Buying Nikon D5100-get the lens kit or not?

Hi I'm buying my first DSLR and I was wondering is it a good idea to roll with the Nikon D5100 kit with the AF-S DX nikkor 18-55 f/3.5-5.6G VR lens or just get the body and buy lenses separately? I'm a beginning photographer and don't have any lenses yet. Is the kit a good value? If not, which lenses should I seek to buy first.

Yes, the kit lens is a good value for what it is. Nikon would never sell their great cameras with a bad lens… That would just drive people to Canon or Sony right?

Get the kit lens. Since you are new to DSLRs, any noticeable issue with image quality will be the result of your inexperience for at least the next year. After using your camera heavily for a year, you might have enough skill to make a better lens necessary, but not before then.

The Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR lens is a very capable all-purpose lens that will get you started. Frankly, this is one lens that outshoots it price. I checked prices, and the difference between a D5100 body alone and a D5100 with this lens is only $100, much less than the lens goes for separately.

Here's a couple of reviews.
http://www.kenrockwell.com/...5mm-vr.htm
http://www.dpreview.com/...p6_vr_n15/

And some 1, 687 images captured on a D5100 with this lens.

The kit lens has the best value for money of all nikon zoom lenses. It also allows you to determine what you want from your lenses.

George Y is right.

Also this 18-55mm lens will cover a wide range of photography.

The 18-55mm is an okay lens to start with, but without the body you can't take pictures so if you don't have enough money to go with something else for some time, get it with the kit like most people and see which focal lengths you actually need, want and like.

Here's a DSLR Buying Guide - http://www.the-dslr-photographer.com/2009/11/which-dslr-to-buy/

The fact that you are asking this question tells me that you don't have a lot of experience with DSLRs, so you are maybe not quite sure what you need?

I'm not criticizing that, as we all had to start learning from somewhere.

What I'm saying is that perhaps the 18-55mm kit lens would be a good choice as it will get you some experience with the camera, and then as you learn, you will have a better idea of what your lens needs well be.

I'd far rather see that then going out and buying an expensive lens and finding out it was not what you needed.

In other words, at some point in your skill progression, with experience as the teacher, you will know what lenses you are lacking (if any).