You can get good shots using the kit lens... but it takes effort and knowledge... and most beginners don't have either going into their first shutter clicks. Your best friend will be a tripod... and after that, a hot shoe speedlite. Bounce the light off the ceiling or walls and you will come out with some solid shots. Outside of that... mostly disappointment. Sorry, but it is true. As a good upgrade, the 15-85 is a solid EF-s performer.

jdramirez

Mechanicsburg, PA

My Canon Rebel Xsi came with the Canon EF-S 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 USM lens.  It is a great lens to just leave on your camera body for quick shots anytime, indoor or outdoor.  It takes relatively clear photos, though some are blurry becuase of the lower level of light that gets into the lens, which makes the shutter speed slower and gives more time for the camera to shake.  It is an Image Stablizer lens, which can be turned on or off.  I always leave mine on and I don't really know why one would turn it off.  I like the fact that you can zoom in or out with this lens, which is nice compared to the prime lenses I own where I have to be the one to physically walk forward or backward to zoom in.  The lens is lightweight, and I like that it is so versitle with a range of 18-55mm.  The f/3.5-5.6 is ok, it takes 'normal' photos, nothing special.  I prefer the lower f values which focus in on a subject, leaving the background blurry.  I would still recommend this to a friend.

cakvd

Sun Prairie, WI

I got this lens as my first lens. It is small, compact and weighs very little. I went with this budget lens because I didn't want to invest a lot of money in case I did something to break it or worse yet my kids knocked it. Many beginners and others (myself included) seemed to think you need to invest a lot of money in lenses. I'm not sure this is true. If you research your lens choices, you will see just how well the 18-55 IS lens does up against better ones. I could have gone with a kits lens that had a longer range however, those lens just don't have great or even good ratings. The 18-55 IS does. Yes, I have to up the ISO for indoor shots but they still turn out fairly decently for my expectations. I didn't have a big budget and will be adding another lens soon so I have the wide end covered (the 18-55mm) and the telephoto end as well (55-250mm). Sure it feels plasticky. Sure its a cheaper construction. But it takes great shots and doesn't weigh or cost a lot. If you search sites like Flickr you can see for yourself. I opted to spent my money on an extra battery and a better body like the 60D.

Karsan

Wichita, KS

Don't buy this lens. That being said, it is a fine lens. If you buy a canon digital rebel, this is probably going to be the lens you get with it. It is great and versitile, very good to learn with, and has pretty decent image quality. It is sort of sharp. I got rid of this lens for a few reasons. The aperture didn't open up enough to off more choices in low light situations as well as not giving enough depth of field options. The color was only okay, and it lacked in apparent sharpness and contrast. If you buy this lens be prepared to take very pedestrian images. Every picture you take will tend to look like a photo captured by a point and shoot. A very nice and detailed photo, but there isn't anything special about this lens. If you want to get swept off of your feet by photography and impress others, you will need to get another lens.

yupimrich

Springboro, OH

I must admit I am a bit of a newbie when it comes to DSLR use. I have been shooting with point and shoots for all my life and now I am making a transition to a DSLR. The DSLR I decided to purchase was a Canon T2i with the 18-55mm starter lens. At this moment I am still in the process of learning and growing with this camera and I probably will continue to do so for the next few years. As of now the 18-55mm lens that came included are more than adequate for my needs. With an image stablizer, zoom, and with the good ammount of details and decent bokeh this lens can capture what more do I need? I will most likely make an upgrade some time down the road but as of now I say these lens are absolutely great for what I am able to do now.

ntrisKKT

San Diego, CA

I received the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens with my purchase of a Canon EOS XTi. I believe it's a great beginners lens. It doesn't have great low light capability because of its' aperture but will allow someone just starting with photography to experiment and learn their way around their camera and lens. It is a very light and short lens, not too much of a hassle to carry around in a camera bag or on your camera. I do like that it is wide, since I prefer wide angle shots and will work fine on a cropped sensor camera. Sometimes, unless your focus and camera settings are spot on, you will see lack of sharpness but this can be remedied with editing programs outside of the camera. If possible, I would prefer to buy the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8. This lens is just a bit wider, by just a smidge, and has low light capability because of its' f/2.8 aperture. It provides great clarity, and although a bit heavier, is a superior lens.

Latinhunny33

Waukegan, IL

I've read a lot of negative reviews about this lens but I don't think it's really as bad as some people make it out to be. I think it's a decent lens for the beginner photographer to start out with before they figure out on their own what their sweet spot is, whether they prefer primes or zooms, etc. The variable aperture of  3.5-5.6 is not going to be the greatest in low light situations, however, I felt it performed decently outdoors and in good lighting situations. The Image Stabilization is a handy feature, and can even be turned off it you want, like if you choose to shoot on a tripod since it will actually cause some motion blur in that situation.  I don't think most people purchasing a DSLR are going to ever stick with just the kit lens, so again, I feel this is a decent lens to start out with and then you can branch out into either a specific focal length prime or a zoom, wide angle, etc.

JL1129

Somerville, NJ

The Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM lens is an average lens, even for a beginner.  It's limited f/stop only allows the camera operator to shoot in optimal light, even when shooting with a high ISO, and forget about not having grain.  Forget shooting handheld in a room without full lights on, or a birthday cake before your child blows it out.  Also, the lens lacks the clarity and images will never be incredibly sharp or have great color with out quite a bit of post processing or well above beginner knowledge of the camera.  I have seen some great HDR work done using this lens, but again that takes expensive computer software and knowledge.  The range on this lens however makes a good walk around lens on the 1.6 crop frame sensors in the Rebel and 40/50/60D line of Canon DSLRs.  I however highly recommend passing on this lens and going with the Canon 50mm f/1.8 II instead.  Your pictures will be so much sharper and you can shoot in low light without a flash at normal ISO, thus avoiding grainy images.

Sadyrose

Lexington, KY

This lens came with my Canon Rebel XSI has part of the kit. This was my first lens so I didn't know what to expect. The first thing I tried out was the IS on the lens I tried shooting with it on and off. It made a big difference on my hand held shoots. Indoors I didn't want to raise my ISO to high and lens was wide open so the only thing to do was to slow down the shutter speed and with the IS turn off I was getting burry after burry picture. Once I turn on the IS on it I got a lot of more keppers. I like the range that it has. Its perfect for shooting inside a house you can get a decent size group of people if you set the lins to 18mm. It may look distorted when shooting wide angle but what do you expect for a lens at this price. The lens body is made of plastic and it fells cheap compare to other lens but if you take care of it it should be fine. This is a good lens for the price. But once you use other lens this lens won't go back on your camera body.

silent20

Victorville, CA

This lens came with my T1i, which was my first digital SLR camera. Although this lens is relatively low in price, it is a fantastic value and a wonderful zoom lens to learn on. The 18-55mm focal range is ideal for a person wanting a versatile lens. The18mm wide angle is great for landscape photos and large group pictures, while the 55mm telephoto end will give you just a little bit of reach for close up photos and headshots. Although the aperture only opens to f/4.5, this lens is still able to provide nice bokeh for portrait shots, although I would recommend using a flash for low light picture taking. This lens is light and small, ideal for traveling. However, 55mm isn't long enough for some shots, so I would pair this with a nice zoom lens (55-250mm is perfect with it!). In addition, image stabilization is a real lifesaver if you lack steady hands or are shooting lower shutter speeds. Don't let the price tag of this lens fool you, it is able to take great quality pictures and is ideal for beginner/amateur SLR photographers. I used this lens exclusively until I opted to replace it with the 17-55mm f/2.8 to get the wider aperture.

pdrober2

Durham, NC