Kit Lens Fun! - DPChallenge Forums

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II

09/23/2005 12:03:29 AM · #1

Hi. I'm a believer in kit lenses. I don't pretend that they are stunning optically or anything like this, but I do believe that the manufacturers have made good lenses that are light and work well. These lenses are also typically quite inexpensive and can be quite handy if you want to do something a little less friendly to your camera (shooting a windy day near the ocean or something) and you don't want to take your nicer lenses.

I believe they do have their place and are a good bang for their buck.

My question is how do they stack up? I would like to hear people's comments on the following lenses. Whatever you can say that is helpful would be GREAT! Thanks.

Nikkor 18-70 EX (nikon d70)
Nikkor 18-70 (nikon d50)
Canon 18-55 (Canon kit)
Canon 18-55 USM (Japanese Canon kit)
Canon 55-200 USM (Japanese Canon 350XT 2-lens kit)
Konica Minolta 18-70 (5D Kit)

Let the horses loose!

Chiqui

Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro

09/23/2005 12:06:54 AM · #2

I have the Canon 18-55 that came with the Rebel. I never had any problems with it and it served me well untill I decided I needed a wider range of focal leghts and bought the Sigma 24-135 as my main lens. To this date i still use the kit lens every now and then. Granted it is no L glass but it's pretty good for the money. If you want L quality then pay L prices, it's as simple as that.

June

Edit: typo

Message edited by author 2005-09-23 00:07:54.

OdysseyF22

Panasonic DC-G9

Olympus 12-45mm /f4.0 Pro

09/23/2005 12:07:32 AM · #3

I've got the Canon 18-55 kit, and despite what I hear so often, I like it. Granted, it's nothing steller, not L glass, and the zoom range leaves much to be desired, but it's still a good, solid shooter. I'm looking to get a telephoto zoom, something up to the 200mm range, but even then, I'll be keeping the kit lens. There's just a lot of general uses that it's perfect for.

robs

Canon EOS R6 Mk II

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

09/23/2005 12:25:31 AM · #4

I was a little surprised at the 18-55. I was expecting junk pictures and while you get plastic junk construction - I find the pics not too bad overall. Granted much better away from the fully open states but fine as a starter lens.

PhantomEWO

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

09/23/2005 12:57:21 AM · #5

I also started with the canon 18-55 kit lens on the 20D. I have bought several new lenses since then and have another on the way, but more pictures than not I use it still. In fact for the 2005 State Fair of Texas my night time San Antonio Riverwalk photo took 2nd place so I guess it must be pretty good.

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

09/23/2005 11:00:12 AM · #6

That's some great info from the Canon crowd. Any Canon users have usage feedback on the USM vs the non USM versions?

How about a shout out from the Nikon users?

Konica Minolta anyone?

I wasn't able to find the Konica Minolta 18-70 kit lens listed at this website. Nor the 11-18mm that was mentioned inside in the paperwork.

awpollard

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

09/23/2005 11:52:47 AM · #7

There was a review on dpreview where the guy called the Canon EF 55-200mm the pocket rocket. He liked it because it was fast, cheap and took better than decent pictures.

I traded in the biggest piece of crap I've ever had (Quantary 75-300... 200 to 300 was worthless, even in perfect ligthing, small f/stop on a tripod there was too much loss of detail) on the 55-200mm canon and it was a workhorse for me for quite a while.

The 55-200 canon is definately the sister lens to the 18-55mm kit lens, it actually came out first (it is non EFS) but has the same Plastic Mount and Rotating front element (bad for circular polarizers) and the way I held the lens I would accidently have a hold of the front element as it tried to focus.

The sharpness was par and better than it's younger sister (18-55), and outside the plastic mount the build was not the worst.

Fed up with the rotating element and no quite tack sharp pics I ended up getting the 70-200mm f/4 which has ended up being one of my most intelligent choices.

Funny thing was that I got more money for the 55-200mm canon on eBay than what I bought it for new (at ritz)...go figure.

As far as being a kit lens fan (I won't do budget glass anymore cause I only end up getting rid of it later), for 100 bucks more there are some Tamron SPs, Sigma EX glass that kicks the snot out of the kit lenses.

Message edited by author 2005-09-23 11:53:38.

Nuno

Nikon D700

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

09/23/2005 12:11:10 PM · #8

I can't talk about the canon ones but the 18-70mm that came with the D70 is a serious lens. It's terrific qualaty for the price. If you don't need f2.8 you'll stick up with it for a long tome.

joezl

Nikon D200

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED

09/23/2005 12:28:47 PM · #9

I've had my D100 for some time and the lens that came with it is a 24-85 f2.8 D lens with macro option. I don;t use it now because i got others but it's a very solidly built lens and has good optics.

Konica Minolta AF D 28-75 f/2.8

09/24/2005 01:59:02 AM · #10

Any word on comparison of the D70's 18-70 to the D50's 18-70?

No word from the Konica Minolta Users?

I was noticing that the Konica Minolta has a circular aperture at the back and because that seems to mean so little in terms of overall lens quality, I was wondering if anyone has comments on that lens.

Sharpness, speed of use, contrast, opinions and feelings are all useful.

Thanks again for your words.

petrakka

09/24/2005 02:09:07 AM · #11

the d50's kit lens is 18-55, like the canon kit lens, I think its probably comparable to the canon kit lens.

the kit lens with the d70 is in another category than the canon ones. It's just a better lens. I Like mine, it does the job just great when u dont need the 2.8

feetstink

Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D

09/24/2005 02:45:11 AM · #12

i just got the minolta 5d with kit... but it's my first (and only) lens, so i have nothing to compare it to. i guess it's good... i really have no support for that statement.
i wish it was faster though. if i zoom in past 35mm or so, the min aperture jumps to 5.6 i don't know what you mean by circular aperture and whatnot.

kosmikkreeper

Nikon D300s

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

09/24/2005 07:47:56 AM · #13

the D70 18-70mm kit lens is a great lens for the price. I still use it a on pro jobs until I can rack up the $$$ for the 17-55mm f2.8. Now that's a crisp lens! :-)

SteveJ

Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

09/24/2005 07:55:01 AM · #14

I had the Canon 18-55USM lens for a while. It was a good performer, better than expected. Quick and silent focussing, seemed pretty sharp throughout. Good value for money and a great starter lens.

Steve

09/24/2005 11:26:56 AM · #15

Thanks for the correction on the Nikon d50 lens.

I was told by a store today that the kit lens for the KM 5D is the same as the one for the 7D.

I would still like to know how it compares to other brand lenses and other lenses within the Konica Minolta mark.

strangeghost