A continuation of a previous post regarding selecting your first lens (http://www.truphotos.com/2009/12/27/photography-basics-choosing-your-first-lens/), this short articles addresses the benefits and limitations of the 18-55 lens which is more often than not sold as a “kit lens” together with an entry-level camera.
In compact cameras terms, the 18-55 standard kit lens has about 3x zoom. Its benefit is that it is wide and long enough for landscapes and street photography in general. Its light weight makes it a suitable companion when travelling long distances or for individuals who would like to travel light. One of the limitations you might find is that its range at the long end may be insufficient at times when your subject is slightly further away. You might also find the lens to be “slower” due to its relatively higher “f-number”. Read more about aperture sizes and how they affect the shutter speed here. This may pose some constraints in places where light is insufficient such as indoor photography.
For individuals interested in photographing food or still life objects, they might want to consider a macro lens. For portraits where you want to achieve that “blurred” background look, a lens with a bigger aperture might be required.
The above points are slightly more complex and investing in a variety of lenses at the beginning might not be the best. Taking the costs of lenses into account, it would probably be better if you are new to dSLRs to start with the 18-55 kit lens and learn more about the basics of photography such as shutter speed and aperture size while familiarising youself with your camera before considering your next purchase.
If you are looking for a good mid-range (with more zoom than the 18-55) lens, I recommend the 16-85, which is even wider and longer with about 5.3x zoom. The biggest problem here is cost as lenses which are not sold as a set with camera bodies tend to cost much more if you purchase them individually and unfortunately, the 18-55 is the only lens that is sold as a package with entry-level camera bodies.
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[...] more information regarding the benefits and limitations of the 18-55 standard kit lens, refer to Choosing your first lens (Part 2). There are 3 comments to this post. Yolande had this to say, Jan 27, 2010 @ 8:39 [...]