The Minolta has a lot going for it, and 6mp is plenty. Tons of GOOD Minolta glass available on the resale market (cheap!) too, unlike Canon glass (it's available, but no longer with nearly the same selection).

With Canon, L glass is very nice, but not necessary for great photos. I have three L zooms here, and now rarely (if ever) use any of them. The 17-85mm EF-S lens (with IS) was way cheaper than the L stuff, is a hell of a lot lighter and more convenient to use, and produces really good photos.

For the L stuff to make much of a difference, I'd have to be carry two such lenses, each of which is 2X as heavy as the single 17-85, and even then a heavy tripod would also be necessary to see much of a difference. No IS on the common L range, either.

The 10-22 EF-S is also nice. No comparism possible with L, simply because L doesn't go anywhere near that wide.

Anybody want to buy some rarely used L glass?

Cheers!