Quote Originally Posted by planetgong View Post
Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro (Canon AF) £213.74
I got this recently as part of my entry to the DSLR world (along with a 30D and a 70-300 4.5/5.6 IS USM II). The Sigma is a great lens IMO - very good for doing stuff indoors since it is very wide-angle and has a nice aperture for low-light. It's also fantastically well-built compared to the standard Canon kit lens. I'd honestly suggest that you steer clear of extreme zoom lenses like 18-250s etc unless you have a chance to play with them properly. Most of the reviews you see on places like photozone.de suggest they have a lot of flaws.
For nature photography etc., my (brief) experience so far is that 300mm is a bit short and I'm thinking of getting a TC to stretch it a bit - I cant afford a 400mm or similar just yet.
Depends on what kind of wildlife you want to photograph, I guess...

In terms of filters, memory cards, spare batteries, bags, etc. I recommend 7dayshop.co.uk - very cheap, very fast delivery - at 7 quid or so for a Hama UV filter you'd be nuts not to stick one on each lens. Making a flat clear piece of optical glass isn't a huge engineering challenge for the japanese these days, so the visual impact is nothing compared to hand shake, air pollution and all the other things that mess up your photos. If you're a good enough snapper for the filters to make a difference, you'll know it - and you'll also have spend so much getting there that a few quid on filters will be a drop in the ocean....