I just pulled the trigger and bought this. Yes, it's EF-S and, no, it's not an L, but the reviews of this lens have been astounding and the 18-55 kit lens just hasn't been fast enough for me and my 300D lately, due to it's relatively weak high iso performance. I need to upgrade the camera too, but glass is priority for now - garbage in, garbage out.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search
Their site lists it for $999, but I found this link on another forum, so through I'd share. Lens arrives on Friday.