28-135mm IS or 55-250mm IS

mattchewone

Suspended / Banned
Messages
884
Name
Matt
Edit My Images
Yes
Im contemplating on getting either one of these could some one give me some cons and pros on both to help me decide. I have heard the 28-135 isnt that great. I want it to be a good walk about lens and have good focal length so i can use it for different scenarios without having to change lenses all the time. My current lenses are listed in my sig.
I have the 70-300 siggy so am thinking that the 55-250 may bsame focal range roughly but better quality, dont want to get it and neglect my other the siggy lol.
But i dont want to buy the 28-135mm and it not be that good after spending a reasonable large sum of money!

Thanks
any help much appreciated

Matt
 
Also if i decided to go with the 55-250mm IS would it be faster focusing than the siggy 70-300mm as i find the focus isnt really that fast to be honest.
 
I used to have the 28-135, it's good value for money.

Around £200 and you get a good range, good image quality and IS.
 
The 55-250 can't be set against the 28-135. As a walkabout lens you will need wider than 55 and even at times 28 isn't ideal.

Have you considered the Tamron 18-250? It's supposed to produce good results
 
I've got the 28-135 and I like it, sometimes I feel it isn't quite wide enough but it is certainly a good walkabout lens. :)

I can't speak for ther other lens though.
 
I've also got the 28-135mm IS USM, I cannot fault it, it's really a beautiful lens in so many ways, an excellent 'walkabout' choice, but even though it's wideangle, sometimes the 28mm isn't quite wide enough, but for the range you get with it, it's great. I use it alot when walking around in towns doing candids, street photos, weddings, also in-studio portraits as I find I don't have to move about much since it's wideangle (can get quite close up to model), and the zoom function is nice and broad. A very inexpensive choice too, had mine for about 2-3years now, was one of my firsts also, loved it all the way. If I had to recommend a lens to someone who only could buy one, it would be that one, as it will provide a wide variety of capabilities!
 
It's a good lens if you are on a tight budget. If you can afford it you're definately better off with an L series.

For the price though, it's very good value for money.
 
Unfortunatly an L lens is out of the question just dont have the money for them lol although id love one. Okey i think i have set on the 28-135mm then unless anyone can give a good review on the tamron 18-250 as suggested and image quality.

Thanks for the replies much appreciated!
 
Personally, I would say that it depends on what you want from your lenses.

I use the kit lens and the nifty 2 fifty, and find (from a range point of view) that I have most things covered. Obviously, I'd like to replace the kit lens with something better, but when I do, it will be in a similar range.

Buying the 28-135 would be a half way house between your current lenses, and leave you needing all 3 lenses to cover the range 18-300. That's fine if most of your shooting is in the 28-135 range, otherwise I would recommend getting the 55-250 and then looking to replace the kit lens with something of higher quality (Sigma and Tamron both do lenses in the £200-250 range to cover that, and Canon has offerings as well).

That's the route I'm taking, but then I don't take that many pictures within the 28-135 range.
 
Well most of my pictures would be in that range roughly as i mainly just take shots at family gatherings so i can only get 55mm max out of kit lens and then change to the siggy and it starts at 70 so i have to move further away from the subject i occasionally use 300mm but when i do ill keep the lens on just want something to replace the kit lens so either the 28-135mm IS or the tamron 18-250 although i think id prefer the 28-135 IS.

I mean i could get the 55-250 IS but i already have a 70-300 so i just need something from say 18mm/28mm to over 100mm to give me a good range.


Just read a few reviews on the 28-135mm and i hear its not that great, it says the focussing is slow lots of vignetting at all focal lengths. So its now time to find an alternative lens.
 
Any more help please. Much appreciated!
 
Another thumbs up for the 28-135 IS. I got it second hand from a fellow TP member to replace my kit lens and have been very happy with it. You'll be looking at around the £190 - £200 mark for a second hand one. I've never really needed lower than 28 for walk about stuff, but as has been suggested above, it all depends what you shoot.
 
I'm looking around at kit lens alternatives, and like the range offered by the Sigma 17-70mm, which would dove-tail nicely with your Sigma 70-300, and costs ITRO £200.
 
I have heard good things from TP but when i google it and have a look on reviews all i can see is bad reviews about vignetting and slow focus etc! I dont want to buy one and it not be that great and be a waste of money.
 
Thank you! Im still really undecided dont want to spend £200+ on a lens and i find its not as good as i would of hoped.
 
Back
Top