Help Canon walkaround

[DreaMworX]

Hi everyone,
At the moment I have a Canon 100D with a Canon 40mm f2.8 pancake lens. I love the prime but i cant always use it for group shots or street photography because I usually do not have enough room to back away so that the subject will fit in the frame. So I am considering purchasing a new lens for my kit and am currently stuck between these 3:
1) Sigma 17-70 f2 8-4 dc macro os hsm © $555
2) Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM $482
3) Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM $840
I have arranged them in order of preference. I like the sigma because it has the f2.8 and the macro like capability, some people say it has great IQ and sharpness others criticize its softness...
I also like the 15-85mm Canon because i have seen that it has an amazing IS system and good IQ but it sits at last place because it is quite expensive.
(I have watched and read a LOT of reviews but they keep contradicting each other so it was difficult to arrive at a conclusion) Also are the lenses worth their price? (BTW I live in Italy and those are the lowest I prices I found)

Adrian

PS
Most of the time I use the camera for travelling and take various types of shots, from closeups to landscapes and street photography, and I would also like to start shooting video (if the Canon 100D is able to shoot decent video with any of the lenses)

 

[CanonJim]

I'd go with the Canon 18-135 EF-S as a walk-around. Decent IQ, good range, made for your APS-C body.

 

[ronlane]

Of those 3, I'd probably take the 18-135. But I'd rather have the 24-105mm f/4 as my walk around lens. I little more expensive but plenty of used one to be found.

 

[lambertpix]

The 18-135 really is a great range -- I've used the 28-135, and I've found it a pretty good walkaround range. Have you considered a refurbished lens? That might be a worthwhile option. FWIW, I use the 15-85 as my walkaround right now -- also a really nice general-purpose range.

 

[Lumens]

I have owned the Sigma 17-70 and the Canon 15-85. The 15-85 is my favorite lens on the 7D for walk around, it IS an outstanding lens. With that said I cannot speak to the 18-135 as I have never used it, but I do hear good things about it.

 

[mddolson]

I received the Canon EF-S 18-135mm as a birthday gift from my wife & daughter last March.
My kit lens has been on the shelf ever since.
It's a nice walk-around lens & good value for the money.
Was able to find an adapter ring for my old (Olympus mount) Sigma 100-200 zoom lens.
It's manual focus & not stabilized, but does higher mag. & macro.
It works well setting the camera on aperture priority.

Mike D

 

[Nevermore1]

I have the 18-135 and love it. If I'm just going out for the day with no real intention of taking pictures I will bring just that lens with me (I try to always bring my camera with me). It's worked great for multiple situations and I find I use it the most out of all of my lenses.

 

[weepete]

I am facing a similar dilemma and its worth bearing in mind that there's two versions of the sigma out, the Sigma 17-70 f2 8-4 dc macro os hsm, and the Sigma 17-70 f2 8-4 dc macro os hsm C (the C standing for Contemporary and it was I believe released last year) which is slightly better than the older version.

Anyway, for me it's a straight choice between the sigma 17-70 and the canon 15-85. For myself the extra stop on the 17-70 just edges it and fits in with my plans to eventually add a UWA and upgrade my telephoto. If I was only planning to have one lens though the 15-85 mm would probably be it. 24mm on a crop sensor just isn't wide enough

 

[pdq5oh]

This is, in part, a copy & paste from another thread I replied to:
I rented a Sigma 17-70 2.8/4 lens the other day. I was pretty impressed with it. Good zoom range for crop sensor (27-112) & plenty fast enough. Focus was accurate, silent and fast. IQ was very good. It also has OS. The lens is compact and light weight; for walking around. A word of caution about this lens. Be sure to look at the C version. It's vastly improved over the previous 17-70 lens. There's a chrome C on the barrel of the new version. The biggest thing with 24mm lenses is they're not very wide. I find myself at the wide end of my wide zooms often enough to want 17mm at minimum. As mentioned above, the Canon 18-135 STM is a really good lens for walking around. I have that lens, and use it a lot. The STM lenses are optimized for shooting video. I've been doing more and more video and the STM lenses work great for this.

 

[Surfwooder]

The Canon EF-S 18-135mm IS STM lens is a good lens for video. Keep in mind the only reason it is good for video is the stepping motor for focus. The stepping motor is so quiet it cannot be heard on the video track when it needs to focus. If the focus motor sound is not an issue other lenses with more range would be a better choice. Or, if what you want to video makes a bit of noise the USM will be drowned out anyway. If your interest is for stills and video, you still may want to look into a lens with more range. I'd look into a Canon EF 70-200 f4L IS USM. My lens is good for video on my 7D.