Please forgive my ignorance, as I am far from a photography expert.

I currently have a Canon Rebel Xsi with the package 18-55IS lens, along with a Canon 75-300 (non-IS, from the era before digital). However, I frequently find myself wanting more zoom than offered at 55mm, and I don't want to carry both lenses unless I'm sitting at a kid's sporting event. The result is that I almost always opt to carry a point-n-shoot (Elph, in my case) or (don't shoot me) just use my phone.

I'd like to get a single lens that offers more than the 55, maybe up to 100 or 150. Given my needs and desire to spend money on other things, I'd really prefer not to spend much.

Any recommendations? Also, how important is image stabilization (assuming that is a significant cost factor).

Thanks!

Call Mark at Camera Land (866)9-Optics and ask him about the Tamron 18-270mm lens. It is a great lens for what you are looking for and at a great price. There is currently a $50 rebate on the lens as well.

I have one of these that I'd be willing to sell. If you're interested, just shoot me a PM.....

IS is especially important with longer focal lengths.

It is relatively straightforward for a lens builder to design a camera lens with a focal length zoom range of 3:1. Much beyond that range requires serious compromises, usually resulting in a very slow, heavy, awkward lens.

I like lens that over lap some. My two most used are my 18-140 and 55-300. I have just replaced the 18-105 with the 18-140. For what you might need something between 55 and 140, you can use either lens. Canon make's an 18-135 that I would think would go well with a 70-300. I'd considered that Tamron 18-270 but it would make my other's pretty useless and might be soft on the top and bottom.

Lens technology has improved great leaps and bounds in recent years and lenses with zoom ranges of 18x, like the Tamron 16-300mm Di-II VC PZD lens are extremely sharp all the way through the zoom range. Doing this for a living, I am not going to sacrifice image quality at anytime. I carry that lens and the 28-300mm on my D-800 the majority of the time and get great results. I sell very large prints to several clients, the vast majority shot with those lenses. My smallest prints tend to be 20x30 and the majority are 24x36. I would tend to say that if you haven't shot some of the new "all-in-one" lenses, you should try them and you will see it is a different world now.

Some troubles with the all-in-one lens can be a large, heavy and unbalanced camera, a very slow lens, flash shadowing, and zoom creep.

The newer lenses with PZD motors make the lenses very light, compact and small in overall size. I think you would be extremely surprised if you checked out one. I have never experienced any lens creeping on the newer lenses. The lens is very short on the wide end especially which if an additional flash were used would not be an issue. If on camera flash is used, simply removing the lens hood for the shot should cure it. The 16-300mm is 19 ounces and 3.9 inches.

Thanks to all for the advice.