I was just wondering about this lens. I have heard it is not the greatest. And I am finding that a lot of my images taken with it are not "super" crisp. Is this because I am not using auto focus correctly? Or does it yeild some slight fuzz atthe upper zooms out to 55mm?

And what would someone recommend as a good second lens? I am looking towards a zoom. Specifically the Sigma APO 70-300. I know again this is a top of the line, but my budget is limited for now.  Anyone have any exp. with this one? I see it retails for about 300, can get one for 1/3 that on ebay.

Thanks for any help/comments.
-B

Raw images from a camera never are "super" crisp - the nature of the "film" they use means that additional post processing needs to be done to bring back that sharpness you are seeking... Thing is i dont know how your pics are coming out or what level you are expecting so i cant really say 100% that everything is fine.  My encounter with the kit lens was a good one, i had no issues with it - you get what you pay for really and considering it is about the £60 range then i think it was a fantastic lens.

As for your next lens the 70-300 is a decent lens - i have the first version of it (the one designed for film without any coatings) and it takes some nice shots as long as i have a lens hood on it (glare/flare is a bit of a problem with this one)- considering they are selling on ebay (my version that is) for around the £70-80 i think it is worth keeping just as a backup (i recently got the 70-200mm 2.8).  If you are just starting out and are on a budget then getting these "budget" lenses is a good step to finding out what you like to shoot and how you use your camera - if i am not mistaken then the 70-300 is also a "macro" lens so you can get some fairly decent closeup shots with it and thus see if you like macro photography enough to invest in a specialist lens.

The other thing to consider is that if you want extremely crisp shots then you will eventually have to use fixed focal length (prime) lenses, and if you dont mind walking backwards and forwards for your "zoom" then i would thoroughly reccomend the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 - it is a "must have" lens at £60 (i have two... long story ;))

I have found the lower end Cannon lenses to exhibit noticeable focal fall-off, a degradation in focus as you move out from the center of the lens. 
If the center portion of your photos are acceptably sharp and progressively blurred toward the edges this is the problem. The effect is most noticeable in wide angle shots.
Autofocus can have difficulties determining focus in certain situations. The program has to have a clean edge to focus on. Have you tried a comparision test on a subject using auto and manual focus?
The advice by Inshaala is spot on, fixed focal length lenses will give you the sharpest results.
Also the first thing I do with anydigital photo is use a light unsharp mask filter in my image processing application to account for the digital format effect Inshaala mentioned. Unless I'm looking for a soft focus then I skip that step.
Try the test I mentioned and unsharp mask filtering in post processing. If your results are negative then post back and I can go through a few other things with you. 

Attached Link: Canon 17-85mm

Guess it also depends if you need image quality or just general shooting?
Any digital image needs some type of 'processing, be it jpg or raw.
Prime lenses, as Richard mentioned, tend to give better quality images as there are less optical components...one to consider, but all in all, depends on what you want to shoot!

I have the Canon EF500 and EF300 primes...wouldnt swap them with anything :-)

Thanks for all the comments/tips advice from all so far.
What tping said below sounds alot like what I am experienceing. And I usually do use the unsharp mask  on my images. But soon as you said "if the center is sharp...." that was it.

Alright, makes sense and now I at least know that is somewhat common place.

Thanks again to all the other advise as well. Appreciate it.
-Bruce

Quote - I have found the lower end Cannon lenses to exhibit noticeable focal fall-off, a degradation in focus as you move out from the center of the lens. 
If the center portion of your photos are acceptably sharp and progressively blurred toward the edges this is the problem. The effect is most noticeable in wide angle shots.
Autofocus can have difficulties determining focus in certain situations. The program has to have a clean edge to focus on. Have you tried a comparision test on a subject using auto and manual focus?
The advice by Inshaala is spot on, fixed focal length lenses will give you the sharpest results.
Also the first thing I do with anydigital photo is use a light unsharp mask filter in my image processing application to account for the digital format effect Inshaala mentioned. Unless I'm looking for a soft focus then I skip that step.
Try the test I mentioned and unsharp mask filtering in post processing. If your results are negative then post back and I can go through a few other things with you. 

Any digital image needs some processing!