What about the Tamron 17-50, Sigma 18-50 macro or Sigma 17-70?..

Hm... do they offer similar/better capabilities at lower price ?Gene..

There are some comparisons on pbase and elsewhere. I was surprised what the 17-70 could match or beat and got one for my Pentax. Be careful about asking for opinions on lenses. Most of what you will get is speculation based on brand preference...

What about the Canon SLR forums - you should get more info there than the general forums..

StephenG.

Pentax K100DFuji S5200Fuji E900PCLinuxOS..

There have been a lot of very positive comments regarding the sigma 17-70 f/2.8 - 4.5. Many people have said that it is as good or better than own-brand Nikon / Pentax / Canon lenses costing a lot more. Do a search on this site and see...Mike..

Http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/sigma_1770_2845/index.htmChris Elliott.

*Nikon* D Eighty + Fifty - Other equipment in Profile.

Http://PlacidoD.Zenfolio.com/..

... on what you want to shoot and why you're unhappy with the kit lens..

I am willing to pay a bit more, butprobably not as much as the camera body itself. .

Oh, dear, are you in for a shock.   In the long run lenses will cost you *way* more than bodies..

A more-or-less-good-for-everything lens..

Good luck. Seriously, everything's a trade-off. Size vs. speed vs. cost..

Getting back to my original question: why another lens? If the kit lens is not fast enough, the others aren't much better. Unless it's the type of shooting that IS will aid..

If the kit is too short, the others don't help that much..

If it's the image quality, you might sharpen (ha ha) your PhotoShop skills. If it's the IQ, a 17-40 would be a big step up in that price range.Sonoma County, CA..

Yes, all that is generally true about almost anything..

If you want a true race car, buy Lamborgini, if you are all about towing capacity, then may be F150 truck will work for you .... and so on.....

On the other hand if you want to start with something that is a more-or-less-ok-for-everything car, you may go with Honda Civic..

But! You may just want to get something that is certainly not a truck or a race car, but offers a bit more space, power and flexibility, say Toyota Camry.That is sort of where I am going with this.....

My situation is simple. I am new to the field and don't have enough experience to have my own opinion about the lens that would work for me. So I asked couple of friends who happen to be professional photographers. They told me that the kit lens may be too limiting and advised me to go with 17-70mm or 24-85 mm lens instead. I hope they know what the heck they are talking about.... .

All I was asking about in this forum was which one should I go with - Canon, Sigma or Tamron or something else... Gene..

I just received my first "other lens" for my 400D (same as the XTi) yesterday, so I was in the same position as you very recently..

When I got my camera a couple of months ago, I went with the kit 18-55 lens. The idea was that I wanted to get a feel for the camera and play around with it before making a choice of what lens to get. It's very overwhelming, and you see reviews all over the place with conflicting conclusions..

I would recommend that you keep the kit lens until you know more precisely what you're after with the new lens. From what I have seen, it's impossible to get everything and there is no such thing as a perfect lens..

I ended up realizing that I use my kit lens a lot indoors in 55mm mode quite a lot, and were struggling with the long exposures. So I ended up getting a Canon 50/1.8 II lens a lot because of the f/1.8. The reviews I read said it was a bit plastic-y but that the image quality was quite good for the price (and the price is very good as well). I've only spent a couple of hours with it so far, but already got a photo that I feel makes up for the cost of the lens..

I figure that until you know _why_ you need the lens you're looking at getting there's no real need to spend the money. Just stick with the kit lens a bit longer and see where your photography takes you...

Went through the same process & after reading many reviews etc chose the Sigma 17-70, have to say that I'm extremely happy with choice, vast improvement on my previous kit lens.

Simon.

Http://www.landscapephotographyuk.com/.

North Wales photographs - Snowdonia & Anglesey..