Wed Jul 04, 2007 6:07 am
Please don't think of the kit lens as "Rubish". It delivers HUGE value for the money and is a masterpeice of planning, engineering and manufacturing to cost/performance goals. Think of it as limited. The darn thing is, that $300 or even $1,100 dollar lenses are limited, but less so.
Within its limit, you can get real nice pictures. Avoid extremes of the zoom range, and of aperture numbers (and of ISO speeds). In the middle ranges, it is very sharp, very clear. Check out my gallery on Shepherdstown, WV for some examples.
If you want higher optical performance, the Canon 35mm or 50mm prime lenses do that, but are not zoom. They sell for a very reasonable price. Sigma and Tamron both make a 17-50mm zoom that sell for $360 to $410 US I believe. They are better lenses than the Canon 18-55 kit lens, but should be better in as much as they sell for 4 times the price.
I have a gallery with mostly images from the Canon 35mm f2 prime on Frederick, MD gallery. I got that lens for low light work at wide open apertures, and sure enough, it works! (Most of the photos have been brigtened in Apple iPhoto)
Hope this and other good advice you find here narrows your search and that the images you take bring you much joy.