walk around vacation lens for Rebel

My guy and I are planning our third trip to France -- and one of the first things we agreed upon is how great it will be to use our camera there since all we had last time was a crummy point-and-shoot.

I have the stock lens that came with the camera (18-55) and an EF 75-300 4-5.6 III USM. Any suggestions for an additional lens that will help my kit be more complete? I don't want to go crazy on the budget since I am no expert photographer...maybe up to $500?

We plan on shooting wide landscape pictures, some portraits and architecture - both wide and zoom in on far away details. Nearly all of our pictures will be in full outdoor light.

Also any recommendations on a collapsible light-weight travel tripod would be appreciated.

prime 85 f1.8
zoom 70-200 f4
wide angle 17-40 f4

the prime is very tempting since is is very fast, nice bokah & high quality, and can be used in low light..

Your budget isn't going to give you much improvement over what you already have but you could add the 50 f1.8 or better 50 f1.4 which might come in handy for any indoor shots where flash isn't allowed.

I have the same concern, but for a 30D. I was thinking one of the following, all in your price range. I would be happy to hear comments from users of any of those:

Canon 28-135 IS (could also serve for prupose for wb shots and replace my 70-200 f4??)

Canon 17-85 IS

Tamron 28-75 f2.8 which I heard is amazing

I currently have a Sigma 18-200mm. It has a great range, but I find that it produces soft images at longer focal lenghts.

Over your budget, but still worth checking out is the Canon 24-105 f4L. I rented one for a week-end and really couldn't produce very sharp shots (only my opinion), but colour rendition and contrast was amazing.

Also, for sure get a Canon Prime 50mm f1.8 - for less than 100$, it will do great for low light no flash shots.

By the way. IS stands for Image Stabilization.

I tried the sigma 18-125 on a 20D and the images were sharp when the lens managed to auto focus which was only about half the time.

I'd take the Tamron 24-135 (which I'm using now on an XTi) over the 28-135 Canon. It's got very good IQ and is a bit cheaper. Might be an upgrade over the 18-55 from an IQ standpoint but 24mm isn't that wide.

I've been very happy with my 24-105 f4L and it's been very sharp for me. My struggle was between it and the 24-70 f2.8L. In the end I have a flash and the 50mm 1.8 and really was looking for the range that the 105mm brought.

How much of a tele do you really need for Wakeboard Photo (mostly from the boat or from a chase boat)? Can you get away with only the 24-105, or do you think a 70-200 would be a major plus?

On a 1.6X crop body like the 20/30D/XTi the 24-105 is OK from the boat but probably too short from a chase boat. Here is a typical shot from the boat with the 24-105L on a 5D which was really too short for WB shooting because of the full frame sensor (unless I wanted to crop but that messed with some of the resolution)

The 24-105L other then that is one of my favorite zooms and perfect for a FF sensor body like the 5D of 1Ds2.

Here is a shot at 105mm from the 24-105 / 5D

I was using my 70-300mm for wakeboard shots but found that I rarely went over 105mm. A majority of what I take pictures of fit in the 24-105mm range including wakeboarding. It's too cold for us right now but as soon as spring hits I'll be out with the new lens and can't wait.

have a 30d and have used the 70-200 & the 17-40 as walk arounds lens and i really dig on the 70-200...

if you go with a canon L lense, it is pretty addicting..