Originally posted by ChooseAName Originally posted by buttons: even so it seems like the first thing everyone does is ditch and get something else.
Not me, I completely by-passed the kit lens and started out with body-only and got an FA50/1.4 to begin with
Ditto. My dSLR order included K20D, AF360, DA10-17, DA18-250, and FA50/1.4. The kit lens came much later, cheap. That initial order came from asking, "What do I want to do that my nifty Sony DSC-V1 can't do?" All my (many) subsequent LBA hits have been answers to either, "What else do I want to do?" or "I wonder what that one can do?" or "Oooh, am I broke yet?"
Quote: I recognize that this approach might be unorthodox with DSLR beginners though.
With the K20D et al I *was* a dSLR beginner, but not a photographic beginner, having interchanged lenses earlier in my wasted life. But someone whose entire imaging experience has been with P&S's and camfones will approach it differently, likely looking for that one-shot package that makes dramatically 'better' pictures. And they're disappointed, because FF and HF (APS) dSLRs DON'T WORK NOR DELIVER LIKE P&S's!!
And THAT is probably why the newbie's first impulse is to dump the kit lens -- because it doesn't deliver the smoothness they've become accustomed to from a P&S. That Sony V1 had a nifty Zeiss 4x zoom, 7-28/2.8-4 which, despite the labeling, is NOT equivalent to 34-136mm on a 135 cam. DOF is immense at the power-on default of 7/2.8, much more so than the kit's 18/3.5. "Aw g'z, my kit lens SUCKS in comparison -- I gotta buy better zooms!"
Of course, camera makers and retailers won't cry over this misunderstanding. And that's why I hate references to 'equivalence' and 'cropfactor' etc -- they mislead new users to false expectations. Different format cameras and their lenses just behave differently, and users must learn this. When I used HF and FF and MF etc film cams, I studied those differences. And dSLR newbies should learn the differences too, or else they'll be gravely disappointed and/or will blow money needlessly. Ah well, it helps support the global economy, right?