Canon General Purpose/Event Lens

inevitablyissie wrote:

So far I have been considering the following lenses:

Canon 24-70 f2.8L - Most appropriate focal range but out of my budget...

I'm not sure exactly what your budget is, but you could consider the Tamron 24-70 f2.8 VC.  It gives you the f2.8 AND VC which is nice.

Canon 50mm f1.4/60mm f2.8/85mm f1.8 - Nice aperture and very sharp but fixed focal range?

Fixed focal length lenses are very nice, especially if you're on a budget, but obviously you need to be ok with only one focal length.  I haven't used the 60mm, but I like the 85mm much better than the 50mm 1.4.  The new 50mm 1.8 STM is a pretty nice lens for the money actually

Canon 17-55 f2.8 - Sharp but the focal range could be limiting in certain events?

On a crop sensor camera, this lens, or it's Sigma equivalent, is probably what I would personally want at an event.

Tamron 28-75 f2.8 - I haven't heard a lot about this lens but does it compare to the L lenses?

I owned it when I used a crop.  IQ is pretty good, not as good as the 24-70 f2.8L II or the Tamron 24-70 VC, but it's pretty good.  Build quality and focus speed do not come anywhere near the L's.  Focus speed is SLOW on the 28-75... much faster on the 24-70 VC.  The build on the 28-75 is not great either.  That said, it is dirt cheap and gives you f2.8 and decent IQ.

Like I said, if I were you, I'd probably be looking at the Canon 17-55 IS or the Sigma 17-50 OS.