Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 is II Telephoto Zoom Lens

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars | 3,447 ratings

Price: 199

Last update: 08-11-2024


About this item

Canon EF-S Mount (not compatible with full sensor DSLRs)
Super Spectra coatings also help ensure accurate colour balance and sharp, high-contrast results
Ideal for emphasising subjects shot against distracting backgrounds

Product information


Top reviews from the United States

JR Physics
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent value
Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2008
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.
Kenneth Depree
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Value for a f4.0-5.6 lenss
Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2010
I bought this lens at same time as the Canon T2i to pick up where the 18-55 kit lens leaves off, and have taken some very good photos with it.

However, I learned taking photos at the Patriots vs Rams pre-season game that I will never get "pro" quality photos at night, not even at professional football games where the lighting is very good to ensure tv viewers get good visibility. Even with ISO at 1600 I was able to manage a shutter speed of only 400 at f5.6, not enough to get crisp shots of moving players. Shots taken when there was a slow down or pause in the action were very good, even at the above mentioned settings, but when the players were moving rapidly, the shots were a little soft. Post processing made them very satisfactory for personal enjoyment, but not for more more ambitious use.

Earlier I might have given the lens a 4, maybe even a 3, because of my game experience, but since the game I have learned a lot about lenses and I now know that the relatively low-light photos I got were the best I could expect from this f4.0-5.6 lens. If I were going to shoot a lot of night sports, I would be saving for a 2.8 zoom lens, but they are very, very expensive for a good one. An f2.8 lens is a much faster lens than a 4-5.6

In day time settings, I have consistently gotten clear, sharp shots but have not yet tried shooting kiteboarders, something I enjoy doing. However, my expectation is that I will get good shots because I'll be shooting during the day and able to shoot at 800 at a minimum, more likely 1000.

I have been practicing taking sports photos by photographing the batters in action for several local teams. Two of these games were in the late afternoon and I was shooting at 5 pm or later in October, meaning that light was becoming low. For these shots I put the camera in Tv mode and set the shutter speed at 1000. ISO was on auto and the camera was allowed to select the best ISO up to a maximum of 1600. At this time of day, even in the autumn light, I got very crisp shots. Many required some processing to improve exposure, but the results were very satisfactory because the subjects were sharp. People to whom I have shown the photos said they were "great".

In summary, for what I do most of the time, this lens is excellent. And I really appreciate the image stabilizer. I can't imagine buying a lens without it since 98% of the shooting I do is hand held.
SP
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing IS Telephoto for Price!
Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2010
Canon's EF-S telephoto lens is probably one does it's job amazingly well for its price. I have access to Canon's more expensive L series of telephotos (70-200mm f2.8) and this lens does an amazing job comparing up with the more expensive lens. In daylight, it is hard for me to tell any difference between both of them. The color for the 55-250mm lens seems a bit faded compared to other lenses I've used. In indoors conditions with low light, the performance of this lens starts to falter.
Get this lens for shooting outdoors on a budget; don't expect any strong performance in low lighting conditions.

IS works as advertised. However, as other reviewers have noticed, IS makes a clicking noise that got me worried about the lens.

Pros:
1. Low cost for a high quality telephoto zoom
2. Image stabilization works wonderfully
3. Small and light
4. Works wonderfully for getting good pictures

Con:
1. Cheapish build; made out of plastic. Feels flimsy
2. Slow focus in low light conditions, sometimes failure to focus. (Take this with a grain of salt, I'm usually shooting with Canon's USM lenses so it just may seem slow to me.)
3. Lack of inner focus makes the front end of the lens moves in and out during any focusing. This sometimes causes me to need to recompose my shots. And you need to keep your hand off the focus ring when it focuses.
4. Color rendition off, skin tone seems grayish and everything seems faded (Not much of a con, easily fixed in post.)

If you intend to shoot in good lighting conditions, this is lens great! If you want good low light conditions spend an extra 2,000 dollars and the buy the . Perfect for amateur use.

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