Another OT....lens this time

Well, my Canon 17-85 lens took in a lot of sand in the dunes and I'm getting some weird sparkles in some of my images so I need to rent a lens for my San Juan trip. Right now my arsenal consists of:

11-16 Tokina
28-135 Canon IS
70-300 Canon IS

I'm torn between renting a Canon 17-40L f4 or the 24-70L f2.8...or should I just rent the 24-105l again?

My camera is the 50d so I've got a 1.6 crop factor. Considering the above and considering most of these will be landscapes versus intimates, which would you say is the better option? I rented the 24-105 earlier this year and it seemed I wasn't able to get good close foregrounds. On the other hand I don't want the backgrounds so small you can't make them out.

Seems to me like the lenses you already have will do the job as long as they're stopped down at least one stop from wide open. You won't really need the f2.8/f4 wide apertures for landscape work.

Print and carry along this hyperfocal chart when using your Tokina lens for maximum depth of field using that lens. I use it all the time and find that it's quite accurate!

Looks like the 17-40 would fill the gap in your lenses. Sent you an email.

Not sure what your experience has been, but with a 1.6 crop I would say the wider the better. My 17-55 was not wide enough for some of the shots I wanted last weekend. That said your options are teh 16-35 or 17-40 as you mention. I agree that if your shooting landscape, the opened up aperture should not matter. I would say go for the 17-40.. from what I hear it is a great lens.

I'm still pouring sand out of my hiking boots from that trip. I think the lenses you have are fine. I advise using camera rain gear like mine the next time we hit the dunes. http://www.amazon.com/Kata-E-702-Digital-Camera-Raincover/dp/B0001VB1QU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1252045892&sr=8-1

I don't see a reason to change lenses either. Alot of the time I carry a 10-22, 50/1.4 and 70-300IS

I was a little worried about the lack between 17-28..I don't know if that's major but looking at the metadata on some of my old images from last year, it seemed a lot of them were in the 24MM range. I wanted to make sure that area was covered plus having some real good glass this year. The Tokina is a very good lens. The 28-135 is an OK lens, not L. I'm working on an option for a 17-40 so I should have all the bases covered. The big thing now is trying to figure what to do with my 17-85...I really liked that lens but don't know if the cost to clean it is gonna be worth it.

Just out of curiosity, was it just the wind blowing the sand into all your gear? I have never been out to the sand dunes, but was considering heading out there at some point. Is it really that bad that it can ruin a lens?

Here's what happened Koveh. My buddies and I went down and initially I had a plastic shopping bag covering the camera in between shots which worked fine until a gust of wind turned it into a parasail never to be seen again. I then used an alternate method but the sand grain is soooo fine that it just got into the lens extension and eventually inside the lens. I also got sand in one of my buttons and it took 2 days to blow it out. One of my shooting partners had a rain cover...see Jasons' response...and he had no sand issues. I'm gonna order one of those for both rain and sand. You can get a cheap one locally at either Mikes or Wolf. It is just plastic with a couple draw strings but better than nothing. Just be aware that the sand will get into anything that is not completely covered and with the wind, if you open your backpack for even a few seconds, sand is gonna get in there. That being said, I would go back there in a heartbeat..just better prepared.