Primary zoom for Canon APS-C

Definitely personal preference.

For the past 3 years or so I've been quite happy using various 28-70mm f/2.8 lenses.

For the past 2 it's been the Tokina 28-70 2.6-2.8

Very happy with it
 
unadog said:
I think it may come down to your own personal style.
Click to expand...
And your budget

Tamron 17-50 2.8 non vc / sharp on a budget but lacks dampening.
Sigma 18-35 1.8 / sharp better low light performance and better build.
Canon 17-55 2.8 / has IS but expensive and not sure of the build quality

Personally I would go with the Sigma 18-35 1.8
 
Regarding IS: Even if you think you'll shoot 90% of your stuff on a tripod or other support, this is the one lens that you'll most likely be using for that 10% of shots which are handheld. Having bought the Tamron 17-50 non-VC when I first moved to HDSLR's, it now rarely gets used, mainly because it does not have IS (I never bothered to upgrade it though because I got a 24-105 for when I got my mkIII).

I'd say you're much better off getting one of the IS lenses because, as your everyday zoom lens, there are plenty of times where you will just want to grab it and run with it and IS will be the difference between getting the shot or not in most cases.
 
Am I the ONLY one who loves the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 VC version? It's awesome! Good in lowlight (though the older Canons absolutely need some f1.4 primes if you shoot in lowlight) and the stabilisation works great. It may do little jumps here and there but way better than handholding without VC. And it's way cheaper than the Canon equivalent.

Softness? Not in my version though I've never cared how "sharp" a lens is.

Only problem is the focus ring that goes the opposite direction of a Canon focus ring. Takes a while to get used to. And the throw is too short.
 
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