Also, it's always mentioned on here about " kit " lenses. Are they bad or of poor quality ? How do you know they are kit lenses ? That said, if one was to buy a used body only, what would be a good " first " lens to put on it ?
Not all kit lenses are bad. Canon packaged most of their lower end dslr's with the 18-55 then went to the 18-55is. The IS version is not bad as far as optics go. It is however very loud compared to a USM lens. Kit lenses are usually slow, meaning the usually only stop down to mid 3's and 4's.
A good first lense really depends on your budget and what you want to do with it. The nifty fifty is always a good choice but is a prime lense and limiting. The 18-55is is a good starter lense. If your budget permits a 17-40f4L and a 70-200f4L will get you a very wide variety.
Anytime you think about lenses you need to compensate for crop factor. A 50mm lense will be about 80mm. A 17-40 would actually be 27-64 so not as wide as one would think. A 70-200 would be 112-320 so you get alot more zoom for the money with a crop camera.
Don