General Lens to go with my Wide-Angle

Hi there,

Recently I traded my Canon 17-85 for a Tokina 12-24, which is an excellent sharp lens, much better than the Canon. Anyway, it has left me without a general purpose zoom lens.

Im looking for something (zoom or prime(s)) to solve my needs. Something that is good for portraits, and everything in between. Needs to be at least 2.8 as well, and under $500 USD total.

I dont really want anything to overlap either, it seems a waste getting a 17-50 or similar when I have the 12-24.

Except for the price, I'd suggest the Canon 24-70 f/2.8L. I have never used any of the third-party lenses (non-Canon brands), so I cannot recommend any of them from experience. I have and use the Canon 24-70, though, and can tell you that it is one fantastic lens. It's just expensive - but worth it.

Canon 24-70mm is not going to make it anywhere near your $500 ceiling. In fact, I don't think you could get the older 28-70L for that price.

The only one that comes to mind within your strict criteria is the Sigma 28-70mm f/2.8, which goes for around $350. Not great range as an all-around on a 40D, IMHO. That's if you want a zoom.

For primes, you have all kinds of options if you're lookin' to get in under $500.

in your price range, you are better off looking at a generic/3rd party brand.

you could get a used 28-135 mm zoom

Yeah, unfortunently the 24-70 is a little bit out of the price range, I'd rather put that amount towards another 70-200.

Not interested in any mid-range EF-S zooms like the 28-135.

Apparently the Sigma is soft, thus I looked at the Tamron equivalent. Any reports on that?

What sort of Primes would I be looking at? 28, 35, 50?

Any ideas?

For a general purpose prime id go with the canon 50 1.4. I personally like my 28 1.8 better, but since you already have up to 24 covered go with a 50

50 1.4 or 85 1.8 based on which focal length you would prefer
either should compliment a WA well

I really like my 50 1.8, so I recommend the 1.4, as I find it to be a nice length.
The setup I'm working towards is similar, being a Sigma 12-24, Canon 50mm 1.4, Canon 70-200 (or 100-400).

Sigma 24-60?

I have the Tamron 17-50 2.8 and love it. I read that you don't want overlap, so maybe the Tamron 28-75 2.8 is something you can consider which plays nicely with your 12-24. They say that the image quality is as good as the 17-50 and it fits in your budget. Actually you can find them used for about $300 in the sell forum.