Canon EF-S 18-55mm mkIII lens

[ellie123]

Opinions on this as a basic portrait lens? Can't find anything about them online at all, and haven't seen anyone using them.
Or, can anyone recommend me a portrait lens for canon 40d with a bit of zoom (I don't really like using a lens with a fixed focal length when I'm out and about) Thats fairly cheap?

 

[vaizki]

Tamron 17-50/2.8 is the obvious choice me thinks.

 

[B16 VAS]

Tamron 17-50/2.8 is the obvious choice me thinks.

This.

Non-VC if you don't need it.

If you think you'll need it get one of the later models as they rectified the VC 'soft' issue, from what I've read and seen.