Anyone else own a Canon 55-250 lens?

[Drpepper99uk]

Hi,

Quick question, I've just bought a Canon 55-250mm lens after reading some glowing reviews of it in various magazines and certain websites with regards to it's price and image quality. Is anyone else on here using one, if so how do you get on with yours? I was debating with saving up a bit more cash for a 70-200 f4L, however with a great price listed on Amazon for £189 I just had to buy it there and then as from seeing one in the flesh they look quite compact and feature IS which was a big plus point for me. Sure, they are plasticky but I'm not to worried about that. I currently own a 18-55 kit lens that came with my 450D, so I think this new lens will complement it quite well considering that I've often been left caught short when out and about and needing the extra zoom length.

Mike.

[jgs001]

Mike, I have 3 lenses... the Kit lens, a Nifty Fifty, and the 55-250. Virtually all the shots I post on here are shot with the 55-250. I use it with a Raynox DCR250 for Macro as well. I even dropped mine about 5 feet onto lino covered concrete and no ill effects, although I wouldn't recommend that anyone try this experiment, it's not good for either your health of the lens :d...

Here's a couple of threads with shots I've taken

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=137667

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=137115

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=135740

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=131990

HTH

[Drpepper99uk]

Hi John,

Thanks for sticking those images up, great shots!! It's funny cause I have exactly the same lens choice you have for my own 450D!!! Yeah, I don't think I'll try the bounce test just yet ;-)

Now the hard part is waiting around for it to be delivered.

Mike.

[nigpd]

I was in exactly the same position as you some months ago. I bought the lens in September and found it incredible value for money and a great starter lens for the 450D.

Image quality is brilliant for the price. You can judge for yourself but I think the image quality is very good. It's dead easy to use and get on with too. The IS is excellent

The only reason I dont have it now is because of a recent birthday pressie of a 70-200L f4 IS. When and if you do come to sell it, you will find a ready market too.

All taken with the 55-250...........

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3501/3256163172_96669670c1_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3489/3255728277_d9498fa146_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3256/3223294457_eaeeb95c6f_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1025/3165464287_ae6dff9cab_o.jpg

[Drpepper99uk]

Hi,

Some great shots taken, I really like the nightime shot of what looks like some sort of powerstation in your area. We should have a "lets see your Canon 55-250 shots" thread :-)

Thanks once again for the reassurance with the lens choice, ok so it's not thousands of pounds we're talking here, but I've spent hundreds in the past on lenses and always had doubts on buying some of the cheaper alternatives out there(Sigma,Tamrom etc) so this makes a pleasant change for me to be looking at the other end of the scale for once.


Mike.

[saxk]

i have both, as i need is sometimes but cant afford the f4 IS

but the 55-250 is coming round the world with me as its nice and compact

[mid_gen]

I have a nifty fifty, sigma 10-20, and the 55-250.

Can't really complain for the money, got some lovely shots from it!

[swag72]

I had one of these on a 450D for a short while. I thought it took some great pics and was a good combo.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3025/2797388770_319345ea70_o.jpg

Apologies for the perch!!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3198/2879145271_5431d759f5_o.jpg

[j37r]

There may not yet be a "Let's see your 55-250 shots" thread here, but here is one you can take a look at and be very impressed.

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=459569

I bought one of these in May last year, wouldn't be without it,great lens.

John

[CSB]

I have one, its a great lens for the price, the IS is very good IMO.

[odd jim]

Brilliant lens! My 250 IS is rarely off my camera. Here's a few I've taken with it;

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c11/Williams25/IMG_5553.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c11/Williams25/Motorsport%20etc/IMG_7271.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c11/Williams25/Motorsport%20etc/IMG_5789.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c11/Williams25/Motorsport%20etc/IMG_5982.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c11/Williams25/IMG_7976.jpg

Who needs L glass, lol?!

[Paul Iddon]

Mike, I did a quick personal review on the lens when I bought mine:



Part One:

I went out and tried the new 55-250 IS lens that I have just recently purchased.

