Nick, I recently purchased an XTi which came with the kit lens. I only bought the kit because I was getting a great deal on it, cheaper than without the lens. I have since upgraded the kit lens, partially just because it's drilled into your head constantly that you need good g
L***. (read glass... ha)
Advantages of the kit lens...
-Very inexpensive, you'll be hard pressed to find another name brand lens close to this price, even second hand.
-It's super light. If that matters to you.
-The image quality really isn't bad as some try to tell you...
That being said, by not buying this lens you have another $100 (or whatever you will pay for it) to put towards an upgraded lens. Honestly, in my opinion, unless you have a super sharp eye for differences in image quality you can't go wrong with this lens. At least until you figure out how the camera and lenses etc. function. After shooting with this lens for a few weeks or so you'll know what you want to buy later on...
Great pictures come from both the equipment and the operator, most of us will never be limited by the quality of such a lens.
Hope that helps, Cheers.
Oh, here is a load of images produced by others with that lens (and other lenses if you go back a page).
http://www.pbase.com/cameras/canon/ef_s_1855_35
