I am in the market for a new walk around lens. Right now I have a prime 28mm lens and the 18-55mm kit lens that came with my Rebel XT. I like the size, weight and wide angle of the kit lens, but I want to reach a little further out on the other end. Below are the lenses that I am considering.

Obviously, there is a huge price difference between the top and the bottom. About the only way I could possibly swing the Canon “L” glass is to sell both of my current lenses, as well as my Konica manual and Konica Hexanon lenses. I do not use them very much at all, plus I also have a Minolta manual for times I want to go retro.

After much research my thoughts on each lens are as follows (please comment if you have any advice).

• Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM - Pros: Superb build, mechanical and optical quality of L-Series glass with image stabilization. Cons: Price. Verdict: If you could just have one lens.
• Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM - Pros: Fast, sharp, L-series quality. Cons: Price, weight, no IS. Verdict: If it were not for the EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM, this would be “the one.”
• Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM - Pros: Useful zoom range, image stabilization, light weight. Cons: EF-S only, slow AF, large DOF good for landscapes, but not portraits/creative photgraphy. Verdict: Good for a lot of situations, providing that EF-S sticks around.
• Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 XR Di - Pros: Small, good image quality, wide fixed f/2.8 aperture, price. Cons: Noisy/slow AF, soft corners, not Canon. Verdict: No lens is perfect.
• Canon EF 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS USM - Pros: Focal length range, reasonably sharp, image stabilization in a small size/price. Cons: Older lens (and IS technology), vignetting on the wide end. Verdict: Popular for those on a budget and for good reasons.
• Sigma 18-125mm F3.5-5.6 DC - Pros: Price, focal length range, size/weight, macro, sharp. Cons: Quality control/customer service, noisy/slow AF, vignetting on the wide end, not Canon. Verdict: An excellent value, but you get what you pay for.

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