What lens should someone on a relatively smaller budget invest in?
 

Which lens would give me the most action? I often just rent out lenses depending on what I will be doing, but I need something other than the stock that I can go to whenever I need to.

A great walk around lens that will cover most common focal lengths on a budget is the Tamron 17-50mm. It can be had brand new for about $450, or you can spend more for the "VC" version which has Image Stabilization. It's a very popular lens for this camera.

Please bear in mind however, while this lens is excellent optically, it's not as quiet as a Canon USM lens during autofocus, and mechanically it focuses backwards from Canon lenses. Lastly it has a short focus ring rotation, making manual fine focus adjustments a bit more difficult.

Nothing you can't adjust to, but things to consider. Good luck.

Depends on what you're doing. If you need wide angle, that Tamron is excellent. I have a Tokina 16-50 that I like, but it's not quite long enough for tight closeups when shooting interviews, so I also have a Tamron 28-75, which is perfect for that. Both are 2.8 lenses. Both have a short focus throw, with the Tokina being a bit better.

This can be a real issue with video work since AF is useless.

Was also wondering if anyone had any ideas on lenses for the 7D? So far I've found these two:

Amazon.com: Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG Macro Telephoto Zoom Lens with Opteka 58mm UV Filter for Canon EOS SLR Cameras Including the 10D, 20D, 30D, 40D, 50D, Digital Rebel XT, XTi, XS, XSi, & T1i: 47th Street Photo

Amazon.com: Sigma 18-50mm f/3.5-5.6 DC AF Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, XTi, XS, XSi, T1i, 7D, 10D, 20D, 30D, 40D, & 50D Digital SLR Cameras: Camera & Photo

I'm willing to spend a couple hundred more if need be...

Cheers

The kit Canon EFS-18-55 with IS would be better, and still very cheap.

I think the Tamron 28-75 would be the best for me. I know the other __-55 lenses are far superior to the stock 28-55 lens, but I feel the close up potential of the Tamron is worth it.

I own this lens and use it as my walkaround lens. I like it. but it also suffers from short focus ring travel. I think with a follow focus you might get adequate ring travel though. I'm thinking you might get about 180 degrees of travel with a FF.

Stay away. The manual focus on that lens is sloppier than a dog's lunch. I had the "APO" version ($50 more) for a while, and the contrast/resolution was fantastic at 70mm, but other than that, you get what you pay for.

For The Canon EF-S 55-250 for only $90 more ($250) has is a much better image quality and I.S. on top of that, but the focus ring is still pretty poor.

At that price range, I can't think of any telephoto zoom lenses that have nice focus rings. You might consider looking for older used lenses -- hopefully you can find one with a focus ring that's smooth, well-damped, with long rotation. Unless you also want to use it for still photography, in which case the 55-250 is the best value around.

what do you guys think of the Canon 50mm 1.8? Very good price point and as a noob, seeing the 1.8 got me excited.

Okay for stills but nearly impossible to get manual focus. Lousy for video.

One of my personal interview spaces is in my editing studio (how original, eh?) and t is very dark. Since this is an interview spot and the subject would be sitting, would the 50mm be suitable then? Obviously, this is straying from my "versatile lens" topic, but the test videos im watching are jaw dropping.

Yes, as long as the subject sits perfectly still and you don't need to follow focus, it should be fine. The 50mm f/1.8 focus ring moves with even the slightest vibration -- such as when the mirror slaps up at the start/stop of liveview/video. After you dial it in with manual focus, switch it to autofocus to lock it in position.

Contrast, flare, vignetting, and resolution all really improve if you stop down to f/2.8, but the downside is that bokeh changes from ugly harsh circles to even uglier harsh pentagons. Out of all Canon lenses, it's still the best value by far.

Did you know if this would be better? Canon EF-S 17-85 mm F4-5.6 IS USM Lens Review: 1. Introduction: Digital Photography Review. Article says it seems to be quite a good lens, just not sure about low light performance?

Thanks again

You may also consider Canon 35mm f2. Brand new, it retails about $300. I purchased a used one and I actually like it more than the expensive L lens (24-105mm f4) I have.

P.