something other than the 40mm

So I bought the 40mm 2.8 stm lens because i thought it was a cool little lens to carry everywhere, and it takes pretty good pictures. I'm happy with it, but sometimes i wish it was a little wider, especially since I have a aps-c sensor. any suggestions? should i sell it and get something else or keep it?

You said you don't care for it, so why keep it?

What focal length do you want? Set your 18-55 at different lengths and see what you would like in a prime... Then how much your budget is so we can help guide you to a proper lens.

I will admit though, choices are pretty limited in the wide, fast area for aps-c sensors... Maybe the Sigma 30mm or Canon 35mm f/2 IS, but both of those will be far more expensive than the 40mm 2.8 stm... There is also the 24mm f/2.8 IS, but again, I believe it goes for $400-500 now.

Through trial and error, I found my "sweet spot" was 30mm for me for "every day" use... I would consider going through your EXIF data and finding what lengths other than 40mm you shoot most often and perhaps figure out why you like that length so much...

I'm sort of in the same boat. I bought the 50mm f1.4 but I find it's a little long inside and a little short outside. Thinking of selling it for the 35 f2 IS.

I'd aim to get a 24 or 28mm prime to compliment it and if you find that you no longer use the 40mm, sell it.

look for something in the 24-35 range. figure out what suits you and find a lens. any of these lenses will cost more than your 40 2.8

i guess i'll mess around with the kit lens to see. i'll also see if anyone i know has any of those to maybe borrow one.

Sigma 30 1.4A. Brilliant little lens. Compact and sharp.

I like the 35 2.0 IS on my 6D and 24 2.8 IS feels about right on my 70D. Both are semi-wide but feel close to how I see with my eyes.

Just set you 18-55 to a focal length and leave it there.
Don't be tempted to zoom in/out from it.
Give it a few weeks and you'll soon see if you actually want a prime lens, or actually prefer a zoom.

If you do want a prime lens you'll soon find you "most popular" focal length.

For me it was 28mm on a crop camera.

PH68 wrote in post #17017157
Just set you 18-55 to a focal length and leave it there.
Don't be tempted to zoom in/out from it.
Give it a few weeks and you'll soon see if you actually want a prime lens, or actually prefer a zoom.

If you do want a prime lens you'll soon find you "most popular" focal length.

For me it was 28mm on a crop camera.

Decent advice, but it's not quite the same. F/4.5 to F/2.8 or faster is a big difference in creative opportunity.

Depends what your shooting and if you actually want a thin depth of field.
f/2.8, or f/1.8, might be fine if you want a thin DOF.
But if you don't, then you're probably shooting at f/8 to f/16.
In which case any lens will probably do.

Depends how "creative" the OP want's to get I suppose.

Sigma 30 1.4, wonderful little lens. Or the 18-35 1.8.

i'm going to take the advice of trying my kit lens set at around 28mm, and then keep using my 40 and see if i still want to keep it or not.

I also started with the 40mm for my SL-1 as my light kit, but ended up replacing it with the 28 IS which I like much better. Also used the kit lens (18-55 STM) and it is ok, but it can't compete with the primes.