Recommendations for EF lens with decent range

[March411]

Looking for a single lens with decent range. My daughter travels quite a bit and wanted a hand me down, had my 60D cleaned and it's now hers for travel.

I would like to get her a single lens that would give her good range, was light enough to carry all day hiking and produced some good image quality.  I was looking at the Sigma 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM C. The reviews for the most part are pretty good, they appear to have had a small challenge with the focus motor but overall for the amateur/hobbyist the feedback has been good. I found one used in excellent shape for $380.

Image stabilization and auto focus are a must have for the lens.

The question, if you were going to gift one lens with about the same spec and price what would you buy. 

[shadowsports]

Greetings,

In that price range, I was going to suggest the 24-105 L f4.  If you want more reach, 3rd party might be a way to go.  

[normadel]

An EF-S 18-135 would be a nice single lens. Longer focal lengths can get hard to hold steady and find the subject.

It's not an "L" lens. Not overkill for someone getting started. Not an expensive lens. Available on the used market. 

[justadude]

There were some of these older EF-S 18-135 lenses that were a bit soft... as in softer than most of what Canon put out for this particular lens.  I was unfortunate enough to have one, and have heard of other folks also having the same. Personally, I would not buy one used as there is a good chance that one of the soft ones has been traded in for resale.  I know the new ones no longer have this issue, and would be a good choice.

[ebiggs1]

"There were some of these older EF-S 18-135 lenses that were a bit soft...  I was unfortunate enough to have one, and have heard of other folks also having the same."

I have owned and tested more lenses than the average guy. anyway way more than the resident responders on this forum. I know I have a problem but besides that, the first thing I found out was, it is only one sample. You can't judge or condemn or confirm the whole model run on the experience of one sample. And usually the comments and/or reviews form other folks is worth exactly what you paid for them. Nothing. The fact it is only one sample whether yours or theirs isn't proof.

It may well be, the early ef-s 18-135mm zooms had issues but I really doubt Canon made any manufacturing changes unless they put a II or III behind the name. As with anything made by the hand of man there will be issues with some or parts of the model run even on L lenses.

Get a good one and you got a good one.

[justadude]

With all due respect, I'm not sure where you found out that it was only one sample.  It wasn't.  

I know the one I had was soft, and it was not just on some photos, it was a lot.  Do I have proof that the one I used was softer than others?  No.  I think most of us here don't have hard proof on everything we have had personal experience with.  I did bring it back to the camera store (real camera store, not a store that had a camera department).  They said they had other folks who bought this lens with complaints... not many, but some.  I did not ask them for proof.  

I followed up by doing some searching for this lens, and reviews, and found a few different forums (This one of Canon's, the DP Review forums, and a couple other places I can't recall) where people had problems with the softness of this exact lens, and many people who said their version was fine... which is why I said it was a concern on some of these lenses.

I know I am new at the forums here, and that puts me in the "beginner photographer" section as far as advice, meaning most of my advice is worthless.  I do have years of photography experience, but I am not a know-it-all type. While I am sure you have way more hands on experience than me, and have owned way more lenses than me, I am not a novice, and have shot professionally for many businesses over the years.  I currently own many cameras (digital and film), and cannot even guess how many lenses I have owned over the past 50 years.  I'm not bragging, I'm simply saying that like you, I have also learned a lot over the years.  I won't offer up advice here if I honestly do not know something.  I'm only saying all of this because you do not know me, which is most likely why you assumed that I was going only on my one sample.  Please know that I won't give advice on gear that may have been a one-off problem, or will I give any guessing type of advice.  I simply want to play nice with everyone here.  I'd also like to think my comments are usually worth more than nothing... I'd like to think they are helpful and honest.

[ebiggs1]

Gary the only point I meant to make is one off examples of any product not just lenses isn't proof that the entire run is the same. It may be that it's true. Unfortunately most if not all the reviews you see or read are from one off samples. BTW, DP review is one of the worst, IMHO, of course.

Let me give you an example with the Sigma 150-500mm super zoom. This was the first lens from Sigma in this category and as you can see it was 50mm and not the current 600mm. I bought one as I have said I love to play with lenses. I found it was awful. No to to bad IQ wise but the OS made it almost unusable. I sent it to Sigma. They supposedly fixed it and sent it back. No difference. I sold it with the disclaimer that the OS wasn't good. I bought another one and found it to be nearly as bad. I sent it to Sigma. They returned it and the lens which is still in my possession is fantastic. It is sharp and the OS works perfectly. As a rule I catalog l my lenses in an Access data base. Upon looking later on I found Sigma had sent me a brand new and different lens than the one I sent in.

I don't know what you can glean from that except anything made on a certain day or shift or tired employee or whatever perhaps can have issues but still does not condemn the entire model run. I don't know what amount would make a reasonable sample size but certainly dozens if not more.

I worked (40 years) for a large company that had a large photography department. It gave me access to a large inventory of camera gear and lenses. In some cases we had several copies of the same lenses. Even myself I was fortunate enough to obtain several copies of the same lens upon occasion. Not all of them but some.

My intention was not to rub you the wrong way but simply as information.

[justadude]

No hard feelings at all EB.  I find that often when I join a forum of any type (not just photography) new members are often thought of as not knowing much (sometimes true, sometimes far from true).  I simply get a little defensive when someone doubts something that I know to be true.  (hey, we all have our faults).

Bottom line, it's like you said "I don't know what you can glean from that except anything made on a certain day or shift or tired employee or whatever perhaps can have issues but still does not condemn the entire model run. I don't know what amount would make a reasonable sample size but certainly dozens if not more." and I've found enough from reliable sources to know that this particular lens did have a number of soft ones back when I purchased this in 2010... the main one being the camera shop where the pros there had well more than the usual complaints about this lens that year.  So yes, I think your comment is a perfect example of what happened that year with these.

I would never condemn a whole line, and especially if you were to purchase new.  My main point is that if you find a used one, it just might be one of these since any of the soft ones would be more likely to be traded in.  I supposed I worded my original reply poorly, by saying "good chance" instead of simply "chance".

I also saw your comment about the EF-S 18-200mm.  Funny thing... I bought two Canon kits in 2010.  My wife used to shoot Olympus, I used to shoot Pentax... we decided to both switch to Canon and start sharing lenses.  We bought the (new at the time) 60D... one kit had the 18-135, the other kit had the 18-200.  We normally prefer better glass, but thought we couldn't argue with the price.  The 18-200mm kit lens was very sharp, and I agree with your recommendation.  What was funny is when we first switched systems we only had 4 Canon lenses for the first few months (two nifty fiftys and the zooms) so when we wanted a zoom, we would each try to grab the 18-200 first.  😄 

[March411]

Thank you both for the suggestions and replies, most appreciated!

[jrhoffman75]