 | Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras |
| List Price: | $299.99 |
| Price: | $225.95 |
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from and sold by Big VALUE Inc
46 new or used available from $227.53
Average customer review:
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.Product Details
- Brand: Canon
- Model: 2044B002
- Dimensions: 2.50" h x 2.50" w x 4.30" l, .96 pounds
Features
- Focal Length & Maximum Aperture - 55-250mm f/4-5.6
- Lens Construction - 12 elements in 10 groups, including one UD-glass element
- Diagonal Angle of View - 27 50'- 6 15' (with APS-C image sensors)
- Focus Adjustment - DC motor, gear-driven (front focusing design)
- Closest Focusing Distance - 3.6 ft./1.1m (maximum close-up magnification 0.31x)
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Product Description
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
Customer Reviews
I Love It For IS and Zoom Range at this Price, Not Pure Performance
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 beter images.
Conclusion: A great EF-S lens for Canon users. (even if Nikon had to force Canon to make it for us.)
reasonable value
Since I mostly use wide-angle lenses, I was not willing to blow a
ton on expensive/heavy telephoto lenses for occasional shots. Prior to
owning this lens, I had a Sigma 70-300 APO zoom telephoto that produced
good colors, but was essentially useless due to frequent camera shake.
I sold the lens and got this Canon zoom.
a) Surprisingly, it CAN produce pretty sharp pictures if the
subjects don't move fast. The sharpness is very comparable with two
other lenses I own, the famed and breathtakingly sharp Tamron 17-50mm
f/2.8 and Sigma 30mm f/1.4. While the Tamron and Sigma get sharp shots
without too much work, this Canon needs a bit of careful handling to
get equally sharp shots even at the wide end. I use the word "can",
because to achieve it you would either need a tripod or high ISO (my
rebel XT's 1600 is pretty much what I use all the time with this lens).
b) The colors in bright light are almost always faded (sharp, but
faded). It can be patially corrected in Lightroom, but a bit
unfortunate since this lens really needs the bright light for a good
shutter speed. Indoors, it produces good color balance/saturation, but
struggles to have a decent shutter speed. Kind of catch-22 situation.
c) The construction is pretty cheap, but generally nothing to worry
about if handled gently. However, the filter threads are thin plastic
and I almost damaged the threads when putting on filters for the first
time. I got a dedicated Sigma DG 58mm UV filter permanently affixed on
it so that any other filters/screw hood will only go on the metal
thread of the UV filter and not the lens thread directly. A metal UV
filter is a must if you don't want to permanently damage the lens
filter threads.
d) The opteration of the IS is quiet unless you are particularly listening to it. My Tamron's AF makes more noise.
e) After playing with this lens for sometime, I have come to the
conclusion that IS is an absolute must on a zoom telephoto when hand
held. Being the cheapest IS telephoto on the market today, there is
really no equivalent for this in this price range.
f) IS has been of no use in freezing subject motion. While this is to be expected, it highlights how slow a lens this really is.
g) No hood comes with the lens, but I got a third party 77mm screw telephoto metal hood and step up adapter rings.
h) 1 year canon warranty sucks big time compared to the 6-year Tamron and 4-year Sigma (for DG lens).
i) this is a very light lens, much lighter than my sigma or tamron.
Very easily carried around (hood might add a bit more bulk, but not too
much).
In short, this lens performs great with regards to sharpness and
IS. It leaves a lot to be desired in color saturation and flare
control, almost always requiring some kind of post processing to
achieve desired result.
Update 10/22/08
----------------
I bought a 58mm Canon 250D close up filter for this lens and now I
have a fantastic macro lens, that is capable of doing 1:1 macro with a
working distance of 25cm (~10")! The 250D is roughly 1/7 th the price
of the closest 1:1 macro lens with the same working distance - the
tamron 180mm 1:1 macro if you were planning on getting a seperate macro
lens. The 250D is optically optimized for lens up to 135mm focal
length, but the results are fantastic handheld up to 200mm on this
lens. Using 250mm (when you get a bit higher than 1:1) is a little bit
of work, but gets decent results (with mirror lockup + tripod + f/25).
No horrible color fringing that happens with cheap closeup filters on
the market (like the Opteka +1,+2,+4, and +10 close up filters). I
haven't used a true 1:1 macro lens, which I suspect will definitely be
better quality-wise, but the combination of a canon 55-250mm IS + canon
250d for a telephoto + 1:1 macro + IS under 400$ is a true bargain
along the lines of the 50mm f/1.8.
The Good and The Bad...
I have had this lens for a couple months on my XTI. I purchased it
from Canada and it has North American warranty (both Canada and the
U.S.) so I'm safely assuming it will be the same lens released here in
May.
After hundreds of shots so far here are my thoughts:
The bad:
-On my copy the color is off. Skin colors have a slight gray hue
and colors are not very saturated. In order to get vibrant hues
post-processing is necessary.
-Front element rotates and extends while zooming
-It is an EF-S lens. Are you planning on upgrading to full frame
soon? I am not so this is not necessarily "bad" but can be to those who
are uninformed about the compatibility issues with this lens.
-People often complain about the quality of the plastic build. I
am okay with it since this lens is a place holder until I have the
money for an L class lens. I would rather have this lens now so I can
capture the photos in this range than wait 6 months to a year until I
can drop a couple grand on the lens I really want.
-Although it overlaps some with my Tamron 28-75 (which I
absolutely adore)I like having the versatility to get a bit wider with
this lens. It keeps me from carrying an extra lens when I know I will
be shooting at the longer end but I still have the freedom to zoom out
a bit to get more landscape if the moment strikes me.
The good:
-Sharp photos
-Decent bokeh
-IS is amazing on this lens. Shot a performance on a dimly lit
stage at the long end of the zoom (5.6) without the flash and 85% of my
images came out sharp. However, please realize IS controls the
PHOTOGRAPHER'S shake/movement NOT NOT NOT the movement of the subject.
So with the 15% of the images that weren't sharp (or flat out blurry)
the subject moved at a decent rate. If you want to stop movement in
less than bright environments a faster lens (2.8, 1.8, or 1.2) is
necessary. Also, on my copy the IS is dead silent and I do not have the
noise problem the other reviewer was describing.
-For the PRICE you will not find another lens in the 50-250-ish
range with this level of performance, IS, and image quality. OF COURSE
the 70-200's are better.. several hundred to thousands of dollars
better. Cannot compare with Canon's L class lenses although people will
(and have)...
Lost one star because of the less than vibrant colors and other
reasons noted above... I almost want to give this lens 3.5 stars
because I am not enamored with as many of the photos I have gotten out
of this lens as I thought I would. I had the Sigma 70-300 APO (before
they made the DG version) prior to this lens and I loved the color
rendition. However, the lens lacked IS which cut out its ability to
capture numerous shots. The Sigma is now broken and sitting on a shelf
in case anyone was wondering why it was replaced.