I have never done a lens test before, and I assume if anyone has done, then this is were the images from it are appended (apologies mods if I am wrong). All the photgraphs were taken in RAW mode using Aperture Priority and auto-focus with no filters on the Canon EOS 400D.


All images are hand held and contain some exif info in each one (bar the first 2).

My interest in mainly in the longer end and how it looks, so most of them are at 250mm.

************************

I did a couple of shots of a lens test card that came with a magazine. I don't fully understand the consequence of this card, but I did it anyway. However, the text proved to be very well recorded and the sharpness was really good at both lengths.

The first was at the 50mm end.

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj268/bilbo_baggins_1/test1-50mm.jpg

Then at 250mm.

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj268/bilbo_baggins_1/test2-250.jpg

Both under light from a desklamp.



Following up from these two, I photographed a paint can half way down the living room (we're decorating the kitchen) but took them at ISO 1600 to get a shutter speed allowing me to hand hold. This gave me the opportunity to see what the noise was like on the camera with this lens attached.

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj268/bilbo_baggins_1/infopaint1.jpg

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj268/bilbo_baggins_1/infopaint2.jpg


Then Saturday came around and I had the chance to go and use the lens outside.


To be honest, when I got the pictures back for viewing on the PC some seemed a touch over-exposed, but as I shoot i RAW this wasn't a problem. However, when the frame was filled with a subject or very strong colours, exposure improved. I had deliberatley not used the histogram when out and about so that it didn't bias my view.

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj268/bilbo_baggins_1/infocross.jpg


http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj268/bilbo_baggins_1/infogrebe3.jpg

The image above is of an unusual waterfowl visitor to Lancashire, a Slovakian Grebe. Unfortunately, the little bugger never came in close and was for the most part out of reach of the lens.


I did crop in more on one shot of the duck I got:

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj268/bilbo_baggins_1/slovenian.jpg


On the water were common wildfowl and when the frame was filled more with subject, it really did quite well for a low cost lens.

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj268/bilbo_baggins_1/infomallard1.jpg

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj268/bilbo_baggins_1/infowhiteduck.jpg


....continued below:

[Paul Iddon]

...continued from above...


It dealt with prime colours quite well, saturating the red easily.

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj268/bilbo_baggins_1/infomacdonalds1.jpg


Plants looked reasonably good too - this is a peony tree sprouting early leaf buds.

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj268/bilbo_baggins_1/infoplant.jpg


Greens showed up fine, though I did add a little boost in the saturation layer to make them look a little better. Here spring lambs were the main subject, showing the contrast between their coats and the grassy surroundings nicely.

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj268/bilbo_baggins_1/infolamb.jpg

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj268/bilbo_baggins_1/infolambsfeeding.jpg


A closer view of a windmill ornament in a garden made a good display of the yellows that the lens handled well.

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj268/bilbo_baggins_1/infobee2.jpg


Some brave idiot managed to catch my attention in the sky in a micro-lite or something. The blue sky was vibrantly recorded with no use of a polarisor. The pilot was some distance from me however, and the focussing proved not to be as accurate or as fast (as I had already gathered from information I had read elsewhere) as I had hoped.

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj268/bilbo_baggins_1/infohang.jpg


I was impressed however with the sharpness of large substantial objects - namely buidings. The edges looked good to me and the colours were recorded well too. Detail was impressive and saturation was spot on.

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj268/bilbo_baggins_1/infobuilding1.jpg

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj268/bilbo_baggins_1/infobuilding2.jpg


I think overall, I am quite impressed with my initial attempts with the lens. The IS kicked in smoothly and quietly, and in most cases, the focussing was swift and accurate except when I was in AI Servo tracking the chappie in the air.


At top magnification, the images still look very good to my eye, unless it was of small subjects at distance.

For the price, this is a decent purchase for those like me on a limited budget. You will accept that it falls short of the quality of Canon's better pricier lenses, and falls a long way short of L series glass, though that is a given, considered the difference in price, build and optics.

Aimed at amateur users, this is worth having in your kit bag.


Just my opinion, of course. I hope someone finds this useful.


Paul.

[maddog.mark]

It's a cracking lens for the money, I love mine!