Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras: Customer Reviews & Product Details

This Lens is a Great Buy !!!@ loved the deal ...The IS is great feature...Prefer takin potraits more though ...But not bad at all !!!

I have a couple of Cameras now capable of "superzoom" functioning. A panasonic fz18, an Olympus e-510 with 70-300mm lens, and a Canon T1i with this 55-250mm lens. This lens is very good DSLR zoom lens when the price is also considered, with it just above 200 bucks now. It doesn't have the heft of the Oly 70-300mm and the build quality feels a tad bit less, but the images it produces are as good when combined with the T1i as I can get with my Olympus set-up. I didn't notice it being noisy and felt the IS system really did a good job at 250mm. As I do most of my shooting handheld I strongly recommend anything with an IS system either in the body or lens over lens without, especially when zooming. I won't have even considered the Canon 70-300mm entry level lens that lacks this. Build seems a bit better then then shorter kit lens that comes with the Rebels, and between the two I far prefer this one. I think for most Rebel users this would be the logical second lens to move to after the kit one and for the price is worth it. (for bang for your buck it is very hard to beat the panasonic fz series of superzooms but that is for another review)

If you're looking for a relatively inexpensive telephoto lens that gets the job done well then the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS Telephoto Lens is what you're looking for. Easy to use, light enough that you won't mind carrying it around in your camera bag this lens works well for those times when you want / need a telephoto lens. My only complaint, and this is towards Canon themselves and not the lens, is that Canon doesn't provide a hood with the lens; Canon must realy think highly of their hoods as they are ridiculously expensive as an accessory. I bought a nice Hoya hood for this lens at about 25% the cost of the Canon hood.

Canon has a cheaper 55-200mm lense, but it does not have image stabilization and is much slower than this one. I shoot action shots at full zoom with great results. My Son has the cheaper one, and is disappointed.

The IS system works extremely well, though it is not silent. The lens is small and lightweight, but it is cheap feeling. If you have the money, you'll be happier with more expensive Canon glass, but for the money this lens is hard to beat. With the 18-55mm IS, any Canon EF-S shooter can have a very wide selection of focal lengths with just two lenses. They're slow lenses, but the image stabilization makes up for that in most cases. Obviously moving subjects are the exception and sports photographers will always want fast lenses.