Lens Upgrade - Canon

[Malloc]

I currently have the following lenses:
18-55 Kit lens
Sigma 70-300
Canon EF 50mm 1.8

I just got a T3i for Christmas as an upgrade from my XT, so now the money I was setting aside for a new body can go to a lens. I'm by no means a professional and not selling, but I enjoy shooting and want to improve. I'm looking for some more range in a single lens, and image quality is something to desire, but as I said, I'm not looking for total professional level. Image Stabilization is required, USM desired.

At first I was looking at EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS: Canon U.S.A. : Consumer & Home Office : EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
but I get the feeling that image quality may not be much of an improvement here, but the increased range is nice

Since I have more money to spend, I don't have to rule out the two following ones:
EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS: Canon U.S.A. : Consumer & Home Office : EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
Great range, but heavy from what I've read. I don't know about the quality

EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM: Canon U.S.A. : Consumer & Home Office : EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
This seems to have the best image quality, and USM. My main concern is that the range isn't too much further than my kit lens I typically shot with, but I am not sure if that extra little bit will be useful while indoors. It is also expensive, so I want to make sure it is a significant upgrade if I'm going to spend the money.

Thoughts? Any 3rd party lenses that might be a better purchase for the money?

Here is a link to my 365 Project that shows my typical shots: Shooting the moon by Joshua Post 365 Project

[autofocus]

Lens choices should more be a matter of what it is that you typically want to shoot. The requirements for portrait shooting will be considerably different than those for landscape, sports, and wildlife photography. What kind of lighting situations do you typically work in will also be a factor. For a good general purpose medium zoom lens that's offers both a constant f/2.8 over the zoom range, along with being affordable is the Tamron 28-75. But as I stated above, it really boils down to what your needs are.

[Malloc]

I am not locked into a particular type of photography. I don't concentrate on sports or landscape. Mostly around the house/church type of general stuff. A lot indoors compared to outdoors.

That Tamron looks appealing, but with 28 as the minimum, on a crop body wouldn't that be pushing it for indoor shots? Other than that it looks fantastic. I didn't know there was a constant 2.8 zoom lens under $1000

[autofocus]

A lot indoors compared to outdoors. That Tamron looks appealing, but with 28 as the minimum, on a crop body wouldn't that be pushing it for indoor shots? Other than that it looks fantastic. I didn't know there was a constant 2.8 zoom lens under $1000

Once again, it all depends on the room, and how many subjects within the room. It works out to be ~45mm - 120mm on your camera which makes it very good for portrait work. Could you squeeze a family of 8-12 into that range??...well, not easily. But, it should be fine for many other circumstances. And, it's well below $1000 bucks. Remember, you always have your kit lens at 18mm (~29mm on your camera) to fall back on.

[RAWcop]

Originally Posted by Malloc

I am not locked into a particular type of photography. I don't concentrate on sports or landscape. Mostly around the house/church type of general stuff. A lot indoors compared to outdoors.

That Tamron looks appealing, but with 28 as the minimum, on a crop body wouldn't that be pushing it for indoor shots? Other than that it looks fantastic. I didn't know there was a constant 2.8 zoom lens under $1000

There are plenty of f/2.8 lenses out there for under $1000. Tamron also makes a 17-50 f/2.8 (one with image stabalization (VC), one with out). I just got a used one for $270 on ebay (non-VC) And recently sold a Tamron 28-75 for $290. Great sharp lens.

An all around great lens, and a Canon L that you may want to check out is a 17-40 f/4. you can get them refurbished for over $500 at Canon Direct Store- EF 17-40 f/4L USM Refurbished

[ceremus]

The 18-200 isn't bad for an all-in-one superzoom, if that's really what you want. Optically speaking the best lens on your list is the 15-85, but it's not a superzoom. The superzoom lenses compromise higher optical quality for framing versatility and some magnification. Personally I prefer to get one high quality standard zoom lens, something between 15mm and 80mm, and have a proper telephoto lens for telephoto work, like one of the 70-200 lenses (or in my case a 70-300L or 100-400L as I prefer to use it for nature/wildlife).

If you're doing indoors work you'll very much want to concentrate on fast zoom lenses, meaning you want a max aperture of f/2.8. For an APS-C camera I like the Canon 17-55mm for this purpose (EF-S lens), although it's too expensive for some. The Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 is less expensive lens which compares very favorably to the Canon lens' sharpness, although I hear it isn't quite as quick to focus. Fast primes (f/2.0 or wider) are also favorable for indoors available lighting, you'll want to be familiar with what focal lengths work best for the types of shooting you'll be doing, though. An external flash may be in your future as well.

[Malloc]

Thank you for your feedback everyone.

When using my 18-55 kit lens, I rarely am all the way out, so maybe 28 for a starting point would be ok. I find myself normally shooting at 50-55 with that one.

I do have a 430 EX speedlite that I didn't mention before, as well as a small studio setup with two strobes at 80 Watts each.

I found the weakness of the Tamron 28-75 is that it doesn't have any image stabilization which I was really looking forward to. I guess by being able to shoot at f2.8 or anything less than 5.6 I would be gaining some speed over the EF-S 15-85mm I'm looking at.

Ideally it would be a 18-135 f2.8 constant with IS for under $700 but it doesn't look like that is out there, or at least not one that is recommended.

[ishootRAW]

Originally Posted by Malloc

Ideally it would be a 18-135 f2.8 constant with IS for under $700 but it doesn't look like that is out there, or at least not one that is recommended.

I believe Canon makes a 8-600mm F/0.95L IS.

[Preeb]

Originally Posted by ishootRAW

I believe Canon makes a 8-600mm F/0.95L IS.

Huh????? I hope that this is a typo. If not it's a bad joke. There is certainly nothing like that in existence.

To the OP, the more zoom range you get, the lower the image quality or the higher the price tag will be, as a rule. That isn't an absolute, but close. I love my setup, but 2 of my 3 zooms were more than $1000, the 17-55 f2.8 and the 70-200 f4 IS. I had the money so I paid the premium for good glass. Hopefully they will serve me for along time. When I replaced my 18-55 kit lens, I first got the 17-40 L, but wasn't really happy with it and sold it to buy the 17-55. I love this lens, but my primary aim is landscape, so wide is my first choice most of the time. I wouldn't hesitate to buy it again if anything should happen to this one.

[Tiberius]

I think he was making a joke about how unlikely it is that you will get a 18-135 f2.8 constant with IS for under $700. As in, about as likely as a 8-600mm F/0.95L IS.