Starter Lens Kit

[TiCoyote]

A little about me:
Years ago, I shot all over Europe with a 35mm Canon Rebel 2000 with a 35-50 mm Canon cheap-o zoom lens with a cracked collar. But now I mostly do snapshots with a Sony CyberShot.

Last week, my mom was showing me her new Nikon DSLR, and I remembered how much I missed manual shooting.

So my g/f pulled out her Digital Rebel from the closet, handed it to me, and said, "If you know how to use it, have fun."

Mostly I shoot outdoor stuff. I like doing cities and beaches. I usually have the camera in the aperture-priority setting, and I shoot with a wide aperture a lot.

What I have:
The camera is a Canon Digital Rebel.
Her lens is the Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Image Stabilizer USM Autofocus Lens
My lens is the super cheapie canon standard zoom with the cracked collar.

Problems:
The IS lens is big and heavy and expensive and I'm not shooting in low light, so I don't really need the IS.

The other lens is more comfortable to use, but some of my pics look washed out, so I'm afraid it leaks light.

What I want:
I want one or two lenses that will cover the 18-300mm zoom range (or some part of it, 28-200 would be fine).
I want good optics.
I want something that's durable and not too bulky.
I'd rather go cheaper so I'll be less afraid of breakage and theft.

Price Range:
$200-300

I considered:
Tamron Zoom Super Wide Angle 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di-II LD Aspherical (IF) Macro Lens for Canon Digital EOS $260

and

TamronUSA Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto AF 28-200mm Super Zoom f/3.8-5.6 XR Di Aspherical IF Macro Autofocus Lens for Canon EOS $235

and

Tamron 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 and 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro Two Lens Kit for Canon EOS $210

and

Tamron 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 and 55-200mm f/4-5.6 Di-II LD Two Lens Kit for Canon Digital EOS Cameras $160

Questions:
1. I understand that Tamron makes a good value for money lens, anyone want to debate this?

2. It looks like the lenses with the wider zoom range are higher quality lenses, but I understand that lenses with a wide zoom range yield disappointing results including distortion and lack of adequate light (slow?).

3. Would I be better off with entirely different lenses? Perhaps prime lenses, or one zoom and two primes? I like the flexibility of zooms.




ALSO:
At some point, I'd like to upgrade to the Rebel XSi, because I'd like to shoot in B&W, and I'd like to get more than 4 shots out of a burst. And I think it's a little lighter.

Thank you

 

[CyclonePWR]

ALSO:
At some point, I'd like to upgrade to the Rebel XSi, because I'd like to shoot in B&W, and I'd like to get more than 4 shots out of a burst. And I think it's a little lighter.

Thank you

You should really do B&W conversion in post production using some kind of photoshop software. The XSi does not shot in B&W but just converts it in camera.

I dont get more than 3-4 in burst mode on the XSI while ussing RAW, more like 3 and I use a fast SD card 30mb/sec.