In this post, I will be writing the Canon 55-250 review. If you have the excellent Canon 18-55mm EF-S IS lens, need longer reach and on a budget, you’re looking at the perfect lens.
I got mine from Amazon
This lens is the perfect companion to the Canon 18-55mm EF-S IS lens. Together they will offer excellent picture quality at an unbeatable price.
This lens, together with the Canon 18-55mm EF-S IS and the Canon 50mm f/1.8 EF-S II lens are what I would recommend for any beginning photographers.
All of them will give you great image quality, low light capability and plenty of room to play with your creativity.
Let’s move on with the full Canon 55-250 review.
Specs • Performance • Sample Image • Conclusion • Where to Buy
Canon 55-250 Review – Specs
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Official Name:
Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS
Focal Length Markings:
55, 70, 100, 135, 200 and 250mm
Features:
EF-S – Only compatible with cropped sensor DSLR. You should not use this lens with a full frame DSLR camera or film SLR.
IS – Image Stabilization feature to prevent picture blurriness caused by handshake. Effective up to 4 stops.
Full Technical Specs (from Canon’s website):
| Technical Specifications | |
| Groups / Elements | 10 / 12 |
| Angle of View | 27°50′ – 6°15′ |
| Number of Blade Diaphragm | 7 |
| Minimum Aperture | f/22-32 |
| Minimum Focusing Distance | 1.1m |
| Filter Thread | 58mm |
| Weight | 390g |
| Dimension (Diameter x Length) | ø70 x 108mm |
| Macro Magnification Ratio | 0.31X |
| Available at | Amazon, B&H Photo, Adorama |
Optical Performance
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Canon 55-250 Review – Sharpness
Center sharpness is excellent throughout the zoom range. Border sharpness is also great across the zoom range.
To get the maximum sharpness from this lens, shoot at f/8.
Sharpness Scale (from Best to Worst):
(5) Excellent
(4) Great
(3) Good
(2) Fair
(1) Poor
Center Sharpness
| Focal Length / Aperture | f/4 | f/5.6 | f/8 | f/11 |
| 55mm | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent |
| 135mm | n/a | Great | Excellent | Great |
| 200mm | n/a | Great | Excellent | Great |
| 250mm | n/a | Great | Excellent | Great |
Border Sharpness
| Focal Length / Aperture | f/4 | f/5.6 | f/8 | f/11 |
| 55mm | Great | Great | Great | Great |
| 135mm | n/a | Great | Great | Great |
| 200mm | n/a | Great | Great | Great |
| 250mm | n/a | Great | Great | Great |
Distortion
There is a very minor barrel distortion at 55mm and slight pincushion at other focal length.
However, it is not noticeable and can be safely ignored or corrected easily during post processing.
See the distortion test chart result below.
Vignetting
Vignetting is only apparent at the largest aperture at any focal length (which is typical for an EF-S lens).
Stop down to the optimal aperture of f/8 and vignetting will be completely gone.
See my vignetting test result below.
Chromatic Aberration
Chromatic aberration is extremely well controlled on this lens. It is negligible at any aperture at any focal length.
Chromatic Aberration Scale (from Best to Worst):
(5) Negligible
(4) Very Low
(3) Low
(2) High
(1) Very High
Chromatic Aberration
| Focal Length / Aperture | f/4 | f/5.6 | f/8 | f/11 |
| 55mm | Negligible | Negligible | Negligible | Negligible |
| 135mm | n/a | Negligible | Negligible | Negligible |
| 200mm | n/a | Negligible | Negligible | Negligible |
| 250mm | n/a | Negligible | Negligible | Negligible |
Build Quality
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Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6 EF-S IS Materials
Good quality solid Plastic, Made in Japan.
Zoom Ring
The zoom ring feels very smooth and responsive.
Focusing
Autofocus speed is fast, accurate and silent.
It has manual focus option. The front element does rotate during autofocus so it will be hard to use a polarizing filter (but who would with this lens?).
Image Stabilization
The Image Stabilization works great. It is effective up to 4 f-stops.
Compatibility
The lens is only compatible with a cropped sensor DSLR. You shouldn’t use it with a full frame DSLR such as Canon 5D Mark II
Sample Image
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Below are some sample shots that I took using this lens. Click on any thumbnail to open the image.
Get the best price online from these sites: Amazon
Conclusion
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Below are the conclusion for this Canon 55-250 review.
For anyone looking for an excellent telephoto zoom lens on a budget, the Canon 55-250mm is the lens to get.
Combined with the Canon 18-55mm lens they will give you the best image quality and compactness for your money.
I use mine whenever I want to go light and get good sharpness (especially when shooting for a nearby outdoor soccer competition).
All I can say about this lens is: Highly recommended.
Drawbacks
- Rotating front element during autofocus makes it hard to use polarizing filter (but who would for this lens?)
- Slight vignetting at the maximum aperture (typical for a budget EF-S lens)
Positives
- Excellent center and border sharpness
- Good distortion control
- Good vignetting control when stopped down
- Superb chromatic aberration control
- Compact, lightweight and solid telephoto lens
- Autofocus is fast, accurate and silent
- Image Stabilization works superbly
- Excellent value for money
Good For
- Budget telephoto lens
- Shooting outdoor sports event
- Portrait lens
- Wildlife photography
Not So Good For
- Indoor sport in dim light
- Bird photography (autofocus might not be fast enough to catch up with the bird)
What Others Are Saying…
by “J. Kirlin”
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…
Click here to read the full review
by “Ale”
Great telephoto lens to complement your kit lens! This is the first lens that I’ve purchased and kept outside my kit lens (18-55). I mentioned kept because believe it or not, I bought the 70-200 F4L non-IS…
Click here to read the full review
Where to Buy Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6 EF-S IS Lens
Support this site, buy the Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6 EF-S IS from these sites (best price online):
Be sure to also check out the following related posts:
Thanks for reading this Canon 55-250 review and I hope you can make a good purchasing decision after reading this review.
| Lens Score | |
|---|---|
| Optical Quality | |
| Build Quality | |
| Value for Money | |
| Overall | |
