Canon 24-105mm OR Canon 17-55mm: for my first DSLR

[KJawa]

Hi KJawa,
What kinda of spending limit are you starting with? A 6d plus the 24-105 would make a good starting place but is quite a bit more than the 7d plus the 17-55 route. Should you wait for the 7dII? Na. Holidays are coming up and you might want to get a good price on a used/refurbished 7d by holding a couple weeks, but I wouldn't wait for something that prolly won't show up in a store anytime soon.

Thanks 'andnowimbroke' for the reply! Actually, at one point last month, I was thinking of getting the 5D Mark III over the 7D. I read terrific reviews about it online. I know its quite expensive with just the body priced around $3500. But then I thought, why not buy the best canon DSLR available today in the market as people like me (a beginner SLR user) probably wont replace their SLR OR buy another one anytime soon (may be after 5 yrs or so). So, I started convincing myself for the MKIII. However, again I debated that I am just a beginner right now for SLRs...so investing that much money at this moment probably is not a very good idea even if I can afford it somehow. So, I shifted my focus towards the 7D which I believe has very good features for the price that it is available for now ($1350 for the body at present and hopefully will have some good deals during the holiday season).

What do you guys think about this?

Thanks each one of you for giving such informative and useful suggestions. They are definitely going to help me with my decision!