NEWBIE Which Lens for T4i or T3i

Can you help me which lens I should get for a T3i or T4i? Should I buy the kit or seperate? Thank you so much for any guidance.

The 18-135 is a decent starter lens. Depends in part on your budget....

Really depends on what type of photography you're gonna get into. I would start with the kit 18-55 IS and a 50mm 1.8.

That should cover most photography, unless you wanna do telephoto stuff.

start with a 18-135, maybe a prime. i really don't like my 50 1.8 much, but for someone starting out it could be fun to play with DOF with. it's certainly a small investment, so go with it if you like.

If you're only just getting into photography, then I'd suggest the 18-55 + 55-250 combo, which is cheaper than the 18-135 deal. Once you get to grips with both of those lenses and the body, you will learn what you want to upgrade to in the future. HTH.

You almost always save money buying a kit- especially- if it is a kit that is listed/configured by Canon. This is because they always give you a bit of a discount on the lens.

As far as 18-135 vs [18-55/55-250] vs [18-135/55-250] , it's a matter of convenience vs price and functionality.
The 18-55 is a fine lens- but it's filter element rotates during focusing- making the use of circular polarizers more difficult. Paired together with a 55-250 is an OK combination.
the 18-135/55-250 combination gives you overlap. Some here on POTN will state that overlap is wasteful but truth is- it can be convenient. Having overlap sometimes reduces the need to swap lenses- making some shots possible where you might miss it while changing lenses with a 18-55/55-250 combo. It's convenient.
The 18-135 by itself is a fine lens considering it is a kit lens. Not perfect. Filter does not rotate when focusing. It's got a nice range- useful for walk about type photography- just out and about. It's got enough range- it can be a decent lens when you want to carry only one about.
The 18-55 is a decent lens with decent IQ. It's cheap. It's main drawback is the lack of range- 18-55 is useful for normal to smallish rooms like offices and bedrooms. It's often replaced with a 17-5x f/2.8 later on by a number of users- but it's biggest limitation is the limited range.