mikegreenwald Loc: Illinois

Honestly, this is an unanswerable question. You cannot paint all "Kit" lenses with the same brush, nor can you paint all manufacturers with the same brush. Canon "L" lenses, for example, are outstanding whether sold alone or with a camera body. Non "L" lenses are of lesser quality.
Neither are all kit lenses, nor all high-end lenses, of identical quality. Each lens has to stand on its own merits. The better manufacturers are better because they produce better products.
Like everything else, due-diligence means learn about the individual item you are buying, or risk getting a lemon.

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

Maybe so. But it shows there is a difference in the lens quality. More exaggerated with IR.

Jim Bob

A good photograph is a good photograph. If I capture a great image of a high school athlete, it doesn't become less appealing simply because it doesn't appear in Sports Illustrated.

Crwiwy Loc: Devon UK

And a Ferrari is better than my car when racing - but I am not interested in racing so why pay the money for something I don't intend to do? :roll:

ole sarg Loc: south florida

RAW comes from Dupey's Oyster Bar in LA and is part of the famous oyster quote:

Schuck me, suck me, eat me raw!

Crwiwy Loc: Devon UK

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM Review 5 stars

'In summary we can somewhat surprisingly recommend the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM as a lightweight, portable standard zoom lens for APS-C DSLR owners that delivers pleasing results for both stills and video. This is one kit lens that you might not want to throw away...'

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/canon_efs_18_55mm_f_35_56_is_stm_review/conclusion/

No doubt Nikon and others have good lens as well.

jakraig

The term "Kit Lens" is misleading. A kit lens is only called a "Kit Lens" because someone decided to bundle it with a camera when they sold the camera. Many cameras are sold without a lens, that is only the body is sold and you either use lenses you already have or purchase the lens or lenses you desire at the time of the camera purchase.

Many people who would purchase a camera with a so called "Kit Lens" may not already have lenses and are really beginner photographers or at least new to the particular camera they are purchasing and don't have any lenses that would work on "that" camera.

Anyone can purchase a "kit" lens because it is really just a low cost standard lens that all the lens manufacturers make and sell a lot of.

Many people who purchase a camera with a lens can't afford an expensive lens or can't afford multiple lenses so the "kit" lens supplied with the camera gives them a lot for a little. The seller reduces the price on both because the total sale is now larger than it would be with either by themselves.

In many cases the so called kit lenses will produce very fine quality pictures especially out doors or with an off camera flash. What makes the "Kit" lens cheap is the size of the glass and therefore the f-stop limitations. Generally the longer the lens the smaller the f-stop that is obtainable. Many of the 18-55's that Nikon and Cannon provide only go down to f-3.5 and the size decreases with extension so that at 55mm you are shooting at max at 4.5. The so called "Pro" or "Prosumer" lenses usually are larger diameter glass for the same focal lengths and they are usually a constant lowest f-stop and that f-stop is usually much lower than the hobby lenses. In my opinion the pro models start at f-2.8. Many of the "Pro" lenses are also built to take more abuse and rough environments so they are all metal and glass as opposed to the nearly all plastic consumer or hobby lenses.

Hobby shooters can have great quality lenses that give them wide apertures and great construction if they are willing to shoot with primes instead of zooms. For the price of one large aperture "Pro" zoom you may be able to buy 3 or 4 large or even larger than 2.8 aperture primes that will cover the same range as the pro zoom. Instead of f-2.8 you may be able to get 1.8, 1.4 or even perhaps larger if you look carefully.

If you are shooting in Auto this discussion is irrelevant except that if you shoot long enough you will want more out of your camera. When you find your "Kit" can give you much more than you were getting on Auto but still not enough it is time to consider "movin on up".

Crwiwy Loc: Devon UK

If anyone on UHH has plenty of spare time on their hands and are bored - perhaps they would like to go through UHH and make a list of members with very expensive and numerous equipment showing what percentage have actually posted pictures.
I am sure the results could be rather interesting.

Frank W Loc: Adirondacks in NY

WOW, if I only take1 picture today, I download it tonight, start with an empty card tomorrow. I want to see what I got.
Not like the old film days where you had to wait a week, after you finished the roll of 36. :-)

Satman Loc: Indy

A 24-105 is a kit lense on a 5D.

anotherview Loc: California

Good answer. Moreover, the kit lens will do until the user notices the lesser quality of images taken with this lens. Then it will be time to move up.

Satman Loc: Indy

Only 20% of any cameras features are ever used by 80% of the owners.

Many a 24-105 L kit lenses are sold on EBay, by others wanting better., only to collect dust in a shelf.

Don Fischer Loc: Antelope, Ore

Actually there used to be 1 hr shop's around. Of course they were far from here, like about 50 mi to the closest. I can check the picture on the back of the camera faster than I can drive even 1/4 mi!

Ranjan Loc: Currently Cyber-Nation!

I liked it the way you stated it!
Lots of folks call the RAW format a 'digital negative', but a "negative" image (film) is really a product of processing, after-all! A digital image really does not have a 'negative', and so is more like a transparency film, going from unprocessed to processed (visible).

graybeard

Yes, vast majority with the Canon lenses made for it. Only a few with old film lenses, just to test and see how they worked.