good kit lens

I received this lens with my *ist DS, and I have used it for about a month. I haven't had enough experience with it to make a long detailed review (I'll leave that hopefully to someone else since I'm the first to post on this lens) but I will share first impressions. It is not spectacular, but at the price what can one expect? In the shots I've taken, I'm pleased with the sharpness and detail of the lens. It's not particularly "fast" but it is good enough for general purpose zoom. The real benefit to this lens is that the 18mm focal length makes up for the 1.5 crop factor, enabling you to get essentially the 28mm equivalent on your *ist D (or DS, DL) camera. Unless you are more demanding of your equipment (then by all means spend the money on something much more expensive) this is a great place to start your lens collection for your digital camera (but don't expect this lens to do it all).