Tamron 28-80 mm or Canon 18-55 mm?

[dnoriega]

So I am about to purchase a Canon 30d, but either I get just the body and a Tamron lense deal (28-80 mm + 75-300 mm and a cool bag!) or I get the Canon w/ its 18-55 mm lense and find some other zoom lense.

The problem is, I don't want 3 lenses. It's a bit much to travel with. I do, however, want good lenses for taking pictures at social gatherings, terrain, and people.

What would you advise I do?

[cdifoto]

Neither lens is great but the 18-55 is decent when used within its limitations. 28mm isn't wide at all. Go for the 18-55 kit and avoid that "lens deal" like the plague.

[dnoriega]

What good, affordable wide lense would you recommend and where, also, would you recommend I buy lenses as well as the Canon 30D?

The Canon 30D seems to be everywhere, with an extremely large fluxuation in pric. It makes me think that some of the prices are a scam, either way too low or way too high.

Is a large retailer my best bet? Or ebay all the way? (A lot of the sketchy prices are on ebay.)

-Dan

[Rontech1]

What good, affordable wide lense would you recommend and where, also, would you recommend I buy lenses as well as the Canon 30D?

The Canon 30D seems to be everywhere, with an extremely large fluxuation in pric. It makes me think that some of the prices are a scam, either way too low or way too high.

Is a large retailer my best bet? Or ebay all the way? (A lot of the sketchy prices are on ebay.)

-Dan

A great place to start is here
http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14677
for where or where not to buy.
A good place to start is here
http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15252
for lens reviews/advice.
My .02 is that Ebay is a crapshoot at best.
Hope this helps,
Ron

[Rhys]

28-80? That might leave you short at the wide end. I would advise against the 75-300 as it's so dark by 300mm that it's not really hand holdable.

I'd suggest getting something more realistic. It's a setup commonly sold to people that don't really understand lenses.

I have a Tamron 17-35, Tamron 28-75 and Tamron 70-300. The latter I do not recommend as it's simply too dark.

In your place I would suggest a Tokina 12-24 and a Tamron 28-75. I realise these are not cheap lenses but you do have to pay for quality. This will get you the wide range. Incidentally I consider them to be bargain basement lenses. For the maximum quality you need Canon L glass but for that you have to pay the price. For long focal lengths try the Sigma 70-200. Beyond 200mm you really need to think about primes.