Canon 24-105 f4 L vs Canon 15-85 f3.5-5.6

[aayling]

I thought I'd clarify the type of photography I do most. I'm generally into wildlife photography most of the time (hence the 150-500) but along with that I also do some portrait stuff and sports photography.

I've just been at a volleyball comp shooting solely with my 50mm f1.8 as it's the only lens I had fast enough in the lower light conditions.

I've been borrowing a canon 18-200mm lens off a friend who loves it but it doesn't seem popular on the forum. Any comments???

[ZedEx]

Optically, the Canon 18-200 isn't terrible really. For what it is. However, the ones i've seen seem to suffer terribly from zoom creep, where the lens will zoom right out (and extend a helluva lot) if tilted downwards at all. This is bad bad news if you're carrying it around your neck and it lengthens and whacks against something. There is no zoom lock either.

Back to your original question, if you don't do landscape the 24-105 is probably the better choice. If you find you never work below 24mm on any of your existing/borrowed lenses then you probably won't miss it