Lens selection advice

[roncruiser]

Hello all, I'm new to this fabulous forum but have come to you with a lens purchase dilemma.
I'm taking a two week vacation in Europe starting in May.

I shoot with a Canon 30D using a Tamron AF18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 XR Di-II. I'd like to buy a wide angle lens before the trip. Though, with an eye to the future, I plan to purchase the Canon 5D MarkIII when it comes on the market in a year or so. That being said, should I buy a wide angle EF lens that can fit the 30D now and the 5D later, or should I take the loss and buy an EF-S lens made for the 30D?

Common sense tells me to buy the Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM as it will be futureproof. The practical lens choice is to buy the Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 to complement the Tamron 18-200 I already have. The latter not being much of a choice as I'd rather buy the EF wide angle lens.

I suppose the real question is which EF wide angle lens would still do the job on the 30D and give me the wider angles that I crave? Do I even need to buy a new lens?(At 18mm the Tamron is not as sharp as it should be.) I'll end up shooting mostly landscapes/cityscapes (high and low light) with the obligatory family photo in between. Any advice or recommendations would be helpful in helping me learn more before making a lens choice.

[arith]

I'm not certain but I don't think EF-S will fit a 5D. But the 17-40mm is fine. Welcome by the way, I just noticed your new.

[Colin Southern]

@ Steve

Correct - an EF-S won't work on a 10, 5D, 5D2, or any of the 1D series.

@ Ron

Hi Ron,

There's no "right or wrong" answer - getting an EF-S lens now will give you wider a FoV on a crop-factor camera, but won't mount onto a FF camera; the likes of the EF17-40mm/F4L USM will mount onto both, but will give you a reduced FoV on a crop factor.

Personally, if you're going to invest in a UWA L-Series lens then I'd suggest taking a look at the newer and superior EF16-35/F2.8L USM II (which is what I use) - opically it's superior and since you're going to have it for many many years then the difference in price isn't a lot.

The other thing to consider though is "do you really need a UWA at all" - I wrote an article for premier filter manufacturer Singh-Ray a while back - you might like to have a read.

Hope this helps

[Keith]

The other thing to consider though is "do you really need a UWA at all" - I wrote an article for premier filter manufacturer Singh-Ray a while back - you might like to have a read.

Hope this helps

Thats is certainly a very interesting read Colin, thanks for the link.

Keith

[Colin Southern]

Thats is certainly a very interesting read Colin, thanks for the link.

Keith

No worries Keith. If you check the link tomorrow there should be a new article & 3 new images there