I have a Rebel XT body.

I have these two lens in mind.

Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

or

Canon EF 17-40 f/4L USM

Which one would you recomend and why?

Worth trying out at least when comparing to those two.

Try it before writing it off simply because of the name.

My walk around lens is the 28-135...I have a 12-24 in my bag for wiiiiide.

The 17-85 was just too soft for me.

I will not be able to test it.

Granted the build quality isn't nearly L-level, they perform pretty damn well. I recently moved up to the 24-70L from my Tamron 28-75 and it's been a good change, but the Tamron can't be beat for the price. I'm guessing the 17-50 will be the same...

check out the reviews on Fred Miranda too if you haven't looked there yet, also

I'm renting a 400/5.6 in March from them.<ul><li><a href="http://www.lensrentals.com/item/tamron-17-50-f%241.8-sp-af-diii">17-50 @ lensrentals.com</a></li></ul>

I've got a 1.4x you can stack on it if you need the extra reach.

I have a feeling I'm going to ask you for a favor anyway...which may require a trip down to DE. I've been pondering a Mac Pro. It's tough to find deals...but shipping to DE would be advantageous...and you're the only one I know in DE. Gotta juggle money and get some other things done first before I can make a decision on a bigger/faster machine.

Not a problem with the shipping to DE. I do it for my Dad all the time. Shoot me an email.