Lenses Dilemma, advice and help needed! :)

[noritje]

Ok, I need some advice on what lens to buy.

First of all my camera + lens are:

Canon 450D
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS (kit lens)
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS

The last two of the lens already been bought but I am yet to receive them. But that's beside the point.

I've been thinking to add another lens and after much thinking, googling, researching and reading, I came up with these two.

1. Canon EF-S 10-22/3.5-4.5 USM
2. Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

Now, the dilemma is, I can only afford to buy 1. And if I buy no. 2, it will be the replacement of my kit lens.

Some of the reviews said I would do the same with my kit lens, so no point replacing it with 17-55mm IS USM. What do you guys think? Especially those who has experience handling both kit and this lens?

Also on the wide lens, I really like it but is it really necessary to have? More than the 17-55mm lens?

Regarding the type of photography I would do:

1. Potraits
2. Street shooting
3. Architecture
4. Random shooting while travelling

Thanks a bunch for your feedback! It would help me in making my choice easier

 

[Dao]

1st question:

Will you consider some other quality lenses from a 3rd party companies?

 

[noritje]

1st question:

Will you consider some other quality lenses from a 3rd party companies?

Yes! I must admit I don't know much 3rd party lenses and if you have a suggestion (or two) for a 3rd party lens that has about the same specs as the two I posted, please tell me!

As long as they won't cost much much more than these two, I am alright!

 

[Dao]

Ultra Wide Angle lens:

Newer version 10-20mm F/3.5 EX DC from Sigma
Sigma - Lenses

Older version 10-20mm F/4-5.6 EX DC from Sigma
Sigma - Lenses

Tokina [FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]AT-X 116 PRO DX [/FONT][/FONT]11-16mm F/2.8
Tokina

Tokina [FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]AT-X 124 PRO DX II [/FONT][/FONT]12-24mm F/4
Tokina

Tamron SP AF10-24mm F/3.5-4.5 Di-II LD Aspherical
SP AF10-24mm F/3.5-4.5 Di-II LD Aspherical (IF); Tamron USA, Inc.

Tamron SP AF11-18mm F/4.5-5.6 Di-II LD Aspherical
AF11-18mm F/4.5-5.6 Di-II LD Aspherical (IF); Tamron USA, Inc.


I believe the Sigma 10-20mm and the Tokina 11-16mm are pretty popular. I do not own those lens, but I am sure a lot of other users will share their experience with the lenses.

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Standard Zoom Lens:

Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 EX DC Macro HSM
Sigma - Lenses

Tamron AF17-50mm F/2.8 Di-II LD Aspherical
AF17-50mm F/2.8 Di-II LD Aspherical (IF); Tamron USA, Inc.


I personally own the Tamron lens and that is a great lens. Of course, the Sigma is also a great one according to what I read. And I am sure someone will charm in later on.

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Remember, there are a lot of lens reviews site out there such as ..

dpreview.com
photozone.de
slrgear.com
fredmiranda.com



Chances are the cost of the 3rd party ultrawide + standard zoom lenses will roughly equal to the cost of one EF-S 17-55mm F/2.8 IS USM (or a little more)

Note: none of the lens mentioned has any image stablization.

 

[noritje]

Thanks for the suggestions, I will give some good reads on them.

But one question tho, does it really matter if these lenses don't have the image stabilization in them? Do you know any other lenses, equivalent to those you mentioned BUT with image stabilization (or whatever the 3rd party calls them)?

 

[Dao]

For the ultrawide lens, I really think IS/OS/VR/VC on those lens are waste of money.

I believe most of the people will use those lens on a tripod for taking landscape shots. And even if it is hand held, unless it is really dark, otherwise, you should be able to take a photo with a shutter speed faster than 1/(focal length). i.e. Take a photo with shutter speed of 1/15 or faster for a 10mm focal length photo. Especially with the lens that can go as large as F/2.8 aperture.


For the standard zoom. It is nice to have the IS/OS/VR/VC, but personally I am fine without it. Of course, if we talk about a telephoto lens such as 200mm, that is a different story.

Sigma do has a OS standard zoom lens
18-50mm F2.8-4.5 DC OS HSM, but I do not know how good it is. And it do not a constant aperture throughout the range. F/2.8 vs F/2.8-4.5