Photographers, have you ever used a kit lens?

Until i get my ultra wide 10 to 24 lens hopefully next month i have to use my 18 to 105 kit lens as it is my widest angle lens, for landscapes

it actually is not a bad lens, a pretty fast auto focus and good quality

but still, there's still a stigma about kit lenses, meaning they are not very good

so, when was the last time you used a "mere" kit lens?

I bought my very first camera when I was in high school in 1985: a Canon T-70 with a Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens for $249. At that time cameras came with 50mm lenses because zooms were still very expensive. Two years later I sold the camera and lens and bought a Canon T-90 and a variety of prime lenses (24mm, 28mm, 35mm, 50 f/1.4, 85 f/1.2L, 200mm macro). Since then I've purchased other cameras that were only sold without lenses.
The 18-55 kit lenses of today are far better than the 35-80mm pieces of junk that were sold with film cameras. I think that the bad reputation that those older lenses got has stuck with them to this day.

Surprise - surprise:
A camera manufacture has a reputation to live up to. Do you think a camera maker would market a body and lens combination that will yield substandard images? The camera maker chooses the lens that goes into the camera kit (package) with great care. Usually it will be a zoom that spans "normal" in the center and just touches wide-angle and telephoto on the opposite ends of the zoom duration. The idea is to get a newbie interested so they stick with photography. If the camera kit disappoints all that happens is a quick sale with little incentive for future sales. That's not going to happen if you buy from major camera makers.

Sure. Still use it on occasion. Works great and has a very good focal length range. My 18-55 lens has been used to take pictures for commercial publication.

All the time.

Of course I used my kit lens for years and thousands of shots before I had the funds to upgrade it.

There are those who wear an expensive "professional" camera around their neck to impress and use it on full auto to take snaps. A little like the poseurs who cruise around in open top Ferraris but haven't a clue how to drive.
And there are those who don't give a penny f*** about what people think and use the gear they have to create the best shots they can.

Don't turn up your nose at the humble 18-55 kit lens. They are a whole lot better than the lens snobs give them credit for!

I've had photos published using my Nikon 18-55mm VR lens. Did a photo shoot of a after wedding dinner party and made $200 for 2 hours of my time.