Rationalise my kit!

[johnf3f]

Advice required!
 I have some money to spend on gear and am looking to improve my lenses at the short/wide angle range. My current shortish lenses are a Canon 17-40, Canon 24-105, Canon 28mm F2.8 and a Contax-Zeiss 25mm F2.8. I am happy with the 24-105 and the 25mm Contax but am thinking of selling the 28mm and 17-40 to help fund a Nikon 14-24 F2.8. I realise this lens will be entirely manual  but that is not an issue to me.
My cameras are a 5d Mk1 and a 1D Mk4, I would be interested in any suggestions for example should I change the 5D for a Mk2 or are there other lenses that might suit?

[ScottyP]

You do have quite a bit of redundancy in lens length there, so perhaps a garage sale is a good idea. 

And do we understand correctly you wish to buy a Nikon lens to bracket onto a Canon body, despite the MF and other drawbacks, and you are firmly set on doing so?

How much wider/shorter would  you want to go than a (Nikon) 14-24 on a FF camera?  Not a fisheye, right? 

[Hillsilly]

The 14-24 has a good reputation.  If you go down that road, make sure you to give us a review and whether it is worthwhile using on a Canon body. 

[dave]

Given you haven't really specified what you like to shoot or the specific budget i'll take some liberties. If I was going to have two lenses to cover the wide to normal range they would be the 17mm TS-E and 24-70L ii.

A good copy of the 24-70mm ii is significantly better than the 24-105, which makes a difference because at least 60% of my photos would fall into the 24-70mm focal length range.

The TS-E offers a perspective that is rarely (Ok, basically not at all) found elsewhere. Eliminating converging verticals is important when shooting that wide. If you like architecture and industrial landscapes it is an absolute beast.

I can't really do anything other than say that the 5D2 is a great camera with crappy focus, but you have a 1D4 for that

This is simply my approach and I am sure there will be others.

[johnf3f]

You do have quite a bit of redundancy in lens length there, so perhaps a garage sale is a good idea. 

And do we understand correctly you wish to buy a Nikon lens to bracket onto a Canon body, despite the MF and other drawbacks, and you are firmly set on doing so?

How much wider/shorter would  you want to go than a (Nikon) 14-24 on a FF camera?  Not a fisheye, right?

Sorry I wasn't too specific in my post. basically I am looking at Landscape photography and possibly closeups at car shows etc. I am quite happy with the 24-105 also I do love the colour rendition on my 17-40 (but it may have to go) + the Contax-Zeiss stays because it was cheap and I love it!
From what I read the Nikon 14-24 seems to be the dogs dangly bits at the short end (manual focus and aperture are simply non issues to me), I have also considered are the 17mm TSE and the 24mm TSE but architecture is not a biggie for me.
I will probably end up getting a 5d2 as a replacement for my Mk1 (I think the AF is the same on the Mk2 and my Mk1 has excellent AF in low light). I was really just asking to see what others advised in case I was missing anything.
My budget is up to 1500 GBP max but the lower the better - I am quite happy to buy used gear.

[Menace]

Have you considered the EF14 f2.8 II as a possibility?

Cheers

[johnf3f]

Have you considered the EF14 f2.8 II as a possibility?

Cheers

Yes I have but it is more expensive and many say it's no better.
Thanks for your input though.