lens question

i'm thinking of getting a wide lens. my choice are canon 17 - 40 or the tokina 12 - 24. here's the hard part, i was shooting my family using my canon 18 - 55 coz that's the widest i got and gave me some nice shots. so now i'm geting confused if i'm still gonna get a 17 -40 L or just use my 18 - 55 and just get the tokina 12 - 24?

thanks
cleng

if you want to go wider (typically for landscapes and such) then you wont be gaining much in that regard by going with the 17-40 L. I just purchased one (on its way) as an upgrade to the 18-55. If you are happy with the 18-55 range and want upraded image quality, by all means go with the 17-40. If you really want that wider angle, go for the tokina 12-14. Or if you can afford it, go for the Canon 10-22.

Yeah, 17mm is not that wide on a 1.6 crop sensor. If you are happy with the image quality from your 18-55 and mainly want to expand your range, the Tokina 12-24 would be a good choice. Another good alternative is the Sigma 10-20. As spencer87 mentioned, the 17-40 L is more of an upgrade to your kit lens and can only be regarded as truly wide angle on a full frame sensor.