How about a little lens shuffle game?

I have some very nice lenses as you can see in my signature, but I also wonder if I can do better with as little cash outlay as possible.
Here is what I paid for the lenses and lets see what upgrades I could get by selling and then buying different lenses on the used market.

24-105 ( new $800) I will keep this one since it's a perfect walk around lens and sharp.
100mm L IS (refurbed $839) I mostly use it hand held and sometimes true macro.
70-200 f4 IS (refurbed $917)
135mm L (used $600)
Possible upgrade lenses or just different coverage.
70-200mm MKII
70-300mm L
Canon 35mm f2 IS
Sigma 35mm f1.4
Canon 100-400mm
Insert your lens recomendation here.

So here's the game. What would you sell and then purchased that would make this kit better not for a specific style of photography but for all around type shooting.
Remember to use only current used pricing and as little cash oulay as possible.

Playing 'shuffle' without knowing what kind of photography you are mostly doing/desiring to do is like getting in your car with 'no particular place to go' (with appologies to Chuck Berry).

Hey, go for that new $12,999 lens!

On the other hand, I think I've found my 'ideal' setup for mostly indoor work, some cityscapes, and occassional outdoor work varying from scenery (vacations, mostly), to trains, to outdoor church functions. For me, that meant having something wider, but not so wide as to cause distortion. The 16-35 f2.8L ii filled the bill perfectly. My walk-around is, of course, the 24-105. For longer shots, the older 80-200 f2.8L 'magic black pipe' ($750 a year ago). Although I've toyed with getting a 'wider' prime, I'm happy with the 85 f1.8, 135 f2L, and 200 f2.8 L ii. Of all of them, the 85 and the 80-200 see the least use, and the 24-105 and 135 the most.

So, what works for me may not work for you. Playing 'kid in the candy store with $5.00' may quickly get more expensive than expected.

There is no point in shuffling unless you have a specific reason to make a change, e.g. each lens should have a specific purpose to stay in the bag. For general shooting, your collection looks good.

If you want to consolidate a bit, you could trade the 135 L and 70-200 f4 IS for a 70-200 f2.8 IS II. You may want to add a semi wide or normal prime in the 35 to 50 mm range. Of course depending on what you shoot you can add lenses either wider/longer. Based on your possible upgrades, you seem to be thinking along these lines anyway.

The reason for the interest in shuffling is to get a set of lenses that will cover just about all situation as best it can.
For example
Sell the 70-200 f4 and the 135 L and get the MK II like you suggest.
Sell the 135mm or the 100mm L and get a 35mm
Sell the 70-200 f4 and get the 70-300L
Sell the 135mm or the 100mm L and get the 100-400
All these options would still cover a great deal of shooting options while maintaning image quality at a cost of less than $500.

I would add a 40mm f/2.8 pancake or a 50mm f/1.4 and keep everything else. This will help for low light indoor shots. Add a Canon 1.4X MK II teleconverter for the 70-200 if you want a bit more telephoto reach. No need to sell anything and keeps your shuffling within your $500 budget.

This would be a very versatile kit for the 5D II and builds around your existing collection.

24-105 f4 IS for general purpose / walkaround / landscapes
40 f2.8 (lightweight) or 50 f1.4 (faster aperture) for low light /indoors, normal prime.
70-200 f4 IS and 1.4X TC for up to 280mm f5.6 telephoto shots
135 f2 for outdoor portraits, also would work for indoor sports
100 L for closeup and macro

jrscls wrote in post #15478326
There is no point in shuffling unless you have a specific reason to make a change, e.g. each lens should have a specific purpose to stay in the bag. For general shooting, your collection looks good.

If you want to consolidate a bit, you could trade the 135 L and 70-200 f4 IS for a 70-200 f2.8 IS II. You may want to add a semi wide or normal prime in the 35 to 50 mm range. Of course depending on what you shoot you can add lenses either wider/longer. Based on your possible upgrades, you seem to be thinking along these lines anyway.

What he said^^^^^^^^^^^^ I find the 24-105 and 70-200Mk2 covers most but wide angle so the 16-35 would complete me..
good luck