Hi,I want to buy Canon T2i, but i am tight on budget, so won't invest more money for lense as of now.I heard that canon 18-55 kit lense is not a very good performer, so planning to buy T2i body only+50mm f1.8 lense. I know this prime becomes 80mm on crop bodies.Is it better choice to go for 50mm instead of kit lense?

In my opinion, the kit lens is good enough to start. The 50mm is great to have, to learn how aperture settings affect depth of field, but I myself wouldn't choose it as my single lens, I prefer wider.Use the kit lens until you have a grasp of what you like the most, only after it buy another lens.

You've heard wrong about the 18-55 IS lens. It is an excellent lens, especially for the money. It would be a mistake to not include it in your purchase. The 50 f/1.8 lens is also very good for the money but only if you need/require a fast lens.

The 18-55 Kit lens (especially the IS or mkIII versions) are actually quite good lenses.Granted, they aren't as sharp as the 50mm f1.8, but on a T2i, the 50mm is the equivalent of a 80mm-ish lens on a film camera.Or to put it in point&shoot terms, it's like being at 3.5x zoom all the time.It's up to you - as only you know what you are going to shoot, but I would pop down to a local store, and take some pictures with a lens set to 50mm, to get an idea of the field of view you are likely to get.

The 18-55 IS is a little soft on the long end but for wide angle work it is an incredible performer for the money. You will need the wide angle in some situations as 80mm-equivalent is not great for everything.You have to get to the expensive EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS or EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS (or the Sigma 17-50 f/2.8 OS) before you have anything that is demonstrably sharper than the EF-S 18-55mm IS. It has a little chromatic aberration and distortion but DPP will fix the former automatically if you shoot RAW. Other software (I use DxO) will correct both whether you shoot RAW or JPEG.The fact that the 18-55 is slow and somewhat soft on the long end is what makes the 50mm f/1.8 such an incredible compliment for it.

The kit lens is a great lens. If you like sports or bird photography add the 55-250mm. As other have stated the 50 mm F1.8 is a good portrait lensBUT DO NOT REPLACE YOUR KIT LENS!!!!!I suggest that you buy no new lenses until you learn more about your camera and the type of photos you like to shoot.

Buy the standard wide angle to telephoto kiot lens.BAK

Hi All,Thx for the replies. Really helpsAs you guys told, I will stick to the kit lense and learn photography basics first, then i will get an idea whiat lense exactly i need.

Almost always the best plan :).To supplant the kit lens, you will probably want to buy the following next based on what you find that the lens can't do:I can't get close enough to my subjects - EF-S 55-250mm IS (or EF 70-300mm IS)I want to take more artsy pictures of people or pets - EF 50mm f/1.xWhen I shoot pictures of bugs/flowers/water drops they turn out too soft after cropping - the EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro or the EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro (Note the 60mm f/2.8 does a decent job of the 50mm f/1.8's job)18mm just doesn't capture the vista I want to capture - one of the various ultra-wide-angle options such as the Canon EF-S 10-22mm.Finally, don't underestimate the importance of a tripod for landscapes and of a flash for portraits. Either will do more than optics will ... generally for less money.

Did you see the pics in this thread? http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1031&message=37987617 Great examples of what the kit 18-55 mm IS lens can do! -- YogiWhen you get down to the nuts and bolts of photography, the results depend on the 'nut' behind the camera!See the 'Plan' in my 'Profile' for my current equipment.

Thx for the link Yogi. I did not use any DSLR till now, but know the theoretical concepts. (through various photography tutorials and DVDs)The photos are great. great colors. but, I personally would have wanted more shallow Depth of field( blurred backgrounds)compared to whats been achieved in the photos, i think i should go for a 50mm 1.8 prime lense along with 18-55 kit.

18-55 and the 50mmthe 50mm is pretty cheap and you will definitely love it, since you are looking for some shallow dof ;Dhope you love your t2i! I love mine! I got it with the 18-55 and 55-250 and soon after that the 50 f1.8. 3 lovely lens!