[Rob Barron]

There are a couple of other issues to consider here but it must be said the kit lens is really not a great lens. It is not rubbish either but it's pretty cheap and cheerful, fine if you don't have a lens and are on a tight budget. If you have a 300V then you obviously already have at least one lens so you can use that but the focal length will need to be considered in that the 1.6x equivalence factor needs to be taken into account. So if you have something like the 50mm f1.8 lens, you need to think of that as an 80mm lens.

Bear in mind that if you buy an EF-S lens for your digital SLR, whether you get the 350D or 400D (go for the latter!), the lens will work fine on that camera but will not work on your 300V, if you are planning to keep it. The short-back lens series cannot be used on cameras with full-size mirrors.

There are some good value and good quality lenses available from the likes of Sigma if the Canon lenses are a bit expensive. You would need to get a short focal length lens as your first priority in order to cover the basic range. As I said before, if you are on a tight budget, by all means get the 18-55mm kit lens for now. You can always replace it later when funds allow you to go up to something like the 17-85mm EF-S or even the 17-40mm L series.

I wish you well with your decision and look forward to seeing a few shots once you have the camera you want.

Cheers,
Rob