I'm a college student and am going to graduate in a few months. I shoot for my school's newspaper with my own gear - a Canon 50D, EFS 10-22, EF 50 1.4, EF 70-200 2.8 (non IS). I absolutely love the 10-22...for the journalism assignments and my own use, such as hiking, nature, etc. The 50 1.4 is obviously used for low light, and to fill the gap from 22mm-70mm. The 70-200 2.8 is great for the sports assignments: football, soccer, lacrosse, etc. But...aside from the newspaper I find it too heavy to carry while hiking or traveling, and it attracts so much attention that is is undesirable. Additionally, whenever I want to do some nature/wildlife photography with it, I find it much too short. Basically, I think I won't be using it once I graduate since its only use now is for the journalism assignments.

That being said, if I unloaded it, I would be left with the 10-22 and 50mm. I think that is a poor setup for general coverage. I have traveled with only the 10-22 and 50 1.4 before and found that the 50mm just couldn't make up for the 22mm--XXmm length.

I was considering using the money from the 70-200 to buy a the 24-105 which I just rented for a week. The focal length on that is great and I can deal with the F4 aperture since it has IS and is lighter. Plus, I figure that paired with the 10-22, it would be an awesome setup for general use and traveling (10-105mm covered).

Down the road, I could see myself adding the 400 F5.6 or 300 F4 if I get into wildlife/telephoto shooting.

What do you think, yay or nay, is the 70-200 too good to part with?