Canon 55-250mm STM

danjama

danjama

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Daniel
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Hi all, I was looking at getting a telephoto and think i've settled on this lens. But why the variation in price? I see them for as low as £125-£145 on ebay and amazon, but WEX and Calumet etc have them for considerably more money.

Is there a difference i'm missing or are the retailers really that far away?

Thank you :)
 
I would guess that the ones you are seeing on eBay are grey imports from hong kong way
 
looking at that sellers negative feedback (only 12 in last year) it looks like a lot of their items do not come from the uk
 
You could put a wanted add up and say you require by Friday ???

My daughter has the 55-250 IS and it's a great lens, especially for the money...
 
Well I just bought it new from ebay for £130 after reading that it's sharp through the whole range especially considering its price. If I miss the extra 50mm I will sell it on and go for something else :)

Hope it's a UK seller as RMSD was included.
 
If you are going to buy from eBay (second hand), just make sure it is the stm version. Some posting are certainly not stm. Check the end of the lens it is clearly written stm around the end glass, where a lens cap is fitted.
 
What body are you going to use this on. Hopefully it will be one that takes full advantage of the STM ability. I was using an 18-135 STM IS last weekend for videoing a band and I'm really happy with the results. I used a 70D with the lens and the results were spectacular compared to the last time I did any videos with a non STM version. The sound recording is excellent without the AF lens noise. I've tried a 55-250 STM with the 70D and found it to be a very sharp lens for the price but ultimately ended up with the 18-135 instead of an 18-55 and 55-250 pair as bag space was limited.
 
For still photography you will still need to half press the shutter to either refocus or hold down the half press for servo (continuous) focus. The STM continuous focus is primarily for video and this does not work on a 60D (on a 70D it does). You will still take advantage of the quick and silent foccussing that the STM design affords for still photography.
If video is not that important to you then its still a good purchase. In fact, for the money nothing touches it really.
 
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In real terms I dont think you will have any focus issues with the 55-250 its a nice little performerand its focussing is completely silent. Now for a little more info, which I dont think will be relevant to your shooting style unless you shoot really fast sports where servo focus speed is critical.
The STM lenses work best (and are designed specifically to take advantage of ) on cameras with contrast detection sensors as opposed to phase detection sensors. Contrast detection was first implemetented on the 650D to take advantage of the STM drive, it utilised a Hybrid AF Contrast and Phase Detection sensor. It also features on the 70D etc. Unfortunately for you the 60D was just a few months too early and still uses Phase detection only. Now dont be too disappointed though because it will still focus quickly and although dedicated sports photographers will say USM is faster on Phase Detection cameras (and they are correct) I think in average real life terms its not noticable.
So still agood and worthwhile purchase in my opinion. I dont own one but a few years back I had the original 55-250 for a while and it was astonshingly good for the price. A little gem of a lens.
 
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Thanks for that gazamonk. I picked it up after work and had a little play. It certainly focuses quickly and silently, much quicker than my other tele, a sigma 18-200. With much less fuss than my nifty fifty. And it is looking very sharp as well with not much effort :) got down to 1/50 and was able to take sharp photos at 250mm.

I look forward to using it at the weekend!

On the subject of AF detection, thanks for the info :) I think I'll look into the 70d.
 
I purchased this lens for DigitalRev recently and have been very happy with it (previously had the Sigma 70-300 but wanted something with IS).
 
Just to update this for future curious beings, the 55-250mm STM from Canon seems like a great telephoto lens for the money. Very sharp and capable. I gave it a full day of testing on Sunday at Brands Hatch. It performed above expectations, unlike the operator! :D The focus is fast and silent. It is certainly sharper than my previous ef 100-300mm USM was at 250mm, except when it was at around f8 it was very sharp. Here's some images, all with IS on though not pushing for lower SS.

Blancpain GT Series Race 1 by Dan Jama, on Flickr

Blancpain GT Series Race 2 by Dan Jama, on Flickr

Blancpain GT Series Race 2 by Dan Jama, on Flickr

GT Cup Race 2 by Dan Jama, on Flickr

GT Cup Race 1 by Dan Jama, on Flickr

I'm not even sure how i'd justify spending four times more on a 70-200L!
 
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danjama said:
I'm not even sure how i'd justify spending four times more on a 70-200L!
Click to expand...

Thats the big question is it not. Depends what you want out of your photography and looking at these, in this scanario I cant see you would gain much from the L to be honest apart from a tiny bit of speed (constant f4)
 
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