New Lens for Vacation recommendations?

Hey I'm going to Germany and Austria for my honeymoon next month. I have a XSI with the kit lens and the 55-250mm. I've wanted to upgarde for some time (wedding expenses), anyway just wondering if there's a lens I should look at that would do a decent job, atleast better than the ones I have now so I dont have to lug 2 around and worry about swapping them out on the go.

Thanks

 

it depends on what you want to do this lens will be a good one to have in your arsenal, and a good 50mm lens should help ya out

 

for travel, i like having a decent wide angle as im more likely to want to capture landscapes, scenery, and oddities than i would be much else... i like the 24 to 105 4L but with your crop factor, you may need to go a bit wider...

 

Thanks for the replies. I've wanted a Wide angle lens for sometime. I was curious about maybe a 28-135mm. I dont care about off brand, I just don't know a whole lot about lenses. Mostly what Ill be shooting will be landscapes/scenery/old buildings.

 

x2, something wide angle.

 

The best wide angle zoom you can afford with a minimum focal length of 24mm (35mm film format equivalent).

With landscapes and scenery, it just seems you can't get wide enough.

 

Tokina or Tamron make a 11-16mm, that's like f2.8 I think, Canon is 10-22 which I would really like and be at the top of my budget. The canon 28-135 might be a possibility as well.

 

i would not do the 28-135 mainly because of the variable aperture, I would look into Sigma lens as they are one of the better third party manufactures.

 

Tokina makes a 16-135 but it had pretty bad reviews. I thought the Canon 28-135 was suppose to be pretty decent?

 

I would leave the 55-250mm at home, take your kit lens, 18-55 IS I'm guessing? That will work for most everything you want to take pictures of. If you have your heart set on upgrading to some quality glass, I would suggest the 24-105, this makes a great walk around lens.
Again, stick with the kit glass and consider a 50 1.8, they are about $100.00 and you will be blown away with what you can do with the DOF with that 1.8.
My .02

 

I have the 50 1.8 and I am really impressed with it. Such a cheap lens but it takes amazing portrait's

 

I personally do not like variable aperture lens as there is not a constant f stop throughout the focal lengths. If you want a good telephoto zoom lens I would look into getting a 70-200 f2.8. Your kit lens is a good wide angle zoom lens. The lower the f stop the better your lens will be. Personally I would pick up a good 50mm lens and bring your kit lens with you.

BTW lens quality goes from:
Nikon/Canon > Sigma > Tamron > Tokina...etc

 

I defiently had the 50mm 1.8 on my list. I have the 18-55, and the 55-250 but when I zoom it all the way out, they never turn out that nice. I'm not trying to be a pro, I just want to take some sweet pics of our honeymoon, and was looking for a good walk around lens. I thought the 28-135 would be a good decent upgrade and still cover a solid range.

 

the reason why they don't turn out that well, when you zoom out is because they are not the sharpest lenses out there.

The Sigma 70-200 f2.8 price has been lowered to $799.99, which is a damn good deal on that lens (I plan on picking one up when funds allow me to). This is a highly rated lens that is very sharp at the 200mm focal length

If you take your kit lens, and pick up the Sigma you should be able to take some great photos.

 

Whatever lens you end up getting, it is better to invest in faster lenses (ie f2.8, f1.8, f1.4, etc) as these will allow you to take better photos and overall be a better lens.

 

Thanks for the replies. I might just get the 50mm now. It should work better for indoor photos anyway.

 

Hey anyone have any experience with the Sigma 18-70mm 2.8?

 

If you're shooting landscape, get something in the 24-105 range. It's wide enough for most things and also long enough for a lot of things. That and make sure it works with a TC. If you have Canon, buy the Canon TC. Nikon, get the Nikon TC--my advice is to stay away from the 2.0 and get the 1.4 (Canon). Remember, some lenses may not work with any TC. Get the best TC you can afford because it does affect overall Image Quality (IQ) and they usually sap a stop or two off the lens so the fastest lens is often best for use with the TC.

The 50 is a great lens but not as versatile as a zoom.

 

Well I do have a price range to work with, I might go up to $800 but I really don't want to. I'd like to stay in the $500 range. I would love to get a wide angle, but I saw the 15-85mm and the 17-70mm and thought those might work best.

What do you mean by TC?

I use a Canon XSI btw.

 

That's also why I was looking at the 18-135mm and the 28-135mm but neither had any good reviews and were on par with the image quality as what I have now.