Sound advice but maybe a bit too discouraging. It is true a lot of people seem to think it is all about the body not the glass, a classic mistake, but to say av

Sound advice but maybe a bit too discouraging. It is true a lot of people seem to think it is all about the body not the glass, a classic mistake, but to say avoid the kit lens at all costs is perhaps a bit too far. I have a 350D, pretty old-fashioned for digital but works fine for someone like me who is not a pro. The kit lens it came with is garbage, however I did use it solely for about a year as I couldn't justify buying a lens and I still got some great shots. I recently bought a 50mm 1.8, very cheap, and now I only use the kit lens for wide shots (until I can afford a wide prime). I love the 50mm 1.8, it's a massive upgrade, but it is also very cropped (on an APS-C sensor) and the bokeh is noticeably harsh, but being worlds apart in terms of sharpness and speed over the kit lens is a great advantage. Using the kit lens does often produce soft images with blurred distorted edges full of chromatic aberration, enough to make me cry sometimes when I seeing a decent composition has been tainted by the low quality glass. But it is not the end of the world, the composition was still OK, the idea was still good, it was still interesting (to me at least). As soon as I can justify buying a decent wide lens I will, but I would never discourage someone from just going out and taking pictures if they only had the kit lens.