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Michael C
Michael C
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I really depends on you and where you are at in your photographic development. If you're just generally interested in photography and don't really know exactly what particular aspect or type of photography you want to do, the kit lens is a good way to get started without spending a lot in addition to the camera body itself.

Even if you know that you are going to want to take pictures at longer focal lengths than 55mm, there are two ways to look at it: 1) Go with only one lens and get the 18-135mm 2) Go with the cheaper 18-55mm lens and add the EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS for your telephoto lens. That would give you almost twice as much reach with two lenses for only a few dollars more than the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS.

Depending on where you buy it, there isn't that much difference in price between the best prices on the 650D body only and the 650D with the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II. At amazon.com here in the U.S. the current difference is $1 (from $648 to $649). Buying the 650D with the 18-135 raises the price $150 to $799. For about $200 you can pick up the 55-250, which would bring your total to about $850 for the 650D, the 18-55, and the 55-250.

When you read advice about skipping the kit lens and getting a better lens instead, they're normally talking about much higher quality lenses like the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS that sells for about $1,100, the $500 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II, a fixed focal length lens like the EF 50mm f/1.4 that sells for about $350, or the EF 24-105mm f/4L that sells for around $1,200. There really aren't a lot of image quality differences between the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II and the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS in the range they share in common. The 18-135 is a little sharper between 35-50mm than the 18-55, but not to the point it would be noticeable in a lot of your pictures at 4X6 or 5X7 print sizes or in images re-sized for web use.

I really depends on you and where you are at in your photographic development. If you're just generally interested in photography and don't really know exactly what particular aspect or type of photography you want to do, the kit lens is a good way to get started without spending a lot in addition to the camera body itself.

Even if you know that you are going to want to take pictures at longer focal lengths than 55mm, there are two ways to look at it: 1) Go with only one lens and get the 18-135mm 2) Go with the cheaper 18-55mm lens and add the EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS for your telephoto lens. That would give you almost twice as much reach with two lenses for only a few dollars more than the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS.

Depending on where you buy it, there isn't that much difference in price between the best prices on the 650D body only and the 650D with the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II. At amazon.com here in the U.S. the difference is $1 (from $648 to $649). Buying the 650D with the 18-135 raises the price $150 to $799. For about $200 you can pick up the 55-250, which would bring your total to about $850 for the 650D, the 18-55, and the 55-250.

When you read advice about skipping the kit lens and getting a better lens instead, they're normally talking about much higher quality lenses like the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS that sells for about $1,100, the $500 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II, a fixed focal length lens like the EF 50mm f/1.4 that sells for about $350, or the EF 24-105mm f/4L that sells for around $1,200. There really aren't a lot of image quality differences between the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II and the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS in the range they share in common. The 18-135 is a little sharper between 35-50mm than the 18-55, but not to the point it would be noticeable in a lot of your pictures at 4X6 or 5X7 print sizes or in images re-sized for web use.

I really depends on you and where you are at in your photographic development. If you're just generally interested in photography and don't really know exactly what particular aspect or type of photography you want to do, the kit lens is a good way to get started without spending a lot in addition to the camera body itself.

Even if you know that you are going to want to take pictures at longer focal lengths than 55mm, there are two ways to look at it: 1) Go with only one lens and get the 18-135mm 2) Go with the cheaper 18-55mm lens and add the EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS for your telephoto lens. That would give you almost twice as much reach with two lenses for only a few dollars more than the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS.

Depending on where you buy it, there isn't that much difference in price between the best prices on the 650D body only and the 650D with the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II. At amazon.com here in the U.S. the current difference is $1 (from $648 to $649). Buying the 650D with the 18-135 raises the price $150 to $799. For about $200 you can pick up the 55-250, which would bring your total to about $850 for the 650D, the 18-55, and the 55-250.

When you read advice about skipping the kit lens and getting a better lens instead, they're normally talking about much higher quality lenses like the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS that sells for about $1,100, the $500 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II, a fixed focal length lens like the EF 50mm f/1.4 that sells for about $350, or the EF 24-105mm f/4L that sells for around $1,200. There really aren't a lot of image quality differences between the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II and the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS in the range they share in common. The 18-135 is a little sharper between 35-50mm than the 18-55, but not to the point it would be noticeable in a lot of your pictures at 4X6 or 5X7 print sizes or in images re-sized for web use.

Source Link
Michael C
Michael C
  • 176.3k
  • 10
  • 213
  • 578

I really depends on you and where you are at in your photographic development. If you're just generally interested in photography and don't really know exactly what particular aspect or type of photography you want to do, the kit lens is a good way to get started without spending a lot in addition to the camera body itself.

Even if you know that you are going to want to take pictures at longer focal lengths than 55mm, there are two ways to look at it: 1) Go with only one lens and get the 18-135mm 2) Go with the cheaper 18-55mm lens and add the EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS for your telephoto lens. That would give you almost twice as much reach with two lenses for only a few dollars more than the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS.

Depending on where you buy it, there isn't that much difference in price between the best prices on the 650D body only and the 650D with the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II. At amazon.com here in the U.S. the difference is $1 (from $648 to $649). Buying the 650D with the 18-135 raises the price $150 to $799. For about $200 you can pick up the 55-250, which would bring your total to about $850 for the 650D, the 18-55, and the 55-250.

When you read advice about skipping the kit lens and getting a better lens instead, they're normally talking about much higher quality lenses like the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS that sells for about $1,100, the $500 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II, a fixed focal length lens like the EF 50mm f/1.4 that sells for about $350, or the EF 24-105mm f/4L that sells for around $1,200. There really aren't a lot of image quality differences between the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II and the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS in the range they share in common. The 18-135 is a little sharper between 35-50mm than the 18-55, but not to the point it would be noticeable in a lot of your pictures at 4X6 or 5X7 print sizes or in images re-sized for web use.