Lens upgrade opinions?

[Dartellan]

Hello!

I have decided it is time to upgrade from my kits lens (18-55mm) for my Canon 50D. (I use it often indoors with low-light situations)

I have narrowed my selection down to 2 lenses that are in my price range that are close to what I am looking for:

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Zoom Lens ($1080)
-or-
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Lens ($750)

My problem is this: The first one is in the range I am comfortable with , has image stabilization and opens to 2.8 which is good for me because I often have to shoot indoors with low-light.

The second one only opens to 4, (and only goes to 40mm) but is an L-series.

For the canon people out there, is the "L" part of this going to make this lens better than the first one? Even though the first is more expensive?

And is image stabilization all it's cracked up to be? I have it on my 70-200 and love it, but do I need it for the wide-angle zoom? I guess I'm wondering if it's kind of like "cheating" and doesn't really work that well.

Thanks so much!

 

[bigtwinky]

Do you ever plan on going full frame? IF so, in how long? That EF-S wont work on the full frames.

I find IS on shorter focal lenghts more or less pointless. And if you are shooting low light, you should seek a 2.8

 

[Munky]

May I Suggest Tamron 17-50mm @ 2.8 VC $650 - $70 Mail In rebate!
It's Great!
The NON VC Versrion it's Even Cheaper And Has Great Reviews!

I Have the VC mostly for low light situations and Video!

 

[Dartellan]

Bigtwinky -
I do plan on moving up to a full-frame sensor, and had thought about that when looking at lenses the past couple of weeks, since if I were shooting full-frame I would be looking to start at about 24 mm or so.

Unfortunately, the financial reality of upgrading the camera is longer away than I want to keep dealing with my kit lens!

Thanks for the input about the image stabilization.

Munky - I will check out that Tamron one and see what kind of info I can get about it.

Thanks!

 

[Munky]

Bigtwinky -
I do plan on moving up to a full-frame sensor, and had thought about that when looking at lenses the past couple of weeks, since if I were shooting full-frame I would be looking to start at about 24 mm or so.

Unfortunately, the financial reality of upgrading the camera is longer away than I want to keep dealing with my kit lens!

Thanks for the input about the image stabilization.

Munky - I will check out that Tamron one and see what kind of info I can get about it.

Thanks!

I Bought it recently: this was taken 2 days ago it's not the Best Picture EVER but considering the conditions the lens did it's job, i'm not a fan of high iso: