Thanks for your reply
My budget is a couple of hundred pounds, and at the moment I am still open to all sorts of photography. So far most of the pictures I have taken have been of my niece (currently about 6 months old), my mates' band rehearsing and playing small gigs, nature and still life pictures, and everyday photography. I am keen to try out many other things, but of course realise that one single lens cannot do everything, and specialist lenses will be required, but a collection of lenses must start somewhere! My current 18-55mm kit lens has a maximum aperture of f4 or 3.6, and so some pictures come out blurred, or are too dark, or have too much noise in them. A good all round lens to begin with would be brilliant before I get into more specialist lenses.