Originally posted by Pentaxor it's not just about being a good photographer. if you are keen enough to look on your results, you would see some obvious differences and weaknesses of the other. honestly speaking, I'm having a hard time fighting my LBA since I don't want to sell my WR kit lens either (due to weather use and lightness). btw, check your borders and extreme borders, those things are nasty weak at 18mm. thank GOD I don't have to use it that much now at that focal length. the kit lens is good, but does not meet what I'm looking for in terms of IQ. make the IQ a tad higher and I would be happy as a bird.
Oh, of course, I understand that much of the credit to the lovely images in this thread belong to the lens, not just because the nut behind the VF is good... but attractive photos stoke the LBA moreso than pics of resolution tests - at least for me, they do!
BTW, my 18-55 seems to be pretty fair in edge sharpness, particularly when stopped down a bit, which is what I've been shooting mostly with it.