blackadder41 wrote:Thanks Dave, very helpful. I'm assuming you mean the 28-300mm, or is there a 24-300mm that I've missed? Not sure if I'd miss the 18-28 range, but I could keep my 18-55 lens to give me the flexibility. Options, options! Cheers
Oops......... You're right, I was in too much of a rush! A couple of things to be aware of with the full range that you want to cover. 1) They're are highly likely to be less sharp than the current lenses you have. 2) At the long end, the lenses are a little slow with the widest aperture being F.6.3. Above 200mm, I would suggest OS,VC, VR, IS on whichever lens should now be considered a default for hand held shots. I had a 70-300 and threw away 80% of the shots at 300mm hand held. With image stabilization I kept 80% of the shots. It's not the cure all, but it definitely opens up a lot more options.
You may want to consider sitting on the decision a while and determine a budget and requirement. You may find you are losing shots, not because of the length of a lens, but possibly the speed of the lens? Tamron do a 17-55mm F2.8 which isn't a bad price, and you'll get to enjoy the benefits of a quick lens at a constant F2.8 and you should notice a huge difference compared to the (I'm assuming) kit lens 18-55mm you already have. Another lens I always suggest, mainly on price, but to give anyone good exposure to a quality lens, is the 50mm F1.8. It's a great cheap way to seeing what a wide aperture lens can give you and it's a great portrait lens, and to boot, you can add some closeup filters to get you near macro!!
Bear in mind I consider myself a snapper, but I started heading in the 'all in one' direction, then realized the potential using the 50mm, and now I don't have any concerns needing to carry multiple lens, currently five by default with several others available if required!!
As you have already said there are so many option, which again, is why I would suggest really thinking about what you really want, above convenience.