A return to fixed 50mm (or 35mm) lenses as kit lenses?

I don't know what sorry excuse for prime kit lenses of the era you have been using, but the $50 Minolta MD's I've been picking up are better than anything modern with an AF motor in it, let alone the crappy kit zooms of today. Also, film pushed to ISO 1600 or 3200 is perfectly useable.

Even the 50mm f/1.8 Canon on crop will rape any kit zoom lens. That is fact. If you don't like a certain focal length, or don't know how to use a prime lens, don't blame the lens, it's likely your knowledge and technique that sucks.