great walkabout lens? (Canon or 3rd party lens)

[7939077]

I am looking for a general purpose walkabout lens with an aperture of f/2.8.

Any good recommendation? Can be Canon or third party lens.

Thanks.

[taiwanapurasteve]

First thing that comes to mind within that aperture range is the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 or the older 28-70mm f/2.8.

[Denosha]

On a 350D, the 24/28-70/75s would be too long to be an effective walk around lens IMO. Sigma's 18-50 F2.8, Tamron's 17-50 F2.8 or Canon's upcoming 17-55 F2.8 IS would be ideal i feel. Either that or get a 30/35mm prime (which is somewhat like a 50mm after the cropping factor).

[7939077]

Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 is a 'L' lens, very expensive.

How about EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM.
Is f2.8 & f3.5 very much difference.

[clicknick]

3rd party:
Sigma 18-50 2.8
Sigma 17-70 2.8-4.5
Tamron 17-50 2.8 (out soon)
Tokina 16-50 2.8 (out later this year)

Canon:
17-40 4.0

[matthewgjs]

Tamron .. and sigma not much of f1.8 or 1.4 .. lens... thought of 24-105 mm too .. f4 IS .. sigh .. money money.. but not very wide angle on DSLR .. then next is 17-40mm f4 L .. f4 .. sigh ..

[Stoned]

If you can find the rare tamron 28-105/2.8, that would be a good bet for the best f2.8 walkabout.

[DEADMETAL]

When you talk about a great walkabout lens, personally I think that having a wide range is more impt than big aperture. Big aperture are more focus on special purpose for example low lighting shots of nice bokeh. So in my opinion, Sigma 18-200mm is a excellent walk around lens.

[archlover]

50mm f/1.8 ^__________^

[dragos]

17-40mm f4

[studiolabmaster]

u may want to try sigma17-70 f2.8-4.5.had tried it and not bad.af only a bit noisy,not a fast len and selling around S$609.
for wide below 24mm,almost all len will create at least a bit of distortion......for wider len,distortion will be very high,but it make the images look a bit diff.
Just my opinion........

[sk.images]

Agree with archlover, 50 1.8 is a great walkabout lens on the 350D. If you prefer a zoom, then I think the new 17-55 2.8 IS will be the way to go..

The 24-70 2.8, while a great lens, would be way too heavy and big as a walk around lens.

[sharpshooter]

Originally Posted by clicknick 3rd party: Sigma 18-50 2.8 Sigma 17-70 2.8-4.5 Tamron 17-50 2.8 (out soon) Tokina 16-50 2.8 (out later this year) Canon: 17-40 4.0

I have the Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 and is satisfied with the performance but 50mm may not be long enough to cover for general purpose.

[syazkal]

Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 XR Di.

[xirc0m]

u many wanna consider a 18-200mm lens... I m considering one

[knneo]

Originally Posted by xirc0m u many wanna consider a 18-200mm lens... I m considering one

Spot on.

I'm not too sure abt our pple defination of "walkabout" lens. For me, a "walkabout" lens is one that's able to give you "wide angle" 18mm and below with "long" 105mm onwards. It'll be a plus to have F2.8 on it so that I don't have to worry about shooting in low light in the night.

Tried Sigma 18-125mm and I wasn't please with the sharpness and weight, else it's a good walkabt lens with good colour contrast. AF wasn't too slow beside the fact that the AF was pretty loud in low noise area.

[Gunbucker]

For the budget-minded, nothing beats a Sigma 18-200mm zoom, covers all bases.

For the quality-minded, the EF 24-105 f/4L IS springs to mind. When it comes to handheld shots, IS reaps far greater benefits than a f/2.8.

[JediForce4ever]

A setup of 35mmf2, 50mmf1.8, 85mmf1.8 should be quite ideal for my style when doing street shooting.
I beg to differ from denosha's POV that a 24-70mm is too long for a walkaround lens.IMHO, a owner's lens setup should be according to his shooting style and not the len's focal length.Of course, a 'do-everything' lens would definately be good for street shooting.But again, its up to the owner.
FYI, I sometimes use a 135mm or a 70-200 to do street shooting, and I dont find it too long at all...