Moving on from my kit lens.

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danny842003

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So im still fairly new to a DSLR and after my recent trip to Rome it has left me feeling like I want to move on from the basic kit lens i have. I also have a 50mm lens which i found i really like but in many situations really struggled to frame a photo as I would like. Even by trying to position myself correctly which is clearly very different to an adjustable lens. I also really like having the faster speed for night shooting without flash in places the kit lens woudnt have stood a chance.
So i currently have a 550D with the 18-55mm F3.5-5.6.
I have a trip to china coming up in summer and I would like something faster (if that is possible in my budget) and maybe with image stabilisation, I guess my budget is £300 (is this at all realistic?) and I'm open to second hand.
Has anyone got any suggestions to what i should be looking at?
 
That's not a lot of budget, my current favorite general use lens is my 24 - 105 f4 but even used you will need twice that.
 
Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 (Non-VC version currently sold for £279 by WEX - VC (Tamron equivalent to IS) version is £365).

What are the problems you're having framing with the 50mm - lens too long or not long enough?
 
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As Adrian says, I'd probably be looking at the Tamron lens with your budget - you should be able to pick one up for under £200 2nd hand as well...
 
Thanks for the replies. With the 50mm I found quite often it was nowhere near wide enough for me although i do understand thats not really what its designed for, and as I use my camera most traveling the world I want to be able to snap away and not have to worry so much about moving. But I have used the 50mm for some low light portraits of my girlfriend and the results i was more than happy with.
When i said £300 what i actually meant was anything starting with £300 so really my budget is about £400 my fault for not being clear.
Looks like the Tamron is getting fairly decent reviews though.
 
Even with 400 budget I would still go with the tamron
 
The Canon 15-85 might be worth a look at then (2nd hand) if your budget is £400, but I do think the Tamron might still be your best bet and can be picked up brand new within your budget - your choice will have to be whether you go for VC or non VC...
 
danny842003 said:
Thanks for the replies. With the 50mm I found quite often it was nowhere near wide enough for me although i do understand thats not really what its designed for, and as I use my camera most traveling the world I want to be able to snap away and not have to worry so much about moving. But I have used the 50mm for some low light portraits of my girlfriend and the results i was more than happy with.
When i said £300 what i actually meant was anything starting with £300 so really my budget is about £400 my fault for not being clear.
Looks like the Tamron is getting fairly decent reviews though.
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I plumped for the Tamron (not that I know anything about the Canon 15-85). I just bought one myself (VC) and the difference that the wide aperture makes is liberating. My walk-about lens before was the Canon 28-135mm - a good lens but I was often swapping it out for my 10-20 to get a wider angle. I do miss the extra reach now but not half as much as I missed the wide end before. My table-top testing looked as though the lens was front-focussing, so I adjusted the camera but when I took the camera out and took some real pictures, it became evident that my testing was giving some dodgy results. I reset the micro-adjustment to zero and the lens now looks sharp.
 
Sadly my car failed its MOT in quite spectacular fashion so this is going to have to take a back seat for a few months. Which is a shame as im going to Amsterdam next month and would liked to have tried it out. But I think im going to go with the Tamron after your comments and reading reviews online.
 
danny842003 said:
Sadly my car failed its MOT in quite spectacular fashion so this is going to have to take a back seat for a few months. Which is a shame as im going to Amsterdam next month and would liked to have tried it out. But I think im going to go with the Tamron after your comments and reading reviews online.
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Hi - how about finding a wide angle and using that as your walkabout? Have a good time. Bad luck on the car front. :|
 
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