Originally posted by RiceHigh That sounds very familiar, it seems that I am one of the "Average Joe" you describe just because I use an "average joe" K100D and I do like to put a kit lens on it to shoot casually.
Well, I won't argue with you further just because I am just a little "average Joe", I think :-)
The average Joe doesn't maintain web blogs such as what you maintain, probably doesn't have much to do at all with internet photography forums, and certainly doesn't have your depth of technical knowledge regarding cameras and photography.
What differentiates you from the average Joe when you are using a kit lens and your K100D is that you are using that equipment, knowing that it is up to the task at hand. The average Joe uses it because he doesn't know anything else, and doesn't care to, either.
You wouldn't believe how high a % of SLR users I ran into during my time as a retail level photofinisher who had never had their camera off of programmed exposure, had no idea what the other settings did, or even if they had any purpose whatsoever, and just plain didn't care to know either.
They buy their SLR because Consumer Reports told them it was a good camera and would give better results than a point and shoot, the guy at the camera store backed the decision, so they buy it and used it as a point and shoot.