Newbie Needs Opinions Please...

Hello,

I recently purchased a Rebel XT, with the 18-55 mm kit lens. Also, after reading the "Top Ten Recommended Starter Lenses", I purchased the EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM.

After doing a little more research, I'm second guessing myself and thinking that I should have maybe bought the EF-S 17-85MM f4-5.6 IS USM, for the following reasons:

• Good range, and I could basically "park" my kit lens. I would not get the same zoom as the 18-135, but if needed, I could always buy a better zoom later.
  
• The 17-85 is EF-S, in other words, it is made for digital (or at least that is my understanding of EF-S).

The 28135IS is one of Canon's enduring standard zooms. It is consumer grade but still renders good IQ with Image Stab. It remains a very popular choice as it is useable on both FF and crop bodies. On an XT, I think the 1785IS is the much better choice. If you plan to stay with your XT for some time, I would recommend the wider focal range. A nice set up is the 1785IS and either the new 70300IS or the 70200f4. In addition, the 1785IS has a newer generation IS unit and has slightly better optics. See my site for more. Best wishes.

The 28-135 was my first lens. I skipped the kit lens and bought just the 20d body along with the 28-135 lens. I decided on this lens because of the great reviews and it gave more reach then the 17-85m you mentioned. I wanted to see what area of photography interested me most. As you can see I have a nice range of lens. To much fun. Stop second guessing, you'll be very pleased with your purchase. Ive been.

Ya done right. Two decent lenses covering 18-135mm.

id keep the 28-135. its a tad faster, has farther reach, plus it could be a keeper if you move to full frame cameras down the line. some say image quality is lacking but i say its good enough for the price. the 28-135 stays on my camera as my main lens. i only use the kit when i want the 18mm for group shots or tighter spaces, otherwise 28 is wide enough for many applications

I'd get a fast standard zoom, like the Sigma 24-70 F2.8 or the Tamron 28-75 F2.8. Having IS is nice, but F2.8 lets you gather more light, blur the background, and get higher shutter speeds. Of course the 17-85IS has more range and IS is really handy, it's really a judgement call based on what you like.

Thanks for the input, much appreciated.

I ended up returning the 28-135 and getting the 17-85.

I will eventually want good coverage across the focal lengths, with good quality lenses. If I kept the 28-135, I would have eventually wanted to replace the kit lens with a good quality lens (USM/IS etc.) to cover the bottom focal length. I would also eventually want to get a longer zoom lens.

I guess I fealt that the 28-135, although good, with good coverage, would become a redundant lens when I made additional purchases. I agree with the first response that the 17-85 and the 70-300 would be a great combo with good coverage - that is what I am aiming for now.

I did not tell my wife, but I actually bought the 17-85, AND the 50mm/1.4. Shhhh....

Thanks again.