Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

• Posted on February 22, 2012 (446 customer reviews , 4.6 rating )

This is a very good lens given its price. Like with any lens selection there are compromises, and a more expensive lens is not necessarily better in all respects. These are the main considerations for me: * The lens comes with an excellent IS. One could probably save a hundred bucks buying a non-IS lens in this focal range which may even be a bit better optically. However, long range shots without IS are difficult, especially in low light. The IS on this lens works very well, better compared to my Canon 28-135 IS and even compared to the 100-400L. The IS really makes a lot of hand held shots possible that one could not do with a non-IS lens. * The lens is fairly cheaply built and has a plastic mount. However, the trade-off is that it is also fairly small and light (the small size is also due to the fact that it is a EF-S lens). My other tele-zoom is a 100-400L lens which is built like tank, but it is also huge and weighs 3 pounds. In many cases one does not want to carry that much weight around, and that is where this lens comes in really handy. * Image quality: No, it cannot quite match the 100-400L, but it comes surprisingly close. Of course, the 100-400L costs 5 times as much. Lack of good color saturation is the most notable deficiency. On the other hand images are very sharp. For outdoors one should get a hood, there is quite a bit of glare in shots with frontal sunlight. * Zoom range: the 55-250mm range makes the lens quite versatile. 250mm is long enough for most outdoor sports, many nature shots, people from afar, etc. At the other end 55mm is still good for close action, for example at a soccer field. That is almost a factor 2 shorter compared to 100-(300/400) lenses. It also provides a nice overlap with walk-around lenses, like the Canon 28-135 IS. * Aperture: F4-5.6 is nothing to brag about, however, a faster lens would also have to be much bigger, heavier, and costlier.And as long as you objects don't move too much the IS makes the lens effectively faster. If Canon's 4 stop improvement holds it would be equivalent to a non-ISF1-1.4, although F1.4-2 is probably more realistic. A F1.4-2 with that focal range would have to be big, heavy, and expensive, if it even existed. In summary, this is an excellent second lens to complement a short zoom or a walk-around lens. Very versatile and a lot of bang for the buck. In my case, even though I own a 100-400L I still keep this lens because it is often more practical because of the shorter focal length and the smaller size.

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Product Features

• Focal Length & Maximum Aperture: 55-250mm F/4-5.6
• 12 Elements In 10 Groups, Including One UD-glass Element
• Focus Adjustment: DC Motor, Gear-driven(front Focusing Design)
• Closest Focusing Distance: 3.6 Ft./1.1m

I was determined to love this lens based on the specs and price point alone. Canon really needed to come out with this lens at this price because Nikon offers a very decent Vibration Reduction lens at roughly the same range for the same price, leaving me to make apologies for Canon and their neglect to all my Nikon friends. The IS can be switched off to save battery life but I haven't noticed a difference in battery performance with it. The IS is only activiated when you press the shutter halfway for auto focus. Although it FEELS like there is a small lag for the IS to start, I don't think I've had any photos messed up because of it. You can HEAR the IS. A little bizarre after using point and shoots that have IS that is silent, but it doesn't seem to affect performance Pro: Great price for an image stabilized zoom lens. I paid 299 and am very pleased even though Amazon is selling it for 280 a week later. ALso arrive 2 months sooner than Amazon initially promised. This lens has NEVER been 400 dollars. Its MSRP from Canon prior to release was 299.00. Shame Amazon! Pro: Images are very sharp. Pro: Image stabilization does a VERY nice job. Four stops as advertised by Canon? I'm not so sure. GREATLY enhancing the composition experience at 250mm? Absolutely. Pro: Much smaller and lighter than the 70-300 of any manufacturer and much sharper than my Sigma 70-300. Con: Cheapish feel. But just use it, quit feeling it already. Plastic mount. But if you NEED a metal mount, may I suggest you are being a little rough with your camera. *UPDATE* The plastic flanges on back were able to hold the camera securely to the lens, but NOT hold the rear cap securely to the lens. I've tried many different rear lens caps that fit snugly on other lenses. So I think this is beyond cheap feel and has to be called CHEAP BUILD. Con: This lens is a little (ok, maybe not so little) slow to focus in dim light, sometimes it misses altogether when I think other lenses of mine would have had no difficulty. Con: I never gave Inner Focusing much thought on my other lenses until I used this. The front of this lens rotates AND moves in and out a LOT while focusing, so much so that you MAY even want to recompose your shot. The length of this lens changes almost an inch across the focus range. I just checked my Sigma 70-300 and found that it does also, but I've never seen it make as much difference in the viewfinder as I have with this Canon. Your perception may vary. This lens and the soon to be arriving 18-55 IS as the XSi kit lens will allow me to carry one less lens to achieve an 18-250 IS range. For a little more money than the cost of both lenses you can get the Tamrom 18-250 but not have Image Stabilization. And now Sigma has an 18-200 WITH Optical Stablization for about what these 2 lenses cost retail, but in testing the 2 Canons produced better images. Conclusion: A great EF-S lens for Canon users. (even if Nikon had to force Canon to make it for us.)

