Travel Lens Advice

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GT_Raven

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Hi,

i am looking to buy a travel lens for an upcoming trip to the USA. im looking at either a Tamron or Sigma 18 -200mm or a Canon 18 -135mm. i know image quality will be compromised on the superzooms due to the huge range.

What would be the better choice?

would the extra range be more useful / would the Canon be slightly better image quality due to the slightly shorter focal range?. Budget is £200.00 or so.

Thanks for your help.
 
What lenses do you have already
 
I have a Canon 28-135 IS for sale ;)
 
i have used Canon 15-85 IS for traveling and found it to be really nice. the IS works really well and the 15mm wide is really really good for landscape and view.
 
I'm going to be really rude and suggest a single prime. Not as a catch-all, but as a disciplined work ethic. Think of the quality of the fewer shots you'd bring home. Distill, distill. Superzooms are for the desperate.
 
Wouldn't it be a good idea to find out what lens the OP has before suggesting anything
 
sorry should have included more info in my first post.

its for an eos 30d only lens i have at the moment is a canon 50mm
 
Well im guessing you're gonna need wide so I'd go for a second hand sigma 10-20 with your budget, I'd leave the superzooms well alone as IQ is pretty poor, I've had and used the canon 15-85 although it has superb image quality and super fast AF, 15mm is wide enought, I didn't really like it ergonomically so I sold it although they go for around twice your budget second hand, the canon 18-135 STM is meant to be pretty good but not as good as 15-85 IQ wise and it's only just a bit over your budget new. Good luck
 
Where abouts are you going? I went to NYC for New year and the 16-35 was on there more than anything else so I would go for a wide angle if thats your destination, same if your heading to somewhere scenic like the smokies or the grand canyon again I used the 24-70 at both places but that was all I had with me on that trip but it was at 24mm more than the longer end. A trip to Disney or theme parks and things where your movement is restricted I was at the longer end of the 24-70 and some times wished I had the 70-200 or somthing longer with me as well.

but yeah the super zooms are a bit pants, I have an 18-200 but still took the 8-15, 16-35, 24-70 and 70-200 to new york not a problem as the hotel was central and I could go back to anything I wanted to shoot if I didnt have the lens with me that day. well that was the plan, I carried 3 of the 4 round with me for 6 days leaving the 24-70 in the hotel safe all the time we were there.
 
I would go wide then, the only time I swapped to the 70-200 was when on the staten island ferry for the liberty shots and skyline shots (cheapskate way of getting them from the free ferry ride :)

Vegas again I would think the same I had the 18-55 when I was there last and it worked ok didn't feel I needed anything longer

San Fran I didn't have a DSL then but did have a 10x zoom point and shoot but again its a great looking city and I would shoot wide if I went again. maybe something longer if you want to shoot wildlife or travel down the pacific coast highway you never know what you will catch in the ocean there.

A great trip, I drove from Vegas to San Francisco and got sun stroke as I had the roof down but be prepared for the change in temperature its like the uk in San Francisco quite cool especially in the evening so take a jumper.
 
I think 15-85mm... superb quality and whilst not covering as comprehensive a range as a 'superzoom' I think it's plenty for a typical roadtrip. I used one for a couple of years and loved it, only replaced it as I moved to full-frame.

My girlfriend used the 15-85mm/50mm combo on a crop sensor on our california roadtrip last year and it worked great
 
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