350D Best Everyday/Walking Around Lens

Alot on this site had recommended to the canon 28-135 IS as a good walk around. Good focal range and had the IS. But its a tad expensive. I picked up the sigma 24-135 F/2.8-3.5 APO DG EX. Great lens, but a lil heavy.

THE 24-70 2.8L IS A GREAT LENS, YOU MAY FIND IT A BIT HEAVY THOUGH.

For budget sake I would say 17-85mm. Wide enough and long enough for walking and nature photography

I use the EF 28-105 f/3.5-4.5 USM on my 20D as my walkaround lens.

I purchased the 20d as a body only + 28-105 have been very happy with it so far. There are two 28-105, a f/3.5-4.5 and an f/4-5.6 model.

Granted, you are always going to want more zoom, and your always going to want more wide, but I find that with it being right in the middle, its more than ok as a walkaround. And its not bad for ~$230 US. Plus the body fits nicely in my backback w/ that lens on it, and the others (which are primes) are sitting second string!

A lot of recommendation for the 17-85mm IS I would highly recommend this lens as well. But when I purchased my Drebel the 17-85mm IS wasn't yet a lens.

I opted for the Sigma 18-125mm DC. Build quality is excellent, the lens barrel is actually metal, very heavy for it's size lens. I found picture quality to match that of all Canon consumer type non-L zooms I used this lens with. Simple ad hoc tests with my buddies, that was good enough for me.

Downside to this lens, I think the photos tend to be a tad darker then similiar Canon lenses, you loose IS, and the AF motor is noises. But speed wise it does appear to AF as fast as most Canon zooms.

The price is very nice for those on a budget, $260 street. I keep thinking I'd like to sell mine for a 17-85mm IS, but the results keep turning out so good from this lens I just can't let it go.

I have my 18-125mm DC paired with a 420EX flash most of the time, the results are fantastic thanks to the FEC available via the Hack for the 300D. For it's focal length and build I find this a very economical lens. If you leave the lens hood off it works with the pop up flash too.

Since the picture quality is the same as that of the 18-55mm EF-S IMO the real treat for this lens is build quality and the 125mm long end. The lens is also I.F. so a CPF can be used just finr outdoors.

I use to have the 17-85IS but it could not reach far, so I returned it for the Sigma 18-200. It's cheap, sharp, produces great color. So I am satisfied until I save for the 24-70L f/2.8 and 70-200L f/2.8 combo....But I did get the tamron 17-35, which I really love...

I have the 17-85IS. It is superb for a walk around. I sold a 28-135IS to fund it (not wide enough in town on a 1.6x).

Another vote for the 17-85mm IS. This lense is sharp and the IS does wonders inside the house. It is not as fast as my 50mm 1.4 though with even just the onboard flash I have taken some nice pictures. I have taken nice sharp images handheld inside at 1/60 and even a few at 1/40. The ability to have both wide and some long capability is also great.

I'd say the 1785IS. Is it sharper than the Sigma 1850EX, Sigma 2470EX, Tamron 2875Di, or Canon 2470L? No. Does it render punchier IQ than the 1740L? Almost but not quite. Does it exhibit barrel distortion, CA, and pin-cushioning? Some, yes. Does it have better focal range than the 18-125 or 18-200 lenses? No. But none of the listed lenses above can match the 1785IS as the "jack of all trades." Considering it has excellent focal range, 3rd gen IS, is relatively small and lightweight, has ring USM and FTM, it's the one I have ended up using as my main walk-around after using ALL of the above. And actually, the IQ is quite nice indeed http://www.pbase.com/f​stopjojo/17401785

Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 would be my suggetion. It's a fairly in-expensive lens, with very high quality and a large apature.

Another vote for the 17-85IS. It covers most photography situations with a single lens, and the IS allows it to get good pictures indoors or in other low-light situations. I have gotten good pictures at shutter speeds as low as 1/8 second, at 17mm f/4.

The lens produces sharper images at the long end of its range, and is especially good at taking semi-macro close-ups near 85mm.

Many users of this lens have complained about severe barrel distortion, vignetting, and chromatic aberrations (CA) at the wide end. True, but noticeable only when you view the images full-size on a high-resolution monitor. And many of these defects can be corrected in post-processing.

Of course, my comments are based on the type of pictures I like to take. If you like to grab close-up details from a distance, you may find 85mm not long enough.

In places like Las Vegas - Canon 10-22
Just around Town - Tamron 28-75

I want to get a 70-200 too, needs to be in the bag, just incase.

I have the 17-85 and it doesn't leave my camera much. I really like it. I bought the camera with it and added the other two lens.

I have found the 17-85 to be just perfect for indoor flash with my 420EX and outdoors all around. The sharpness is excellent and the range is mostly sufficient and the IS works great for these shaky hands of mine.

I don't know anything about the other lens you mention but here's my vote for the 17-85, an awesome lens!!!

'The rest of your life' implies the lens will be an investment, so therefore cost is not a huge concern. I think the best two choices would be the Canon 24-70 f/2.8 or the Canon 24-105 f/4.

Go the Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM, it sits on my 350d 24/7 and only comes off for my macro work EF 100m f2.8 lens.
Only problem i had was the standed flash was hopeless with the 17/85.
You will need a better flash my 430ex works great with this lens.