Been looking for a not to expensive lens, generally for scape sorta shots but also a decent all rounder. I`m using a 350D and I`ve narrowed it down to the Canon EF 28 mm - 135 mm - f/3.5-5.6 IS USM or the Sigma AF18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC . I`ve been looking for a while but need one before I go on holiday in a few weeks and don`t want to make the wrong decision so any advice would be very helpful.

Ian :)

What do you currently have?

The only two I`ve got are the 18-55mm kit lens and the EF 50mm f/1.8 II. I`m looking to lose the kit lens and replace it with something that gives a bit more scope, just don`t want to make the wrong choice. I had the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III which was at best disappointing but managed to get my money back on E-Bay........I still find it hard to sleep at night.

The problem with 'superzooms' is that they dont have amazing image quality. You don't want to buy something like a 55-200mm?

(but the canon would probably be better; I wouldn't really know to be honest.)

I just got the 28-135 IS. I love it, it is an excellent replacement for the kit lens. Check craigslist and ebay; I scored mine used for $225.

Ian, I will have to recommend the Tamron 18-250mm f3.5-6.3 LD DiII Marro. I sold my canon 28-135 IS lens as I was so impresed with the tamron one. Theres also the 28-300 VC one out how also worth a look & their both reasonably priced.

Regards, John...

I have the 28-135 IS and I like it. But I got it for $200 extra with my 40D. I wouldn't pay the $425 new price for one. (You are paying for a full-frame lens.) There are a lot of these available used since you can get them as a kit lens. For $175 you can also get the new 18-55 IS (kit on the 450D) which is a lot better than your non-IS kit lens (and sharper than the 28-135 IS, too). That all said, it turns out that your 50mm at f5.6 is the sharpest of all mentioned so far. Photozone.de has a lot of technical test data available.

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