full frame. I spoke with someone the other day that has basically the same interest as I and I believe his go to lens is the 24-70mm L 2.8. He said he is able to get by with the field of view at 24mm.

How far in the future? Even if you buy an EF lens now, by the time you get a FF body you may not want that lens either. People are buying and selling lenses constantly as their interests and needs change. I wouldn't let the fact that the 15-85 is an EF-s lens stop you unless you're definitely planning to upgrade to FF within the next year or so.

bossman27 wrote in post #14918240
I really hate to invest in an EF-S lens although the 15-85mm sounds like a great lens. In the future I can see myself purchasing a full frame camera and I don't believe the EF-S lens are compatible with full frame. I spoke with someone the other day that has basically the same interest as I and I believe his go to lens is the 24-70mm L 2.8. He said he is able to get by with the field of view at 24mm.

I had the same dilemma...but here's the deal: I think about the images I have that I would not if I hadn't pulled the trigger on this lens, and it is a no-brainer. I guess you could say you would have them anyway because you would have had another lens on in the same moment, but it would have rendered the image differently, and it would not be the same shot. And this lens renders well. This lens is hardware already, look at all the comments on it in this thread alone. Absolutely no problem to use this lens now and sell it later if you go to FF.

Take your current lens, set it to f 2.8, thats your background blur amount with a zoom at the same focal length. If you go wider, you will get less.

gonzogolf wrote in post #14918249
Some day maybe when you some day perhaps buy a full frame camera you can easily sell the lens you no longer need to buy one that you want. Good lenses hold their value well and it makes zero sense to buy the wrong lens to use because of a purchase you may never make.

I agree. Unless you know for certain you are buying a full frame body very soon, it doesn't make sense to buy something less optimal because you "might" buy a FF "sometime".

I owned a EFS 17-55 f/2.8 lens for six years before buying a full frame body. I sold the lens for about $100 less than I paid for it new, and I probably could have held out for more money, but I was selling it to a friend.

gonzogolf wrote in post #14918249
Some day maybe when you some day perhaps buy a full frame camera you can easily sell the lens you no longer need to buy one that you want. Good lenses hold their value well and it makes zero sense to buy the wrong lens to use because of a purchase you may never make.

That is true... The EF-S 17-55 you spoke about earlier is it sharper than my 18-200mm? Or just better for low light due to being a 2.8.

I like the EF-S 18-85's zoom range better but its 3.5 just like my 18-200mm lens. So what am I getting here a sharper image just because it has less zoom?

bossman27 wrote in post #14918887
That is true... The EF-S 17-55 you spoke about earlier is it sharper than my 18-200mm? Or just better for low light due to being a 2.8.

Both. Most zooms are going to be sharper than your superzoom. In this case the 17-55 is L quality in terms of optics. Build quality is a bit short of L, but still well built.

bossman27 wrote in post #14918887
I like the EF-S 18-85's zoom range better but its 3.5 just like my 18-200mm lens. So what am I getting here a sharper image just because it has less zoom?

Its really difficult to make a superzoom sharp across the entire range. The lens elements have to move around a lot to go from wide angle to telephoto and all that movement requires some compromise in terms of sharpness. Its less noticeable on lenses that go from normal to tele, or short tele to longer tele. I'm no lens designer, so this is certainly a less than technical description, but in the end its pretty accurate.

Also suggest you might want to spend some time browsing around in the 15-85 sample photo archive...

One of the fun aspects of the Canon 18-200mm IS lens, is while it's not billed as a macro lens, you can still get close to a subject and fill the frame at the wider end. Careful Live View framing helps, and the image stabilization assists getting these pictures hand-held without a tripod.

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