It's not false information, have you even shot with one for a considerable duration of time? It honestly just sounds like you hopped on the hate train. For the cost, an 18-55 will do 90% of what L glass does. It isn't going to shoot at f/2.8 and the color rendition will be less accurate, but it WILL give you a very sharp image. An average consumer just getting into photography doesn't need to be spending 2-300 on a zoom, when he is just learning the ins and outs of what his camera can do. He should be focused on learning how all of that shit works, and then he should start finding the niche of work he wants to do. I'd much rather spend $100 on a lens, learn to know what I want from future lenses, and then blow the big bucks, instead of going through a bunch of intermediate steps like spending 2-300 on a zoom that I know I'm going to upgrade.
It is much more logical for the OP to use the $300 to get a 50mm, 18-55, and a 55-250 right off the bat, because it will let him be exposed to primes and zooms, plus a wide range of focal lengths, so he can make future decisions on where to specialize his kit. If you just get an 18-50, you're stuck in that zone and you cant explore the other options. I'd much rather cover my range than have one "nice" lens. Wanna take a photo of that lion at the zoo? Too fucking bad you can only reach 50mm because you only got one lens. Cover all of your bases and then upgrade the lenses, don't just get one focal length and leave the other areas out to dry.
Also I'm not an idiot. I sell stock images, I make good money doing so, and one of the tools I used for a very long time prior to purchasing my 24-70 was the 18-55. In fact, a lot if the images from the 18-55 funded the damn 24-70! Don't give me any bullshit about it being an inadequate lens. it might not be fast, it might not look cool, but it does its job very well considering its cost. If an 18-55 can get images accepted right alongside those from a 24-70 on upper end stock sites, I see no issue with the quality of that lens.
You're obviously going to say I'm wrong again because you're Evan motherfucking Heath, but please try to at least consider the that an 18-55 can take very good images if you put it in the right hands.
