Reddit reviews Canon EF-S 55-250mm F4-5.6 IS STM Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

Assuming by "wildlife" you mean animals/birds at a distance...

Bob Atkins' website has a section listing the best EOS lenses under $400, which includes the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f4-5.6 IS. He personally recommends the Tamron 70-300/4-5.6 Di VC, and there's used examples of the latter on Amazon for $280.

You can also find used examples of the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS for $300, the (discontinued) Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 for about $200, and the (discontinued) Canon EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 for $100.

Of all those, I'd recommend the Tamron 70-300 myself, although if money is really tight and you can do without image stabilization, the Canon 100-300 seems to be a bit of a bargain (both Bryan Carnathan and Ken Rockwell give it a decent review).

Note: I'm only using Amazon for price-consistency. Check Craigslist, your local classifieds, and other outlets at your leisure.

You REALLY need two lenses for landscape photography. Unless you want to buy a mediocre super zoom lens. You need wide for the vistas, and you need long for the more intimate shots. I would argue you can't leave out one.

Since you have a 18-55, you could add a longer lens. Canon makes an EFS 55-250mm that is pretty decent, for around $300. This would, of course, be useless whenever you plan to upgrade to a full frame.

https://www.amazon.com/Canon-EF-S-55-250mm-F4-5-6-Cameras/dp/B00EFILVQU

The other option is a 70-200mm, but you'd have a sizeable gap from 55-70.

You could upgrade the kit lens too, but I think you'll gain a lot more by going with a telephoto lens at this point. (upgrade the kit lens later)

Yes! I used a Canon T2i with a Canon 55-250mm lens.

A used 70-200 f/4L USM (the non-IS version) will run about $400.

You can get the EF-S 55-250 f/4-5.6 STM version for much cheaper and just as sharp, although it could be a little slow for birds. Unfortunately, wildlife photography is probably the most expensive niche of photography there is, with lenses costing upwards of $10,000+.

hmmmm since she was looking for superzooms, I don't think she'll appreciate the 50mm as much because she already has that field of view, same goes for the 24mm. The only advantage they have for her would be the wider aperture, helping her with low light situations.

You could get her a fisheye lens like the Rokinon 8mm f3.5 but honestly you take fisheye lenses for maybe once or twice and you get bored with it. You could also get her a macro lens, but again, those are one trick ponies. Unless you see her trying low light photography and/or playing with depth of field, don't think primes would suit her at this moment. Primes generally are better performing, but I think she values versatility more than that little extra performance that you get out of primes.

Sounds like she could like the Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6 lens. There's three versions of this lens (but don't bother with the first one). second one is bit cheaper at 195 new. third one is more expensive at 300 bucks new, but it has quieter autofocus, instant manual focus (meaning you don't have to bother with the AF to MF switch to get manual focus, you just turn the focus ring) and it can focus a bit closer than the second one (second one focuses up to 3.6' or 1.1m, third one focuses up to 2.8', or .85m).
It's not a big difference, but you do get a slight bit more functionality for that extra dough.

Well I hope you look into my suggestion. And tell her the first photo with the trees is fantastic!

that price is doable. What's the best wa to review and compare these? I'm finding it difficult to find a comparison of all the compatible lenses but am sure it is online somewhere (like someone you can see specific compatible lenses for my specific camera, and what each lense does).

Also, what do u think about these ones:

https://www.amazon.com/Canon-EF-S-55-250mm-4-0-5-6-Telephoto/dp/B0011NVMO8

https://www.amazon.com/Canon-EF-S-55-250mm-F4-5-6-Cameras/dp/B00EFILVQU/ref=pd_sbs_421_t_1/134-5466414-1810016?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00EFILVQU&pd_rd_r=1dddaed1-c70b-4c21-b73a-7c43a7f32c18&pd_rd_w=JDAGN&pd_rd_wg=ZWFkR&pf_rd_p=5cfcfe89-300f-47d2-b1ad-a4e27203a02a&pf_rd_r=SSKMF1R1GSJFDCH4PDSG&psc=1&refRID=SSKMF1R1GSJFDCH4PDSG

https://www.amazon.com/Canon-55-250mm-Telephoto-International-Warranty/dp/B00EP71ETU/ref=pd_sbs_421_t_2/134-5466414-1810016?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00EP71ETU&pd_rd_r=1dddaed1-c70b-4c21-b73a-7c43a7f32c18&pd_rd_w=JDAGN&pd_rd_wg=ZWFkR&pf_rd_p=5cfcfe89-300f-47d2-b1ad-a4e27203a02a&pf_rd_r=SSKMF1R1GSJFDCH4PDSG&psc=1&refRID=SSKMF1R1GSJFDCH4PDSG


Sorry, for all the questions, just want to be sure. But for a second lens, what is your general suggestion? Telephoto, wide angle? Etc...

