Which lens should I buy for all around shooting

[unfocused]

I used to heartily recommend the 15-85mm as a walk-around lens. Now, I'm adding the 18-135 STM as an inexpensive option.

17-55 EF-S f2.8 is a very good lens, and Canon has cut the price, but it is still expensive. It's a trade-off between speed and range. I think the 55mm maximum focal length is too short for an all around shooting lens and if you aren't shooting inside or in low light, the f2.8 isn't that much of an advantage.

15-85 EF-S is very good, substantial build and versatile. It translates into 24mm at the wide end, which is a significant difference from the EF-S 17 or 18 mm. (Which are more in the range of 28mm on full frame) At the long end, it's equivalent to 135 mm. The variable aperture makes it less than ideal for low light shooting, but I find it much more versatile than the 17-55 mm length.

As I said, I am now also recommending the 18-135 mm STM kit lens. Canon's new generation of STM lenses are quite good and very reasonably priced. The 18-135 is often sold as a kit with the 70D and 7D II, so there are a lot of "white box" versions of the lenses available at low cost. One thing I really like about this lens is that its stabilization at the wide end has been optimized for video, making it very nice for shooting hand held video if you ever want to do that.

I would not recommend any full frame lenses unless you are planning to go full frame very soon. You'll pay a premium and not see any advantage. Buy one of these less costly EF-S lenses. If you do switch to full frame at some point, you will always be able to resell the lenses and since they are less expensive, you won't take that much of a loss.

Check out Canon's refurbished store if you are in the U.S. and compare prices at CanonPriceWatch.com.

 

[FTb-n]

For a crop body the EF-S 17-55mm f2.8 would be my lens of choice. I use this lens for 6 years already and can still recommend it. The EF-S 15-85mm would be a worth a look, too.

+1
The EF-S 17-55 is IMHO the best short zoom for crop bodies. It's sharp and the constant f2.8 aperture is an asset for indoor use. The IQ is L-quality and I have been particularly impressed with focus speed. I've used this lens court-side during volleyball games when one must quickly aim and shoot. The AF system never let me down.

 

[Ruined]

Hi

Recently i bought my 1st dslr canon 50d, and now I'm looking to get a new lens.
I had few lenses in mind but I just cant decide. For example Canon 17-40mmf/4l was my 1st choice good price but apparently it does not perform well on crop cameras, and lack of IS puts me of. So there is Sigma Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM but it is massive, and I just don't know, also lack of IS. Finally my 3rd choice Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L but is a bit pricey.
So my question is which would be best suitable lens for general use a bit of landscape some pictures of my cat portraits etc.

Thanks

Pete

Canon 35mm f/2 IS USM

 

[roguewave]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned Sigma 17-50 as an alternative to Canon 17-55. I've had both and I oftentimes chose the Sigma because it is noticeably smaller and lighter. If cost and weight are not an issue, Canon is slightly better. However, Sigma is almost as good for nearly 1/2 price.

In my experience:
Sigma's corners are softer at 2.8
Sigma's AF is good both in terms of speed and accuracy, but Canon focuses faster in low light
Sigma can focus closer (i.e. better magnification)
Sigma does not have full time manual focus
IS works well on both
Sigma has tighter build, whereas Canon may start to creep
As mentioned, Sigma is smaller, lighter, and significantly cheaper

I've also used Canon 17-40 on a crop. I liked the contrast and colours it produced, but it was not long enough for all around shooting, did not have IS and was on the slow side with /f4. For crop, I would choose either the 17-55 (or -50) or 15-85 over it, depending on one's needs.

Canon 24-105 worked well on a crop for me when I did not need to go wider or brought a wider lens to complement it, but I would not choose it as my only lens.

 

[sdsr]

Since I don't know what you mean by all around shooting I'll make a few broader comments. First, slow FF zooms (constant f4) seem an odd choice on aps-c to me - you're usually paying more for a ff lens, you're using only part of its glass, it doesn't perform as well as it would on a FF body and may not perform as well as some aps-c lenses on an aps-c body anyway, and, if you care about noise and like shallow focus, starting at f4 seems rather limiting. Second, how will you be viewing your photos? Zooms aren't as good as primes, usually, but if you're not using a big monitor or regularly viewing at 100% or printing big, the difference will matter less, if at all; the very good Canon 10-18 and the surprisingly good Sigma 18-250 - both have IS - may well be good enough for just about anything. (I'm evidently part of a tiny minority -of one? - in being quite underwhelmed by the 17-55 2.8, whose price seems to me way out of proportion to its image quality.)

I tend to prefer primes, many of which have IS (I could probably go all day with just the 35mm IS, while perhaps wishing it were faster still), but I'm not you ....

 

[StudentOfLight]

Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 + Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

 

[Hjalmarg1]

For a crop body the EF-S 17-55mm f2.8 would be my lens of choice. I use this lens for 6 years already and can still recommend it. The EF-S 15-85mm would be a worth a look, too.

I'd suggest the 17-55mm f2.8 IS to be the all-around lens for everything. Yes, the 15-85mm offers wider and longer focal lenght, which is very useful. However, I found myself carrying another fast prime for situations where lighting conditions were far from ideal. I used extensively the latter though, with excellent results.

 

[nc0b]

I rarely shoot with my two crop bodies any more, maybe 10% of the time. Not because they take bad pictures, which they don't, but because my zoom lens focal lengths work better for me on full frame. You need to figure out whether you are going to buy a used FF or stick with crop long term. The 15-85mm EF-S is a fine lens out doors with good light but too slow most of the time indoors for what I shoot. The 24-105mm is a very versatile lens on FF, particularly on my 6D in low light when I really have to push the ISO. I doubt I will buy a other variable aperture lens after being spoiled with constant aperture zooms.

 

[FTb-n]

Hi

Recently i bought my 1st dslr canon 50d, and now I'm looking to get a new lens.
I had few lenses in mind but I just cant decide. For example Canon 17-40mmf/4l was my 1st choice good price but apparently it does not perform well on crop cameras, and lack of IS puts me of. So there is Sigma Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM but it is massive, and I just don't know, also lack of IS. Finally my 3rd choice Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L but is a bit pricey.
So my question is which would be best suitable lens for general use a bit of landscape some pictures of my cat portraits etc.

Thanks

Pete

Canon 35mm f/2 IS USM

Another fine suggestion. The 35 f2 IS would be my first choice in prime lenses for crop.

While the 17-55 is my first choice for a general purpose crop body lens, I often use a 7D/3f f2 IS combination as a grab shot camera.