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18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
XSi kit lens
Gail's Blog
Canon 18-55mm IS kit lens
Some photo enthusiasts recommend buying a digital single lens reflex without the kit lens. For the Canon XSi, I think they're wrong, particularly for first time DSLR users.
A kit lens is an inexpensive "starter" lens sold with SLRs and DSLRs. Kit lenses can indeed be mediocre compared to their more expensive counterparts. That's why some purchase the camera body without the kit lens.
However, professional and user reviews of the XSi kit lens have been favorable. The lens adds $100.00 to the cost of the XSi body. It's difficult to find a decent DSLR lens for that price, particularly one with Image Stabilization. As of this writing, if you buy it separately, the 18-55mm kit zoom lens costs about $175.00 U.S.
Kit lens: a good deal
I think the kit lens is a good deal, particularly for someone like me who doesn't want to make a hasty decision about which lenses will serve me best long term. I would much rather begin with a decent but inexpensive starter lens than run right out and buy a lens that costs hundreds, perhaps thousands, of dollars more.
That's why I also bought the telephoto equivalent of the kit lens, the Canon 55-250IS, which cost around $300. Between the two, I have the equivalent of about 28mm - 400mm.
The kit lens has a focal length multiplier, or Image Conversion Factor as Canon calls it [manual page 34] of 1.6. In 35mm equivalent terms, the kit lens has a zoom range of about 28mm to 88mm. That range will cover wide angle, "normal" and portrait shots.
Popular Photography tested the lens and found that it's excellent at all focal lengths and has a high degree of sharpness and contrast. They opine:
"On virtually every front this useful, light and compact lens shows moderate to dramatic improvements over Canon's earlier non-IS 18-55mm kit zoom. It's a surprisingly good lens at an even more surprising price."
Sounds suprisingly good to me.
