super unoriginal lens question

[NathanCharles]

New to photography.

I've been shooting with my friends 20d for the past few months and I love it.

I am buying a 20d. I need a lens.

My friend with the 20d is trying to convince me to drop the hatchet on this lens:
CLICK
it takes very little for me to see that the lens is sickly nice. it's a highly usable 17-55mm with a fixed f-stop through the zoom.

now, that puts me about 600 over budget. In other words, highly unaffordable.

so, I go looking and i find this puppy:
CLICK

what is the advantage to the canon?

things i require:

1 - at the lens' widest I want a level horizon. no fisheye. If i take a photo of a persons head at three feet at at 17mm will the cheaper lens produce a bent horizon?

2 - I don't want the lens breaking. Is the canon significantly more durable?

other suggestions for lenses?

I want 17mm (or wider) at the wide end of the zoom... i want it to be fast.... i want it to have a fixed f-stop through through zoom.

THANKS

 

[NathanCharles]

HANG ON.

on second look, i guess the tamron is not compatable with the 20d, is it?

that said, does anyone have any suggestions for me? i really want to have a wide angle fast zoom lens with a fixed f-stop through the zoom. HELP.

 

[Bondseye]

HANG ON.

on second look, i guess the tamron is not compatable with the 20d, is it?

that said, does anyone have any suggestions for me? i really want to have a wide angle fast zoom lens with a fixed f-stop through the zoom. HELP.

the importance of good glass can't be overstated and you get what you pay for. Have you considered a compatible manual focus lens or two? You can find quality used glass if you're willing to do the extra work. I'm a Nikon guy so someone else will have to jump in and advise if there are indeed older lenses compatible with the 20d.

 

[NathanCharles]

i totally understand. suggestions?

updated criteria:

17 (or wider) - 50mm
f2.8 (fixed)
i need auto focus.

 

[Digital Matt]

That Tamron is compatible with the 20D. Any wide angle lens at 17 mm is going to give you some barrell distortion. It's unavoidable. A good site to read lens reviews is Fred Miranda's site: www.fredmiranda.com

Canon's better lenses will generally have a build quality that is superior to third party lenses. If you take good care of a lens, which is not hard, you really shouldn't have to worry about breaking it.

I use a Tamron 17-35 f/2.8~4 with my 20D, and get excellent results. After reading many poor reviews, I ruled out the Canon 17-40 f/4 L.

Also, if you plan to use any cameras besides your 20D, ie a film camera, or an upgrade later on, then you should probably stay away from EF-S lenses, as they only work on certain cameras.

 

[KevinR]

I believe it is compatable with the 20D. It is not supposed to be used on the Canons with the full size sensors. I like the Tamron. Have heard pretty good stuff about that one also. I also found this review you might find interesting. He is testing the lens on a 20D

http://bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/tamron_17-50_review.html

 

[Torus34]

All lenses, including your cornea, give a curved horizon if the horizon is not at mid-height in the image. The effect becomes more noticeable as the horizon's position from the mid-line increases and as the focal length of the lens decreases. At 24mm, it's quite apparent.

 

[kelox]

the Di II series from tamron is very good. i have two of them(11-18 & 18-200), both give excellent photos. to echo what matt said, "any wide angle lens at 17 mm is going to give you some barrell distortion." and the camera manufacturer's lenses will, by and large, have a better build quality than that of third party lenses. but there are exceptions to this(the Di II series for example). i find it is pretty easy to take good care of a lens( no drops, no big bumps, no spills).