Is the cold shoulder to kit lens justified ?

[goodguy]

I bought my Nikon D7000 with the 18-105mm kit lens.
To that I also added the 24-85mm VR kit lens.

I am going to a camera club in my region and every meeting there is a theme for us to explore and shoot and those who want email the pictures they shot to the organizers and we get to see them, talk about them and ask the photographers questions if we want.
To my amazement many of these amazing pictures are taken with kit lens like the 18-55mm and in many cases to my unpro eyes these pictures are simply gorgeous work of art and I believe most people in the meeting (some pro photograhpers) agree with me.

Again and again I hear from non pro hobbiests how happy they are with their standard kit lens and how much they use them.

I hear and read so much about lenses like the 24-70 2.8 and I admit I am getting caught up with all the hipe about these lenses (which I am sure they rightly deserve) but are the kit lens really not good enough for most of us non pro users ?

I see reviews on youtube on many lenses, some good some less and I must admit that in many cases (not all of course) I literaly need to rewind to see the tiny flaws that are pointed on a certain lens and I found while I do drool on the pro lenses I think there are some great lenses out there which will cost half, a third and even a quarter of a pro lens and for most people they will be just fine.

Of course if money was not an issue for all of us then we all would get pro lenses but money is an issue to most of us and we do need to enjoy our hobby with cheapper lenses.
Another issue is that in some cases lens faults can be easily corrected by photo editing software.

Am I wrong in my thoughts or are there some that thing I make some sense ?

 

[runnah]

The only limitations you have are the ones you set upon yourself.

 

[Netskimmer]

There is definitely some snobbery out there in regards to "kit" lenses and a lot of keeping up with the Jones' syndrome in photography. It is certainly possible to take great pictures with them (kit lenses, not the Jones') and most will tell you not to worry about upgrading unless you find yourself consistently limited by the gear you have. (lenses, cameras, ect) Of coarse if you have the money and just want to upgrade that's fine too, its your money after all.

 

[Benco]

No, within the parameters they are designed to work in they work just fine. Sure the pro lenses have a substantial edge over them in many ways but that doesn't make kit lenses useless by any means.

 

[DarkShadow]

In the right hands a consumer grade lens can produce excellent results but I think you have to no it's limitations.The 18-105 Is ok to start off and between certain focal points it is pretty sharp. However,It is easier to get a blurry picture then my 50mm 1.8D. Yea the great 24.70 2.8 also has draw back like close to a $2000.00 dollar price tag and it weighs around 2 pounds.

 

[jake337]

You can create nearly identical images with a kit lens that you could create with a "pro" lens within the same focal lengths. Some differences may be the quality of the "bokeh" and widest aperture.

But with the right light.......

 

[e.rose]

I used to use my kit lens all the time.

At first it was my only lens, so that's what I used.

Then I got a 50mm f/1.4.

I still used the kit if I needed a wider shot (it was 18-55mm).

However, now that I have a wider lens, I haven't used it. (Well that and the fact that I upgraded to Full Frame and I CAN'T use it with that body). But the reason I avoided using it most of the time was simply because the aperture couldn't open wide enough for what I wanted most of the time.

It just depends on what you want to produce.

Optically, they're not as high quality as other lenses, but that being said, I've seen some great work produced with those lenses... so again, it all comes back down to what you want to produce.

 

[CowgirlMama]

I don't use mine much at all. Mostly because of it's focal length, though. It's rare for me to go below 50mm, so using my 55mm or the 70-300mm works fine for me. And it doesn't fit my full frame that is now my primary camera. I honestly forget it's there most of the time. It took perfectly good shots when it was what I had. I just like my 50mm lens best.

 

[goodguy]

Looks like most you guys agree with me and thats nice to know.
Few mentioned their nifty fifty as the lens they use a lot.
My main point here is comparing Pro zoom lens vs kit lenses in the same roughly range that means pro lenses in the 2K$ vs kit lenses in the few hundred dollars range and making the point that for many non pro users the kit lens might be almost as good as pro lens.

I love prime lens just like the rest of you, I have a 50mm 1.8 and I use it a lot in portraits and low light situations but still my lens I use most of the time is the 24-85 VR and I am in happyville with its results

 

[Benco]

With the benefit of hindsight I would have gone with a 17-55 kit for my D7000 rather than blow out with the 18-200. Could have used the extra cash to go toward a good long telephoto...ah well.

 

[Buckster]

A few threads down from this one: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/photography-equipment-products/293466-kit-lens-useless.html

My take on it:

These were all shot with the 18-55mm on an (ancient by today's standards) Canon 20D:

And this one on the 40D:

Keep working with it. It's a very capable lens.

I attribute most of the "problems" associated with the kit lens to the fact that it's often the first, or one of the first, lenses that a first-time DSLR user has to work with, and they just don't really know what they're doing yet, so they're not making what they'd consider "awesome" photos, which is what they probably expected to do as soon as they upgraded to a DSLR. First thing that comes to mind then is that they need a "better" lens, and THEN they'll be able to make that awesome sauce.

Truth be told though, they usually just need more practice and experience to build up their knowledge base, and then that kit lens works just fine for most things.

 

[amolitor]

It's important to not spend a lot of time pixel peeping with the kit lens. You'll start to hate it.

The images are fine. They might not be maximally sharp, they might have some chromatic abomination or whatever it's called, but you'll only notice if you start looking. Unfortunately, once you start looking it's hard to unlook. I hate that

 

[goodguy]

A few threads down from this one: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/photography-equipment-products/293466-kit-lens-useless.html

My take on it:

These were all shot with the 18-55mm on an (ancient by today's standards) Canon 20D:

And this one on the 40D:

Keep working with it. It's a very capable lens.

I attribute most of the "problems" associated with the kit lens to the fact that it's often the first, or one of the first, lenses that a first-time DSLR user has to work with, and they just don't really know what they're doing yet, so they're not making what they'd consider "awesome" photos, which is what they probably expected to do as soon as they upgraded to a DSLR. First thing that comes to mind then is that they need a "better" lens, and THEN they'll be able to make that awesome sauce.

Truth be told though, they usually just need more practice and experience to build up their knowledge base, and then that kit lens works just fine for most things.

OMG these pictures are Soooo awsome I forgot what my post was about :hail:

Can you be my mentor ?

 

[goodguy]

It's important to not spend a lot of time pixel peeping with the kit lens. You'll start to hate it.

The images are fine. They might not be maximally sharp, they might have some chromatic abomination or whatever it's called, but you'll only notice if you start looking. Unfortunately, once you start looking it's hard to unlook. I hate that

Aha, its nice to be a newbie, I am definitly not pixel pipping, not looking for the slightest variation which only pros or people who been LONT time in this would actually see.

Maybe in the future I will be there but for now I say ignorance is bliss LOL

 

[Garbz]

It's important to not spend a lot of time pixel peeping with the kit lens. You'll start to hate it.

No you won't. Kit lenses are typically quite sharp. Pixel Peeping is when you won't be able to tell the kit lens apart from their professional brethren.

Now if you look at a photo in its entirety you start to see barrel distortion, lack of smooth bokeh, or lack of bokeh at all, etc.