Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS

Available for less than $300, the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS, Canon’s longest EF-S lens, is a lightweight, affordable first or second lens to complement your entry-level or midrange digital SLR. With its 400mm-equivalent focal length, you get the reach and angle of view desirable for shooting portraits and sports, or just to bring the scenes in closer, with the image stabilization essential to keep those long telephoto shots from blurring from camera shake.

Design

The Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS lens is all polycarbonate plastic, making it a really lightweight lens at just 13.8 oz. for its zoom range, though it does not quite compare to the professional build of Canon’s L series lenses that are generally made of metal. However, the reasonably smooth zoom ring and low price tag make up for its low build quality. Both its focusing and zoom rings have textured rubber coatings to provide users with a secure grip.

This lens is 4.3″ long and 2.8″ wide, accepts 58mm screw-on filters considering it is designed for cameras with APS-C sized sensors and has slider switches for AF/MF and Stabilizer on/off settings. It also has maximum aperture of f/4-5.6 and minimum aperture of f/22-32 and a minimum focusing distance of 1.1m that remains constant throughout the zoom range.

Finally, the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS lens has large, easy-to-read zoom markings at 5mm, 70mm, 100mm, 135mm, 200mm, and 250mm and comes with front and rear lens caps and optional lens hood, the Canon ET-60.

Features

The Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS lens has a rather broad zoom range of 84-400mm, equivalent to that on the a full frame 35mm camera and is compatible with all Canon EF-S digital cameras such as the Canon EOS Rebel XSi or Canon EOS 40D. However, this lens is not compatible with Canon’s high-end models in the 1D or 1Ds series.

In view that this is an IS lens, it features optical image stabilization with vertical and horizontal auto-panning detection that is said to provide up to 4 f-stops of shutter speed advantage, for sharper handheld photos especially in low light, compensating for shake and vibration to give images without degradation. This Canon lens also sports Canon’s ultra low dispersion (UD) lens elements to reduce color fringing and improve contrast while Super Spectra coatings control ghosting and flare caused by internal reflections.

Actual user review:
“I was determined to love this lens based on the specs and price point alone. 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. mage 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. 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. Images are very sharp. Much smaller and lighter than the 70-300 of any manufacturer and much sharper than my Sigma 70-300. A great EF-S lens for Canon users.” – J.Kirlin (USA)

Performance

While distortion is minimal and lateral chromatic aberration was low across the zoom range, the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS len’s low resolution was rather evident in less crisp images, especially around edges and contrast was lower generally for all shots. The Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS len’s saving grace is that it serves up excellent sharpness even at 250mm and bokeh was great for a lens at this price range.

When mounted on a Canon Rebel XSi, the lens feels very light for its zoom range, making it a great lens to carry around for an entire day. The zoom ring is nice and wide, with a quick, fairly well-damped action. Although some might be tempted, this lens’ slow maximum aperture range of f/4-5.6 makes it a poor choice for use with a teleconverter. The AF speed on this lens is also quite good and isn’t too noisy.

Bottom Line

The Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS lens is a most affordable IS telephoto lens with great performance potential, that certainly presents itself well to beginners or amateur photographers on a budget. This lens would also make a great lens not just for travellers, it also will make a perfect complementary lens for Canon EOS 40D or Canon EOS Rebel XSi owners who already own the Canon 18-55mm IS lens to give sharp pictures in low light conditions across a rather wide 13.9x zoom range, what more at a low price!

Average User Rating:

• “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. 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. 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.” – M.Cassidy (CT,USA)
• “I didn’t expect it to be a bad lens, but given the price I certainly didn’t expect the quality that I found with this lens. I have shot extensively with the $1800 70-200MM f/2.8 IS and I have to say this lens comes much closer than I thought to its performance. You will be hard pressed to find any difference in sharpness, and I believe the IS on this lens even works better since it is a newer generation of the technology. This lens does have barrel distortion where the 70-200mm has none. It also can’t hold a candle to it in terms of low-light performance. The thing is, though, the distortion was correctable easily in PS and as far as the low-light performance goes I wouldn’t bring this to shoot a wedding anyway. I bought it for a specific purpose–I needed a lens quick and I needed a small/light one for shooting only in the the daytime on a long vacation–and it did everything I needed and more. I have already sold a few photos that were taken with this lens! The 400mm reach (this is a 400mm lens on all supported bodies which are 1.6x crop factored) is amazing and I found no loss in sharpness at any focal length. I have been similarly pleasantly surprised in the past by low-cost Canon zoom lenses so maybe I should have seen this coming, but I would recommend this lens to anyone other than someone doing a low-light/professional gig. Given the performance for the cost this lens should be more than suitable for amateurs and semi-pros alike. Just get yourself a Rebel, a wide-angle or wide-angle zoom lens, this lens, a big memory card–and you’re done. Worry about the rest later.” – K.Stokes (GA,USA)

Click Here for Latest Offer on Canon EF-S 55-250mm f4.0-5.6 IS Lens
Enjoy Free Shipping & Secure Shopping