Alternatives to the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS?

Hi,

Expecting my t1i to arrive tomorrow, whoo hoo! Posted a while back saying I have some old lenses from a film rebel

ef 35-105mm 1:4-5:6
ef 100-300mm 1:4-5:6

Feedback from y'all suggested these won't do the new camera justice, so i'm figuring out what to buy.

Seems like the only lens I can find that meets my needs )taking pictures of the baby and whatever else i can find that interests me) and budget is the kit lens, the 18-55mm 3.5-5.6 is, which is a bummer cuz i could have saved a little money if i bought it with the camera. Trying to go cheap, but would spend up to $300 on a lens if it would get me a much better bang for the buck.

Should I just order up the 18-55mm or is there anything else i might want to consider?

Much appreciated!

18-55 efs IS is the best deal for what it can do on crop body.

I have 2 under $150 solution if you dont get the 18-55 IS, which will work in FF.
if you can find one of the following.
tokina 19-35mm
tamron 19-35mm
of course they are not that great optically compare with 18-55,
however they are also quite good to do the job for the price.

-a

abandc said:

Hi,

Expecting my t1i to arrive tomorrow, whoo hoo! Posted a while back saying I have some old lenses from a film rebel

ef 35-105mm 1:4-5:6
ef 100-300mm 1:4-5:6

Feedback from y'all suggested these won't do the new camera justice, so i'm figuring out what to buy.

Seems like the only lens I can find that meets my needs )taking pictures of the baby and whatever else i can find that interests me) and budget is the kit lens, the 18-55mm 3.5-5.6 is, which is a bummer cuz i could have saved a little money if i bought it with the camera. Trying to go cheap, but would spend up to $300 on a lens if it would get me a much better bang for the buck.

Should I just order up the 18-55mm or is there anything else i might want to consider?

Much appreciated!

Click to expand...

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liu_yi_feng/

Do you need the zoom?

I think the 35mm f/2 and the 50 1.8 would be a great place to start.

That puts you around 400 dollars though.

There really isnt many options in the 300 dollar range besides primes. The kit zoom is a solid lens and if your on a tight budget is a great value. You also arent going to find 18mm anywhere else for that price. If you buy its yours. There is no market for resale. Good luck

I think the EF-S 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 IS will be the best bet for a starter zoom that gives you some wide angle. EF 50 f/1.8 II is the way to go for sharp and larger aperture low light at just $100. Both for less than $300 is a great start.

Or you might stretch for the Sigma 17-70 f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro for about $370. This gives a great "walk-around" range and gives you a two lens kit (17-70, 100-300) instead of 3 (18-55, 35-105, 100-300).

abandc said:

Posted a while back saying I have some old lenses from a film rebel:
ef 35-105mm 1:4-5:6

Click to expand...

Just a modest kit lens, I wouldn't expect much from it, but is a credible bridge between the 18-55 and 100-300.

abandc said:

ef 100-300mm 1:4-5:6

Click to expand...

EF 100-300 f/4.5-5.6 USM? No image stabilization, but still I think that's a keeper. Optics are ok, and it's well built with the nice fast/silent ring-USM with full time manual focus and non-rotating barrel. At least until you can scratch together $600 for either the EF 70-200 f/4L USM or EF 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM.

I don't think there's anything to touch the 18-55mm f3.5-f5.6 IS EF-S in the price range. Have a look around for dealers selling the lens "white-box", seperated from a kit, that's how I got mine and you get a new lens with warranty for about 65% of the new cost.

Of course, it's even cheaper to get it as part of a body/lens kit - but it's a little late for that now.

--
Check out my galleries (lots of macros) at :
http://www.pbase.com/cjed

abandc said:

Hi,

Expecting my t1i to arrive tomorrow, whoo hoo! Posted a while back saying I have some old lenses from a film rebel

ef 35-105mm 1:4-5:6
ef 100-300mm 1:4-5:6

Feedback from y'all suggested these won't do the new camera justice, so i'm figuring out what to buy.

Seems like the only lens I can find that meets my needs )taking pictures of the baby and whatever else i can find that interests me) and budget is the kit lens, the 18-55mm 3.5-5.6 is, which is a bummer cuz i could have saved a little money if i bought it with the camera. Trying to go cheap, but would spend up to $300 on a lens if it would get me a much better bang for the buck.

Should I just order up the 18-55mm or is there anything else i might want to consider?

Much appreciated!

Click to expand...

The 18-55mm IS is so far ahead of anything in it's price range that any alternative zoom would ridiculously under preform it.