Decent Cheap Lens for Canon xti?

[Mav]

My pro quality and pro priced 17-55DX certainly blows the $100 18-55 kit lens out of the water in terms of straight off the camera image quality (sharpness, contrast, color, etc). But with some PP work, the 18-55 can look about as good, although the extra speed really does make a difference at times too, either for marginal light, or subject isolation. I just don't have time to sit down and PP all of the photos I want to put up in albums though, which is why I got something really nice so that I wouldn't have to. Makes a huge difference if you're a pro and can dump stuff right off the camera without even really touching it, as opposed to spending hours tweaking the settings for a lesser lens. That can get tedious even if you have a good batch processor like DxO. I'm actually planning to pickup another 18-55 kit lens one of these days, although I'll wait to see if I can find a lightly used 18-55VR version when a D60 owner decides they want to upgrade.

 

[tafkam]

Thanks again for all the replys I appreciate it! I actually changed my mind and went with a Sony Alpha 200 with the kit lens and they have the Zeiss lenses that can be purchased later, I wonder if the extreme price is worth it but it really does not matter as no way I can afford one of them right now, they cost more than the camera did.

Playing around with the Sony I am very happy so far and decided on it because it just felt more comfortable in my hand than did the Canon or Nikons in the same price range. May be a bad way to pick a camera but for me a comfortable feel in the hand was important.



Thanks again
Mike in Dayton, OH