What would YOU do in MY situation?

In the interest of having a little fun I want to see what you all would do in my situation, and then I'll let you in on what I've decided to do. I've consolidated and sold off some of my gear and I've just scored a nice commission cheque - I have about $2-2.5K in "mad money" set aside to spend on myself - and if there's any left over I'll certainly be doing something for the fiancee.

Here's the equipment I'm left with:
2 x 30D
17-40 F/4 L
EF-S 17-55 F/2.8 IS
70-200 F/2.8 IS L
100 F/2.8 Macro
Flashes

I ran the gaumet of what camera equipment I wanted to buy - I thought about new bodies - 50D, 5DMKI, 5DMKII. I've been over getting new glass - 16-35 MKII, 24-70 L, 24/35/50/85L, etc. I've also entertained ideas of indulging in my other passion which is guitar. One thing I'm not interested in is adding any more EF-S lenses to my bag.

FWIW - for pay I'm shooting weddings, stock, and taking on some commercial work. For personal shooting I'm into landscapes, urban decay, abstracts, etc.

So...............

If you had my equipment, my mad money to spend, and your shooting interests, what would YOU do? Again, this is just for fun - I'm not really looking for advice on what to buy.

Cheers!

You have a good selection of lenses that cover your needs. Get a 5d or 5dII and you have yourself another perspective for most of those lenses. You could also sell one of the 30d's but keep one for your EFS lens.

If you're shooting weddings I don't see any low light primes so that would be my area of focus... I'm not a fan of flash photography at weddings and prefer more natural lighting so I'd probably grab a 24L and a 50L.

Or you could sell a 30D, buy a 5D Mk1, a 50L and have about $500 left for the fiance

I'd personally purchase a 5DMk1 and 24-70mmL f2.8. And that would be slightly over your budget, but.....its a dream world. lol.

Hmmm...perhaps the dark side you seek? A D300, 14-24, 24-70 and 70-200. Plus perhaps a Sigma 150/2.8 macro. Hey! That's exactly what I'm thinking of doing!

Hehehe

Even though I don't use it a ton, I'd spend some coin on the Tokina 11-16 f/2.8. Ultra Wide gives you a whole new view of the world.

I would get a 24-70 F2.8 L .... (would help since you shoot weddings)

and I would stretch for a 5D.....

1D II and 24-70 or 50L

First thing I noticed is - do you really need the 17-40? Next, nothing UWA. I am biased and think building up a nice collection of glass to be important. Look at my gear list for an idea of that.

gasrocks wrote in post #6415849
First thing I noticed is - do you really need the 17-40? Next, nothing UWA. I am biased and think building up a nice collection of glass to be important. Look at my gear list for an idea of that.

17-40 on a 5d is gonna be pretty wide, and still useful as a normal zoom on the 30d

The 17-40 is a terrific lens and I wish I'd never sold mine. Even tho it sat in the bag much of the time, every time I reached for it, I missed it. Inexpensive, yet fantastic IQ.

Are you still selling the 17-55, Brad?

Easy...

For now I'd get...

1 ea. 24-70/2.8L
1 ea. "Classic" 5D because it pairs up very well with your 30Ds, and you should be able to get a real deal on one in the near future, thanks to upgraders trading them in on the new model.

But also think about future additions...

Set a plan to get 85/1.8. Great portrait lens on either full frame or the croppers.

If you stick with the 30Ds and don't end up switching entirely to full frame, or perhaps even if you do, add a 50/1.4 eventually. Here I am also thinking portrait lens, and that it might even be very useful on full frame for full length portraits.

If you find yourself heavily using the full frame camera, you might want to start saving for a 135/2. I see this mostly as an excellent, tight portrait lens for full frame. Of course it would be usable on a cropper as a long tele, if you have much demand for that.

You wrote that you are also doing some commercial shooting, but didn't elaborate very much, so most of the above is based upon wedding shooting needs.

For example, if your were doing commercial small product/table top studio work, I'd seriously consider the TS-E 45/2.8 on a cropper or the 90/2.8 TS-E on a full frame camera. Both are excellent for near macro work.

The 24/3.5 TS-E might be really useful for broad exterior shots of wedding parties in front of the church and that sort of thing... Basically anywhere some architecture comes into play.

Sell both your 30Ds and your 17-55IS, get a new 5D and a 35L and call it a day. You'd a have a killer wide for landscape, a killer 35L fast prime, great macro and super nice 70-200.

i would probably take all that stuff and go on a nice trip with my fiance

Maybe sell one of the cameras and upgrade... but i like the nice trip idea.
IM not sure what your life is like, but the only time i have been out of this country was
1. being adopted from korea when i was 6 (18 years ago)
2. mission trip to mexico

so if i had that much money, i would try to set up a good trip to europe or something....
or at the very least, to like hawaii lol...

well... maybe once i get my big break!

i think i would look at selling a 30D and the 17-55, and pick up a 5D, 24-70 and a prime if you can squeeze that.