Lens to buy or buyback

icetoken

Hi, first off I love your site. I'm trying to get back into photography and haven't decided on a subject to photograph yet. A while back, for financial reasons, I sold my kit lens and 50mm f/1.8 lens. I ended up borrowing a friends Tamron non-VC 17-50mm lens to photograph my wife's products for her jewelry business. It's great for product shots, but not so much for taking photos of my 3 year old running around (probably the non-vc part). So for someone on a budget, is the T2i kit lens (I think it was EF-S/18-55mm IS II) still a good lens to walk around until I decide what I'm going to photograph, or is there something under a couple hundred dollars that is better? I see the 18-135mm is selling on Amazon for 300.00 cdn which is oddly the same price everyone is selling it for on craigslist. Is there something in between?

icetoken

I just bought the Tamron cheat sheet. Such an awesome idea, thanks!

PBked

Popular right now is the Canon 18-135mm STM. Its optics are slightly improved over other versions of the 18-135mm and of course you have the zoom range making it a good walkround lens on a budget.
As always there are alternatives in the Sigma and Tamron camps, but you pays your money and takes your choice. Rather than just look at reviews try to find examples of real world shots taken with the lens you are interested in matched with your camera. Just type it in - Canon T2i and Canon 18-35mm STM real world photos. You will be surprised at how many galleries come up.
Good luck with your choice.
PBked