Looking for a fast standard zoom lens under £850..

Looking for a fast standard zoom lens under £850, recommendations please..

For a 60D..

Dean.

I will be boring but 17-55 2.8

Yeah that's what I've settled on but I thought I'd ask before ordering tomorrow..

Had the EF 28-135 which wasn't that wide or fast..

Can't go wrong with the 17-55 F/2.8.

Some say that 15-85 is worth looking at, but I've never owned one so can not say much more.

He said he wanted a fast zoom. 15-85 is a great lens but is a variable aperture with F/3.5 the widest... not exactly fast.

I recently acquired two Tamron lenses; the 17-50 non-VC and the 28-75. They allow me to cover more range than the 17-55, at the same aperture, for 1/2 the money. Neither has VC, IS, OS or whatever. Used, they were $300 each. On my 60D, using the center AF point, both focus quickly. Both are quite sharp wide open. As I tend to use them in different situations, changing lenses is not an issue. The 28-75 also makes a decent walk-around lens on my 5D, although in mediocre light it takes a while to focus. That kind of kills the advantage of f/2.8. It does work fine on the 60D, however.

Edit: I have the 15-85. It is a well-built, well behaved lens. I consider it worth every penny I paid for it. That said, it is not f/2.8. Hence the purchase of the two Tamrons.

@scrumhall..
I think we are both on the same page, I'm thinking of the exact same lenses as you..

EF-S 10-22 | EF-S 17-55 F2.8 | EF 70-200 L F4 IS

Would love the 2.8 over the 4 but at £1,400 for the IS version it's a lot to spend for a lens my dad already has..

Probably wont go for the 100-400 but who knows..

@deanbayley: where are you thinking of ordering from?

Pro Camera Shop

deanbayley wrote in post #16058034
@scrumhall..
I think we are both on the same page, I'm thinking of the exact same lenses as you..

EF-S 10-22 | EF-S 17-55 F2.8 | EF 70-200 L F4 IS

Would love the 2.8 over the 4 but at £1,400 for the IS version it's a lot to spend for a lens my dad already has..

Probably wont go for the 100-400 but who knows..

Good call, Dean. The F/2.8 and the F/4 are totally different beasts. I like the F/4 because it is so light and portable. There were just a couple of occasions when I was shooting indoors from the back of a theater and would have loved the 70-200 F/2.8, but other than that, I love the F/4. The 17-55 and the 70-200 F/4 are the workhorses for me. The 10-22 is a landscape specialist for me but it is so light, I carry it along usually anyway. The 100-400L is something I use for birds generally - I haven't traveled with it at all (well, I will in 1 week when I go to India for 6 weeks! )

deanbayley wrote in post #16058034
@scrumhall..
I think we are both on the same page, I'm thinking of the exact same lenses as you..

EF-S 10-22 | EF-S 17-55 F2.8 | EF 70-200 L F4 IS

Would love the 2.8 over the 4 but at £1,400 for the IS version it's a lot to spend for a lens my dad already has..

Probably wont go for the 100-400 but who knows..

You can see from my sig that we are in similar places.

That's 3 of us!

Well i'll check this thread again in the morning but unless someone else knows of better choice than the EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 then i think we're settled, and the 70-200 early next month..

Also talking about the next lens its a choice of the

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6L IS USM @ £880

or

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM @ £744

Thoughts please?

Hard to go wrong either way... depends on whether you want the F4 on one end vs. the 200-300 range on the other end. The F4 is sharper than sharp, and the 70-300L is also very very good.