Keep the 18-55 IS?

I am trying to decide on whether or not I should keep my beloved 18-55IS. It has been through a ton of weddings with me. I bought a Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 recently so I don't see any point in keeping the canon. My only gripe is the MFD of the Tammy vs the Kit lens. The Canon focuses 2cm closer and has 5mm more reach. I beleive the difference is .28x vs .22x magnification. Is it worth keeping or should I sell it and let the paypal money pile up for a new lens?

The 18-55 IS is a pretty nice compact lens.

How about you keep it around for now and see if you use it. If not, sell it a couple months from now.

jasonlitka wrote in post #10656634
The 18-55 IS is a pretty nice compact lens.

How about you keep it around for now and see if you use it. If not, sell it a couple months from now.

Yeah, I guess that makes sense. It's not like I'm sitting on a $2000 piece of glass not being used.

Keep it only if you intend on upgrading your body to something diferent down the road, especially if it is an entry level body whether by design or age. It is a lot harder to sell a body like that without a lens to go with it, and what better than the the lens it came with, right?


I sold mine recently and will do a body upgrade down the line but my current body will end up being my backup/loaner.

I'm in the exact situation as you're in when my Tamron arrived yesterday. I thought I was the only one thinking "Why is it so hard for me to let go of the 18-55?".

I considered this as a replacement for the 18-55mm "kit" lens, however, Destractions read my mind; I think it would be more difficult to sell my T1i body only compared to with the lens kit. Secondly, I find the AF faster on the 18-55 and the IS works really well. Lastly, if I really needcash for a particular L lens, I can sell the Tamron and I would still be happy with the 18-55mm. I'm planning to keep mine.

Let me know what's your final decision!

I had no problem getting rid of an XSi without the kit lens. In fact, I got more for them parted out than the offer I had for the bundle.

cdreemz17 wrote in post #10655715
I am trying to decide on whether or not I should keep my beloved 18-55IS. It has been through a ton of weddings with me. I bought a Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 recently so I don't see any point in keeping the canon. My only gripe is the MFD of the Tammy vs the Kit lens. The Canon focuses 2cm closer and has 5mm more reach. I beleive the difference is .28x vs .22x magnification. Is it worth keeping or should I sell it and let the paypal money pile up for a new lens?

although beloved the 18-55IS is probably not worth keeping

They are almost free when brand new, as it is. How much are people paying for used ones?

Make sure you don't need it for another body.

I replaced my 18-55 with the 17-55 USM. Now the 18-55 sees action on my second EOS body. It also serves as a back-up if the worst should happen, or I sell the 17-55.

-Mike.

I've sold 2, one from my XSi kit when I upgraded to a 17-85 and a second when I upgraded the body to a T2i, and, if memory serves, got $120 for the first and $100 for the second.

Did you see that much of an IQ difference between the 17-50 and the 18-55 IS? When the 18-55 IS is stopped down it is pretty sharp. So I know there would be an obvious advantage of the 2.8 on the Tamron, but in the 5.6 and up range is the IQ any better with the tamron?