how good is this lens?

[Ultra Magnus]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation

I'm interested in getting a 20d body only and this lens rather than the cheap kit lens. I think this would be a better value.

Thanks.

BM

[Franglais]

Several people have posted reviews of this lens. It's even the "review of the day". Unfortunately the majority don't seem to be very impressed with it. I've seen reports in the (French) press that say that that the 18-200 from Sigma is actually better than the 18-125.

Charles

[Franglais]

What you're thinking of doing doesn't make sense. You want to buy an expensive camera and put a cheap lens on it. You should be buying a cheap camera and put an expensive lens on it.

The 350D will give you exactly the same results as the 20D (but it won't give you the autofocus speed, 5fps etc.). A Canon L lens should give you better results than the Sigma or the Canon 18-55.

Charles

[Ultra Magnus]

Even on a cheap body the L glass would shoot me WAY over budget, even a used 300D body. There are rumors of the 30D (20D successor??) coming out and the 20D prices dropping in the near future. Also, L-Glass isn't all aps sensor specific, so to get a 28 - 200 (or 28-320) equiv zoom I'd have to get a sperate wide angle lens and switch back and forht a lot. I haven't seen it all, but all the canon glass I've seen is like 28-70, 70-200, etc. with a 1.6x crop factor, a 28mm lens isn't wide enough for normal gereral shooting. Heck, a 28mm equiv. isn't always wide enough (my current all in one has a 28-200 eqiuvalent zoom range). So, I'd need a minium of two L lenses to cover the versatility of the sigma lens, each of which could cost around what the 20d body goes for. Also, I've tried both the 20d and the 350d, and I didn't like the layout of the controls onthe 350d. Also, I've got rather large hands and hte 20d fits soooo much better. And on a third note, the 20d build construction feels much nicer than the 350d. Heck, my Sony F828 feels more solid than the 350d (magnesium body). That's all besides what you noted about the speed advantage of the 20d.

BM