Quote:
Originally Posted by oneintheory
It's not marketing hype, and quite frankly, that's not great advice. If he's looking to spend the money on quality glass, then L or similar lenses are the way to go. EF-S lenses are not a smart purchase for anyone eventually looking to upgrade to full frame. even if you don't upgrade to full frame, L glass is superior to non-L glass in most cases. it comes down to a per-lens basis, ultimately. weather sealing, better optics, better construction...
OP, i'd go with either the 24-105 or 24-70. i prefer the 24-70, and I think that's a lens you'll use for a long time. The 17-40 is not a good lens if you're taking any portraits, and the 24-70 has a full stop of aperture on the 24-105, which could be VERY useful in low light situations.
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As an owner of plenty of L lenses I really disagree with this. The L designation is only used for full frame lenses, but the 17-55 EF-S has optics that are at least the equal of many L zooms. I've owned both the 17-55 and the 24-70L in the past and think that the EF-S is actually the sharper of the two. Certainly it has a more useful zoom range on crop bodies (and it has IS). I will agree that the build quality isn't of the "main battle tank" level used on the 24-70, but that's about the only area in which it suffers by comparison. Once you add the 17-55 into the mix the 17-40L becomes pretty superfluous as well.
I've often heard the argument that EF-S is worthless if you're ever planning to go FF. The problem is that if you have a crop body
today then EF-S lenses may very well be your optimum choice
today. Good lenses, L or EF-S, can always be sold without much loss. If you go FF, sell your EF-S lenses and buy the lenses you need
then. Likely as not, though, even when you go FF you'll want to keep a crop body around for some things and may decide to keep your high quality EF-S lenses after all.
To the OP I'd ask what problem are you trying to solve? L lenses can be the right choice for some things, EF-S lenses for others and manual focus primes for still others. For high quality general purpose use I'd recommend the EF-S 17-55, for shooting in a war zone or inclement weather I'd recommend the 24-70 (and a 1-series body), for low light and shallow DOF subjects nothing beats fast primes.