Preston,
having just completed a fairly thorough testing of the lens I've concluded that it's just not "good enough" . I put everything in the context of the Ls I've owned and that's probably not fair but I also put the criteria on the lens that an 8X10 had to look good and this lens had some issues. It was pretty sharp at close-focusing distances at almost any focal length and aperture and very soft at infinity at almost every focal length and aperture. Strange. But, an issue since I shoot my long lenses at infinity 90% of the time so it goes back to KEH this morning.

The lens I want is the 70-200 F4L IS. The lens I can afford is the non-IS version which I've owned before and loved. But with a birthday coming up soon, I'll be able to get that IS. So the question is: do I simply save and wait renting what I need in the interim or buy and sell when I can afford the IS? Decisions decisions .

As for macro lenses, I'm actually thinking I may get either the 100 F2.8 or the 60 F2.8 strictly for macro work. Yes, I've gotten great images using extension tubes. And, yes, I've always maintained that my equipment has to be able to pay it's own way, but I love macro photography and I do it strictly for me. And I can make the case that either would make a great studio lens.

"Good enough" is always tempered by "good for what" which tends to push the envelope into L territory because of the printing and magazine reproduction applications of what I shoot. And I've begun to realize it's not simply a vanity. If I had never shot L glass, I probably would be less picky. But I have; and I am. And when it comes to bodies, I think you have to match that with the work you do. I'm not a National Geographic photographer. I don't need 36 mpx. I do need a camera that can capture action but I don't shoot Agility so it doesn't have to be a 1D. And I like my cameras to last at least 3 years if possible. I resisted getting the 50D because for what I shoot, it wasn't that much of an improvement over the 40D. But the 40D had gotten to a point of diminishing returns on the used market so it was time to move up and the 7D seemed to me to be the right answer. The more I shoot it, the more I'm convinced it will meet my professional needs in the relative near term.

And that, to me, is the objective. To match your tools to the task at hand and not simply the desire for the latest and greatest. My equipment has to be cost-justified. Just as it was when I ran a corporate photo department. And, ultimately, that's what I mean by "good enough".

Jim