Kit lens

With kit lens (from the Engl; kit is set), occasionally also set lens, in photography a lens is called, which is included when you purchase a suitable interchangeable lenses for photographic apparatus in the basic equipment (kit).

Kit lenses are offered as a SLR or system camera without a matching lens would not be used.

Until the 1980s, most often the most cost-effective standard lens was settled out of range. Later zoom lenses were the standard, covering the range from a slight wide-angle to a short telephoto lens, the small picture format, for example, from 28 mm to 85 mm focal length.

In order to present a low package price, kit lenses are usually constructed with special attention to cost considerations. This does not mean that such lenses inevitably have significantly poorer imaging properties than more expensive models, but they are mostly comparatively faint and there are often differences in equipment and delivery. Typical variances may be:

• Plastic instead of metal bayonet
• Missing lens hood
• Co-rotating with distance setting filter thread instead of straight guide
• Lack of distance scale
• Missing image stabilization

• Photography Equipment