Hi,Just bought an XTi with kit lens. I'm looking for a telescopic all purpose lens with optical zoom between 5-8x. I'd like to use this lens for landscape pictures as well as street shooting and portraits, hence all purpose. I'm looking for recommendations of a third party lens between $300-500 that fits this bill; any suggestions? I certainly wouldn't mind buying used from a respectable seller. If you're familiar with any particular seller or shop online with such lenses, please do share. Thanks.Mack

Based on your budget I'd suggest either the Canon 17-85 IS or the 28-135 IS. I think the 28-135 is a little better quality lens and you can probably pick one up for around 300-350 new on ebay because many new 40D buyers chose the kit just to sell the lens at a small profit. The 40D kit lens is the 28-135. The only problem is that this lens doesn't get you very wide on the 1.6crop body but if you hang on to the kit lens (I assume it's the 18-55mm) then you can always use that for your wider shots. Effectively this lens on the cropped sensor will be a 45mm-216mm which give you a nice range.I don't know much about the 3rd party lenses but their may be some good options there too.

Something in the 5-8x range would be the Sigma 17-70mm which is quite highly regarded. Another option would be the Sigma 18-200 OS which gives you wide with more range. It is better than the kit lens which I used to have but sold with my 350D when I got the 400D.The Sigma 18-200 OS is $549 at B&H which is about average price-wise. You can get it cheaper at some other sellers but try to choose a reliable one.I am very happy with the Sigma 18-200 OS and so are lots of other users. There are some unhappy ones but they may have got bad copies, including the one tested at Photozone.Here are some links you can browse:Review at PBase of the Sigma 18-200 OS lens: Main tests page: http://www.pbase.com/lightrules/18200ostestsPBase comparison by lightrules between the Sigma 18-200 OS and the Canon 17-85 IS: http://www.pbase.com/lightrules/178518200mainEphotozine Review: http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Sigma-18-200mm-f35-63-DC-OS-1DC Watch Japan review and comparison of Sigma 18-200 OS to non-OS lens. It's in Japanese. I can't read it myself but I look at the test sample shots to judge. Note the 1/3 second and 1/5 second samples: http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/lens_review/2007/07/27/6693.htmlComparing the Sigma 18-200 OS to the Canon 28-135 IS USM: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1031&message=24194490Ratings for the Sigma 18-200 OS from users: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1031&message=24410116Here are links to posts and samples from users of the Sigma 18-200 OS:Sample shots: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1031&message=24311905Vacation shots in Europe: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1031&message=24161045Action shots: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1031&message=24072893Shots I made to test the wide and zoom (f8, 1/200 second, ISO100):18mm:200mm (boats in the middle of the previous scene):Mack1976wrote:Hi,Just bought an XTi with kit lens. I'm looking for a telescopic all purpose lens with optical zoom between 5-8x. I'd like to use this lens for landscape pictures as well as street shooting and portraits, hence all purpose. I'm looking for recommendations of a third party lens between $300-500 that fits this bill; any suggestions? I certainly wouldn't mind buying used from a respectable seller. If you're familiar with any particular seller or shop online with such lenses, please do share. Thanks.Mack

Great, thanks. This was just the kind of info and advice I was looking for. I was just recently eyeballing the Sigma 18-200 OS lens as well. Thanks for the links to the reviews, very helpful.Mack