If so can you comment on the quality of the "kit" lens? It is the AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED.

I have heard a lot of not-so-good things about the lens and have been considering buying the D50 body and getting the much more highly regarded AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED lens (this is the lens that comes with the D70s kit).

Of course for that price of buying the body and the lens it is only a little more to get the D50 two lens kit which also includes the Nikkor DX 55-200mm zoom.

I plan on doing mostly landscape shots so I will need a seperate wide lens anyway, but I am just curious how the lenses I listed above stack up in terms of general purpose lenses.

I have been using a Mamiya 645 Pro (medium format) for my "serious" photography and want to dabble with a digital SLR.

Thanks!

I can't speak for the 18-55, but word on the street is that it's not all that great. If you just look at the basic specs, you can see it's a pretty slow lens -- at 55mm, its max aperture is 5.6, meaning your ability to shoot handheld and/or in lowlight are diminished. Furthermore, your ability to focus out background distractions is somewhat diminished.

Then again, it's all relative, it may not be very good by SLR standards, but I'm sure it's still miles ahead of what you'd get out of even the best point and shoot cameras.

I'm quite happy with the 18-70DX, and supplemented it with the cheap (<$100) 50mm 1.8D for excellent low light and handheld performance. You could probably get away with the 18-55, and do the same.

Guess I'll actually go to a camera shop and check them both out. Crazy, I know ;-)