H, Paul, Troy and Phil
thanks for those thoughts guys. Troy you are of course right, the Tamron does have some support.
However, I'm thinking that after freight, there's not that much difference really between the two cost wise ($389 ish for the Tamron v $535 ish for the Canon).
And as Dave points out, both will be perfectly fine. But I can only buy one. I have the Canon DPP s/w that H talks of, so the ease of putting the final touches to pics must count for something.
I'll sleep on it. Thanks so much gents, for your patience, and invaluable input.
All the best