Canon EF-S 17-55 or 15-85 for general/walk about lens

[fowler002]

as the title says, which to get?

The 17-55 has a £50 cash back currently, ~£480 vs ~£540.

I already have the EF-S 10-22, 70-200 f4 non-is and kit lens for the 300D.

I've been thinking about getting the 760D from jessops as they had 12 months interest free but that has ended.

 

[Phal]

Both would be good lenses so I guess it comes down to whether you would prefer a constant F2.8 aperture or a lens that goes a decent amount wider and longer.

The Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 also makes a decent walkabout lens despite what seems like a short focal range but I think that's even more expensive.

 

[Genoma]

The 17-55 is a quality piece of glass, 90% of the time I'm using it or the 10-22 (mainly the 10-22 these days for me). It's not a small/light lens to lug around everywhere though. IQ is very good.

 

[D.P.]

Both would be good lenses so I guess it comes down to whether you would prefer a constant F2.8 aperture or a lens that goes a decent amount wider and longer.

The Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 also makes a decent walkabout lens despite what seems like a short focal range but I think that's even more expensive.

I agree with this.
It is mostly a tradeoff between aperture and focal length. When I was on crop I chose the Nikon equivalent (16-85mm, the Nikon sensors have a 1.5x crop cf. Canon's 1.6x).

For me the extra width and length were more important than the aperture for most of the things I shot because I would mostly be stopped down to f/8 or smaller anyway for walkabout. At the wide end there isn't a massive difference in aperture (2/3rd stop) and at the long end since you have more reach the 2 stops doesn't feel as restrictive if you wanted subject separation.

still if you mainly want shallow DoF portraits then the 17-55mm f/2.8 would be better and the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 would be better still.

When i had my 16-85mm on my crop camera I would put my 35mm or 50mm f/1.8 in the bag so I had the ability to always achieve shallow DoF or better low light performance if desired


Don't under estimate how much wider 15mm feels and looks, that was the big selling point to me and made a dramatic difference to my photos, and often let me leave my 10-20mm at home.

 

[a1ex2001]

I'd go for the 15-85mm for a general lens I prefer the range it offers particularly at the wide end where 24mm equivalent is a really nice improvement on 28mm. I always have a prime in the bag if it gets dark or I want to play with dof so I wouldn't mind swapping! AS DP has said above 24mm really is a sweet spot for landscape and scenery stuff I find anything much wider needs to much of a special circumstance to be an every day thing.