70D is way out of the budget now, so I'm really torn between a xxxD and a 60D but the 60D is still pushing the budget....
I've seen both the 700D and 60D with 18-135 for around 779, and a 650D with 18-135 for 719...
is the 18-55 still a very capable lens?
Prefer new, like most people, and the fact that i'm not going to be back in the UK untill next month means i need to get here in Brazil now or wait until I arrive in the UK...You can take amazing photos with any lens.
Compared to a higher-end lens, the technical limitations are a restricted aperture, softness away from the centre and average build quality.
If budget allows, I'd look at the Tamron 17-50 f2.8- excellent sharpness across the frame and a fixed f2.8 aperture across the whole focal length range. The non-VC (non stabilised) version is cheaper and a bit sharper than the VC version.
Are you only look at buying new? £700 would buy you a secondhand xxD body, top-quality lens and probably leave enough for a bag and basic tripod.
You can take amazing photos with any lens.
Compared to a higher-end lens, the technical limitations are a restricted aperture, softness away from the centre and average build quality.
If budget allows, I'd look at the Tamron 17-50 f2.8- excellent sharpness across the frame and a fixed f2.8 aperture across the whole focal length range. The non-VC (non stabilised) version is cheaper and a bit sharper than the VC version.
Are you only look at buying new? £700 would buy you a secondhand xxD body, top-quality lens and probably leave enough for a bag and basic tripod.
The quality of the 18-55 is very meh, it will still take better pictures than almost all compacts but won't give you the top quality images. What do you want out of the camera, if you are going to buy a nice camera and stick a kit lens on it, it's a bit of a waste.
Whilst not quite a minefield it isn't easy. You really need to think of a dSLR as a two part system, the lens and the camera. The former is by far the most important in determining image quality. A dslr is a step up, an expensive step up, and in many ways if you make a significant investment on a camera and then pair it with a kit lens you will not get the quality your investment deserves. To give you a quick analogy; say you buy an expensive sports car, and then you put £10 bargain bucket tyres on it. Whilst on paper the specifications of the car haven't changed you will find the real world performance you get out of it is a lot worse than a cheaper sports car but with tyres capable of providing the required performance.
I recently sold a 500D for around £200-250 I was using this with a canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L lens, and the pictures it took were no worse than I now take with my 7D (althought the better AF and FPS allow me to get pictures the 500D would have missed)
My point is this, you could buy, second hand a tamron 17-50mm f2.8 for circa £200, a Canon 24-105 f4 for under £500 either of these could be paired with a second hand body like the 500D which will take as good pictures as any canon aps-c camera. The end result is a system that will be miles ahead of a 60D plus kit lens.
How much were you looking to spend?
Good and bad are somewhat arbitrary here, a kit lens may compare favourably to a bridge camera but the quality is someway behind the lenses I recommended in terms of image quality, auto-focus speed and build quality. What I recommended will get the best possible image quality for £800. The OP hasn't given any indication that he needs or would benefit from the increased feature set of a xxD model.
Generally you tend to change bodies every few years, lenses can last 10 years+ if they are good quality glass. What in particular do you want/need in the 60D or is it because you want people to perceive you as a better photographer because you have a better camera. They are both consumer level dSLRs that will take very similar pictures, the differentiating factor will be the lens.