Lens Selection

I am a new beginner and I don't want to use those basic kit lens like EF-S 18-55mm or 55-200mm lens after looking at my friend's pictures. I read the reviews and believe the EF24-70 or EF24-105 are optically excellent. However, based on my budget, they are way too expensive for me. Iam consideringbuying the EF28-135 IS USM b'cos of its price with IS and USM come together. I know there is no perfect all around lens that can cover wide angles to long focal lengths even with very high prices. I have the following questions:


1. would EF28-135 be a problem takingpeople indoor or I need to stay further away from my target because it is already zooming closer than a 18mm or 24mm?


2. what other not too expensive lenses I can get to cover the wide angle side? I assume 135mm is good enough for zooming objects from a distance and I can crop the pictures if I really need a closer view of the picture with my XSi of 12MP.Therefore not considering buying any lenses with long focal length for now.


Please advice.

On your XSi, 28mm has the equivalent field of view to a 45mm lens on a full frame camera - that's a 'standard' lens field of view, not wide angle. I suspect you'd have problems indoors, and need a wider angle of view. I have the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM, and indoors I use the 17-28mm range of the zoom quite often.


Instead, consider the newEF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, or for a price only slightly more than the EF 28-135 IS USM, consider the lens that the 15-85mm replaces, theEF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM.

The EF-S 18-55 IS and 55-250 IS are superior to the EF 28-135 in sharpness and contrast. I second the advice to go with the 15-85.

<span style="font-size: 7.5pt; color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;" lang="EN-US"]I started out with the EF 28-135 and was verry happy with it. It isexcellent all-round. <o:p></o:p>


<span style="font-size: 7.5pt; color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;" lang="EN-US"]After 2-3 years upgraded too the 17-55 f2,8IS, and from 17 to 28 is a big difference on a 1,6X.<o:p></o:p>


<span style="font-size: 7.5pt; color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;" lang="EN-US"]The 17-55 f2,8IS is sharper and the contrast is better. Don&acute;t think my 28-135 will be used a lot now.<o:p></o:p>


<span style="font-size: 7.5pt; color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;" lang="EN-US"]But if you want 1 glass to do it all and learn it is a good place to start when on a budget.<o:p></o:p>