I have a 18mm-55mm lens, and was in search for a telephoto, I read so many reviews that were so complex I didn't know what I was reading. I bought the 55mm-250mm lens and now understand some of the reviews. To break it down in simply terms: 55mm (the lowest setting on the 55mm-250mm) you can not stand right on top of a subject, the lens makes you too close everything won't fit in the frame. That is Not what the lens is for & might be were some of the bad reviews come from. (Buy the 18-55mm for those close up shots) It takes time for the auto focus, it still Fast but not as fast as my 18mm-55mm. Still your not going to miss taking a picture of a bird sitting in a tree far away. But at baseball game of a kid catching a 50mph ball I missed some shots (why I gave 4 stars). Not the lens fault more mine I should have used manual focus!! On auto focus, after all it has a LOT of setting to go through 55 to 250mm settings. No duh the 18-55mm auto focus faster. Think of it as a deck of cards, you (and auto focus) can flip through 18-55 cards faster then a deck of 55-250 cards. Some of the reviews complain about the auto focus, it does work of course just not as fast as smaller lens. No matter what if you are in the back row and your son on the stage at a school play, your picture will be Prefect and it will look like you were in the front row. That is what this lens is for, where you can take time to set it up, adjust and take time to snap a picture. At a baseball game you need to use Manual focus, (you can turn the ring faster then auto) and you can get great pics, auto might let you down during fast action but not with still pictures!! I suggest getting 18mm-55mm for everyday use, for those great up close, fast action, birthday shots; I Love that lens. Then get the 55mm-250mm for those far away school plays, scenery vacation, and birds sitting in a far away tree the lens is prefect for those kinds of pictures.

I mainly use prime lenses but my longest lens maxes out at 85mm. So when I saw this lens 250mm (similar to 400mm on full-frame) with a reasonable price, I grabbed it. The colors are rendered well, the IS works like a charm. Note - this is an EF-S lens so you won't be able to use it on a full-sensor camera body later - only on the cropped-sensor cameras like the Rebel XTi. My reason for not giving it 5 stars is that it occasionally gets confused while focusing. (I use spot-focus mostly - perhaps that has something to do with it.) If it happens, I zoom back to 55mm, focus, and then re-zoom, focus and it's all set. While I haven't had it for long yet, I was able to get some very nice photos with this lens - one close-up shot all the way down a church aisle of someone performing at the other end in front of the church at night, close-up shots of bees in flight, dragonflies, etc. The front element rotates but I would never think of using a polarizer on a zoom lens like this since you've already lost a lot of light. Am I happy I bought it? Absolutely.

Product Description

This telephoto zoom lens is designed with Canon's Optical Image Stabilizer technology while retaining compactness and lightness, in response to demands of photographers. This high zoom ratio lens is equivalent to a focal length of 88-400mm in the 35mm format (when used on Canon EOS cameras compatible with EF-S lenses), and the image stabilizer effect equivalent to a shutter speed about 4 stops faster than the same size lens without Image Stabilizer. In other words, if the slowest shutter speed you could formerly hold a 250mm lens steadily was 1/250th of a second, with Canon's 4-stop stabilization correction, you could hand-hold at shutter speeds as slow as 1/15th of a second. It also uses a UD-glass lens element to correct chromatic aberration for excellent image quality throughout the zoom range. This new EF-S telephoto lens with great features delivers excellent performance at an affordable price for all photographers.

Incorporating Canon's Optical Image Stabilizer technology, this Canon 55-250mm telephoto zoom lens captures long distance, low-light shots far better than many comparable lenses, helping you photograph the far-off action of athletes or zoom in for an intimate portrait with a blurred background. The high-zoom-ratio lens is equivalent to a focal length of 88-400mm in the 35mm format (when used on Canon EOS cameras compatible with EF-S lenses). More significantly, the image stabilizer effect creates an equivalent shutter speed of roughly four stops faster than the same size lens without an image stabilizer. In other words, if the slowest shutter speed you can hold a 250mm lens steadily is normally 1/250th of a second, this Canon lens will let you hand-hold shutter speeds as slow as 1/15th of a second. The lens also boasts a UD-glass lens element to correct chromatic aberration to create excellent image quality throughout the zoom range. Delivering an excellent performance at an affordable price for all photographers, the 55-250mm lens carries a one-year warranty.

Specifications

• Focal length: 55-250mm
• Maximum aperture: f/4 to f/5.6
• Lens construction: 12 elements in 10 groups, including one UD-glass element
• Diagonal angle of view: 27 degrees (at 50 feet) to 6 degrees (at 15 feet), with APS-C image sensors
• Focus adjustment: DC motor, gear-driven (front focusing design)
• Closest focusing distance: 3.6 feet (0.31x maximum close-up magnification)
• Filter size: 58mm
• Dimensions: 2.8 inches in diameter and 4.3 inches long
• Weight: 13.8 ounces
• Warranty: 1 year