Photog ladies: need advice on lens

inamra

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with the Canon 18-55mm 3.5-5.6 lens? MH is getting me my first DSLR and I don't know which camera it is yet (but a Canon) but it's packaged with the lens and it has good reviews but just wanted to see if anyone here has used it before. TIA!!

sanae78

If you can get it without the lens, I would.  I don't know about that particular lens but I bought a Tamron 18-200 f/3.5-5.6 and ended up hating that the max aperture was 3.5.  The lens was really slow and you can't get very good bokeh (background blur) with the smaller aperture.  I would just get a 50mm 1.8 (or 1.4 if you can) to start, which is what I did.

Oceangirl22

I have that lens as it came with a kit with my camera (Canon XSi). For a beginner, it's a good lens. I also want to get the 50mm that the PP suggests, but the kit lens is nice to have as well. The 50mm is a prime...meaning you can't zoom in or out. Also, the 50mm is only about $100, so it's a cheaper addition to your setup. Having the kit lens to learn on and get used to is great. Then upgrade your lenses as your work progresses. 

 All the pics on my Flickr are taken with the 18-55mm

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46158923@N03/ 

lisakeiko

This was the lens that came with my 20D and besides a super cheapo used 75-300mm zoom lens that I bought, it was the lens that I used for the first 2 years I had my camera.  It wasn't a super great lens but it wasn't the worst lens either.  I think I was able to take some pretty decent photos with it.  

The 50mm that Christine mentioned is nice, but when you need something a bit wider, having the option of using the 18-55 is good.  I'm not sure what sort of stuff you'll be shooting the most, but having the 18-55 would give you a wider range of shots than if you bought the body only and added a 50mm lens. 

inamra

Thanks for the input ladies! Yeah, I heard that the 18-55 is more of a everyday type of lens. I like taking pictures of food and generally documenting events/occassions, like birthdays, reunions, graduations, etc...and of course, with the baby coming, I want something better than my P&S to take pics of the baby...I figured I could get a faster lens for when he gets older and starts moving faster =P I hope this plan is okay