kit lens weaknesses?

[wilfredmrand]

It takes a while to get used to the 1.6x factor, and the capable and competent 18-55 kit lens can accommodate you in most normal shooting situations. It's not an outstanding lens; if you are looking for professional results at one end of this range, or looking for something longer, you'll eventually want to consider adding a lens or two to your kit to take full advantage of any Canon DSLR's potential. The 18-55 will give you time to decide what those lenses might be. Is it worth $100? Absolutely. And you should also spent $75 on the 50 f/1.8....just because.
--
Wilfred M Rand
http://www.pbase.com/wilfredmrand/

 

[Drebel]

I'm am getting stuff together to buy a 20D with the 18-55 kit lens,
but since you 300D people are the only ones with this lens so far,
I thought I would ask here, what are the limitations of this lens?
Can you supply pics to demonstrate? The things I am most interested
in are

barrel distortion
3-4% At Both (estimate)

vignetting
still around at f8

performance at max aperature opening
poor to unacceptable, dont try...

bokeh
poor, f5.6 doesnt render stuff nicely. 5 bladed.

macro ability
OK, not very good.

Thanks,
Richard
--
http://fountainpenphotographer.smugmug.com
See my profile for equipment and wish list

 

[Hythloday]

The kitlens is not a bad lens. It suffers from purple fringing and from barrel distortion which is quite strong. However, it is quite easy to remove purple fringing and barrel distortion. There are some free Photoshop Elements plugins.

To remove purple fringing:
http://www.sd3.info/pf828/PFree/PFree0-1.html

To remove distortions:
http://epaperpress.com/ptlens/

An alternative is the Sigma 18-125mm lens. This lens suffers from vignetting at 18-23mm and at 125mm. It also suffers from distortions.

To remove the vignetting and distortions go to:

http://epaperpress.com/ptlens/

You have a choice from the Canon 18-55mm, the Canon 17-85mm and the Sigma 18-125mm. There is not much difference in sharpness. The Canon 18-55mm and the Sigma 18-125mm are equally sharp when you have your pictures printed 4"x6".

Personally I like the wide range of the Sigma. The lens flaws can be corrected in Photoshop Elements.

I'm am getting stuff together to buy a 20D with the 18-55 kit lens,
but since you 300D people are the only ones with this lens so far,
I thought I would ask here, what are the limitations of this lens?
Can you supply pics to demonstrate? The things I am most interested
in are barrel distortion at wide and tele end, vignetting,
performance at max aperature opening, bokeh, and macro ability.
Thanks,
Richard
--
http://fountainpenphotographer.smugmug.com
See my profile for equipment and wish list

 

[Tony SD]

I was as close at 55mm as I could get - I think it was about 6 or 7 inches. I moved in until the focus indicator started flashing and then back a tad.

I've got some really excellent flower macros with the kit - I'll try and post some later. I've also got the 100 2.8 macro, but in some ways I find the kit easier to use! Bigger DOF, lighter, easier to hold steadier etc.

were you for that macro? It looks very close for the kit lens. I am
trying to get good macros of flowers with the kit lens.

--
Regards Sheila
Western Aust

--
TonySD

 

[kheider]

I just got my dReb about a month ago. I took some indoor flash pictures of my girl friend. I used f8 1/80 with 1/16 flash output (Sunpak 222) and the camera (P mode) used f3.5 1/40 (built-in flash.) My f8 shots looked much sharper. In (P mode) At f3.5 her face almost looked out of focus. Of course, maybe the lens was focusing on the background too much.

So I would definitely favor F5.6-f11 settings with the kit lens. But that is acceptable for a $100 zoom lens.

-- Kevin Heider

 

[MelloBoy]

Richard,

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1031&message=9926584

you can see how the 18-55 kit lens compares with 70-200 f4L for just general photography. i can provide exif data later today if you wish. personally, i think the 18-55 is a great value.

melloboy

 

[Sheila .]

I've got some really excellent flower macros with the kit - I'll
try and post some later. I've also got the 100 2.8 macro, but in
some ways I find the kit easier to use! Bigger DOF, lighter,
easier to hold steadier etc.

were you for that macro? It looks very close for the kit lens. I am
trying to get good macros of flowers with the kit lens.

--
Regards Sheila
Western Aust

--
TonySD

--
Regards Sheila
Western Aust