Cant decide on a lens..

I just sold my spare XT and have $450 from that.
Might sell my XT and get a 30D... (dont know if im doing that or not)

If I keep my XT:

I want to get a grip and a good shorter ranged lens (I have a 70-200 F/4L).

So I have around $450 plus some extra money if I need it...

What should I get?

Ive heard very good things about the

Tamron 28-75mm XR DI

but I didnt know how that stood up to a Canon lens... For the money it would be a good deal if it has nice quality.

Let me know what some good shorter/walk around lenses are or if you have that Tamron lens...

I had the Tamron 28-75. It was sharp and great color, but on a crop like your XT, it's just an awkward focal length. I sold it because I needed the money.

I recently just got the Tamron 17-50 2.8. To me, It's just as sharp as the 28-75 and offers a much better "walkaround" lens for crop cameras since you can take some nice wide landscape shots. Just my opinion.

I used a Tamron 17-50 f2.8 for a while -- nice, very sharp. Amazon+Cameta Camera has a great deal on a Sigma 24-60 f2.8 right now -- also nice and very sharp though not as wide as I'd like (still a great lens for a great price). Many people seem to like the Sigma 18-50 f2.8 "macro" but I've never tried one. Sigma 17-70 f2.8-4.5 "macro" is a very nice all-purpose walk-around lens -- sharp but not quite as sharp or fast as the first two. Any of these will be a marked improvement over the kit lens.

Anyone else got any suggestions? Any under $400 or I can find a little cheaper used?

79TAKid wrote in post #4225417
Anyone else got any suggestions? Any under $400 or I can find a little cheaper used?

Since you brought up a non-oem lens, you may want to look into the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 or Sigma 18-50 f/2.8 on the 1.6x crop body. Both are slightly above $400 new.

The Tamron 28-75 is sharp but not really wide on a crop body. As for the finish, it's somewhat "plasticy" and turns when you AF (if I remember correctly, it's been a while since I last held one).

Another option is the Canon 28-105 II, but it is again not really wide and not constant aperture.

79TAKid wrote in post #4225417
Anyone else got any suggestions? Any under $400 or I can find a little cheaper used?

I know you're looking for other people's advice but I'll chime in since I kinda went through the same thing. After ditching my kit lens I got the Sigma 17-70. It was a nice lens and I enjoy having the range, but for me, I found lots of time where I wanted the f2.8 that the others offered.

To me, the Tamron 17-50 is really the best choice. You can find them used here for 360-375.

Your other choices are the Sigma for roughly the same price, or the 17-40L for almost 1000, the 17-55 2.8 IS for 900 or the 17-85 IS for 600 I believe but you're still not getting the f2.8.

check out the lens archive stickied at the top of this forum and just look at the samples from all the different lenses since they also have prices listed.