Kit embarrassment
The EFS 18-55 kit lens may be inexpensive, but it faint no cheap piece of glass.

If you own a Rebel XT or XTi with the included kit lens you are the proud (well, not that proud) owner of a Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens: the infamous "Kit Lens".

It is not a shame to have the kit lens, yet certainly don’t expect to take it to the stadium and be the center of attention of the pros shooting with their huge-white-bazooka-like lens attached to an insanely expensive camera.

First of all, it is quite a smart buy: it is really inexpensive considering that you actually paid about $85 for the lens. If you want to buy it without the camera the cost is $145, so you actually saved $60 (hey, that means 15 cappuccinos at Starbucks!)

Ok, what didn't you buy? A red stripe? An ultrasonic motor? Image Stabilization? A cheap meniscus lens!!?? Wait a minute.

The kit lens is a budget lens, no question about it: Quality construction is average but is not mediocre and no, it won't fall apart. Auto focus is not blazing fast, but it is accurate (and reasonably fast). It’s kind of noisy compared to an ultra sonic motor, but it won’t wake up you neighborhood. The only thing you’re really going to miss is the Image Stabilization feature that is wonderful. Fortunately Canon dSLRs are good at high ISO numbers. But let’s examine some other facts:

Due to the crop factor the kit lens is equivalent to a 28-90mm. That means that you have a reasonable coverage for going from wide angle (great for tight interiors or landscapes) and a moderate tele end, enough for shooting portraits without being slapped in the face due to a distorted nose. Believe it or not, the kit lens is capable of bokeh (well, little bokeh actually, check the Gallery at the end of the article).

Without Image Stabilization and a slower (f/3.5-5.6) lens, you can shoot at a maximum speed of 1/30 sec. at the wide end without camera shake blur. At the tele end you’ll have to shoot above 1/80sec. Since the lens maximum aperture is f/3.5 that means that you are now officially missing the Image Stabilization. The close-focusing distance is a very welcomed 0.9 feet (28cms).

The kit lens is compact and it is very lightweight. It may not feel impressive when you hold it in your hand, but after a day of shooting, it won’t leave an impression on your neck.

Although it has a plastic enclosure, the 11 elements (9 groups) are made of optical glass. This particular kind of glass is a high quality material and has a special coating that minimizes ghost images and flares.

Even being the extra-cheap kit lens you can obtain impressive images. Yes, we said impressive. The optical quality is actually good for such a low price tag. This particular lens needs to be stopped down, and requires using an f/8 aperture at the wide end, and something like f/11 from 35 to 55mm. If you try using your kit lens at such apertures you’ll be surprised of how sharp and good may be the images of this under appreciated fella. 

Nothing's perfect, and you’ll notice some chromatic aberrations and distortion at the wide angle, the weakest end of the 17-55.

The secret of this lens is using it toward the tele end and stop it down.
Yes, it may be replaced pronto by another glass (maybe the EF-S 17-85 IS USM) but you’d liked to have the equivalent of this lens as your first bike, first car, first guitar...

Canon EF-S 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 Gallery

Kit Lens
Unprocessed images
Camera: Canon Rebel XTi
Lens: Canon EF-S 18-55 f/3.5-5.6