Originally Posted by kiuilop
Given your budget, I think you'd probably be best served by the 18-135mm lens. Bryan describes the 18-135mm lens as having, "image quality that is more on or slightly above a kit-lens level," and compared to the 18-200mm it has , "image quality that is similar or slightly better in sharpness and distortion."
Any of those three lenses are best used stopped down to f/8 or so, but will provide decent IQ in that case.
Definitely stay away from the 28-135mm lens, and also keep in mind that the 18-200mm lens doesn't really give you much more focal length than the 18-135mm. Bryan comments in his review that 200mm on that lens frames similar to 174mm; I tested a copy in a local camera shot compared to my 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II, and found that the 18-200mm @ 200mm gave similar framing as 154mm on the 70-200mm lens.
If that's your objective, then I think the 18-135mm will do that. It's just as wide, longer, and has approximately similar IQ and build quality.
On the other hand, if you want better IQ than your kit lens and still need to stay in the 18-135mm price range, you'll need to think prime lens. You already have the 50mm f/1.4 so you have some idea of the better IQ a prime can give. Having said that, both the 85mm f/1.8 and the 100mm f/2 offer better image quality than the 50mm f/1.4, especially wide open. I had the 85mm f/1.8, and it's really a wonderful lens, excellent for portraits and low-light (indoor, ambient) shooting.
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Jan, that $100 rebate only applies if you buy the lens along with a qualifying dSLR body (1DIV, 5DII, or 7D). So unfortunately,<span>kiuilop will likely not be eligible for that discount.
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