Dumb question: What’s the difference between these two lens?

https://smile.amazon.com/Canon-EF-S-55-250mm-4-0-5-6-Telephoto/dp/B0011NVMO8/ref=sr_1_17?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1541175274&rpp=bsm%3A%2F%2F%0D%0ACanon++++++++%5ECANON%7CEOS+REBEL%5EEOS+REBEL%7CT6%5ET6%7Cdropdown&sr=1-17

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EFILVQU/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=A34XSYLZECTRUU&psc=1

I’m looking for this size in a used lens. I’m a beginner, and have these two already.

EF 50mm f/1.8 STM

EF-S10-18mm F4.5-5.6 IS STM


And the 18-55 kit lens.

> I forgot to mention in my comment that I shoot a sports in terrible light a lot of the time.

In that case, a 7D Mark II might be another good option. Its high ISO performance is pretty damn close to the 5D2, bests the 80D, and it boasts a massively improved AF system compared to the old one that the 5D2 has (I believe it's the same AF system as the original 5D which is over a decade old at this point); you won't see a higher ISO improvement until you go another generation up to the 5D Mark III. Even if the 5D2 gave a tiny bit better high ISO performance, you'll likely want the superior AF system and burst rate that the 7D2 has: it's literally built for action and should be able to capture moments that the 5D2 can't.

It would be a great upgrade to what you have and will give much better high ISO performance than your T5, so it could be a nice stopgap while you save up more to upgrade your lenses at a later date. The body alone would be up there close to your budget at ~$1200-1300 used, but you'd have pretty much the best Canon sports body that isn't a 1D-series.

> it would be hard to find a good lens that covers everything from wide angle to a good sharp zoom for sport, like the 24-105

The 24-105 is a good zoom for flexibility, but it has its flaws. Many people experience zoom creep as the lens gets up there in age (if you tilt the lens down, it zooms in) and it's not super sharp wide open. If you're going with such a fast shutter speed for sports as well, you don't really need IS and could probably find a copy of a 70-200mm f2.8 non-IS for ~$1k which will help you keep your ISO down better than a 70-200mm f4L IS or 24-105mm f4L IS would, and you'll save money by not getting the IS which you wouldn't be using much anyways.

> but the 55-250 I simply cannot afford

Are we looking at the same lens? It's $300 new, and $240 refurbished by Canon.

Does anyone know of a fast 90mm lens designed for APS-C sensors?

I'm hoping to buy a macro lens for my APS-C camera, but I'm finding that there's not a lot of selection. The only EF-S lens I can find that seems to be made for macro is the Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM. I'd much rather get a lens in the 90mm range. I currently use the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM, and I can get decent macro results with a macro ring. But at f/4 max aperture, the bokeh isn't that great. I'd also like to use the macro lens for portraits as well, which would really benefit from a fast aperture. I could get a 60mm EF lens, and it would behave like a 96mm with the 1.6x crop factor, but it would also slow the aperture by 60% for depth-of-field.

I don't know if you'd be interested, but I'm actually selling this exact lens! For less than this. I'll attach the amazon link. This probably sounds super sketchy since I just joined Reddit and this is my first comment. Yikes. But i figured it was worth a shot.

But yes, you can buy this lens cheaper refurbished or even new.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/ol/B00EFILVQU/ref=mw_dp_olp?ie=UTF8&condition=all

^thats the list of 3rd party sellers selling that lens on amazon.

So my follow up question is when you are looking at a lens like Canon EF-S 55-250mm it lists what the lens would be size wise on a full frame camera not a APSC. On a APSC camera it would be a 88-400mm.

In the case where a lens would not be compatible with a full frame camera, why do camera companies list the lens size as the equivalent of what it is on a full frame camera?

Yes, or the newer version depending on how much you want to spend.

Ce que je me prévoyais d'acheter pour mon Canon :) pas trop $$ en plus. https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B00EFILVQU/ref=dp_ob_neva_mobile

Consider a cheap used Canon lens.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00EFILVQU/ref=dp_olp_all_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=all

Maybe the 55-250mm STM if you want to go longer? It's got IS and is a good buy from what I've seen. Otherwise you could look at the 17-50 2.8 from Sigma. It's getting more expensive, but if you like the focal length of your kit lens it's basically a better version of it. Lets in 4 times more light at 50mm than the kit lens and has IS also.

canon 55-250 STM. It's one of canon's gems, sharper than lenses 3x its price. it would make that 75-300 look like a potato. for only $100 more, you get a lens that's 12434645x better.

I'm looking into getting Canon's 55-250 IS STM lens. But I've noticed there's discrepancies between the prices that some companies are asking.

B & H has it for $299 USD, whereas it can be found on amazon for as little as $200 CAD. Henry's and Bestbuy have it on sale for $229. Though I noticed there they're marking them as almost 170 off.

Is this related to the 'best in glass' sale that canon is having right now?

Unanswered question from the previous megathread

Author /u/sunofsomething - (Permalink)

I'm looking into getting Canon's 55-250 IS STM lens. But I've noticed there's discrepancies between the prices that some companies are asking.

B & H has it for $299 USD, whereas it can be found on amazon for as little as $200 CAD. Henry's and Bestbuy have it on sale for $229. Though I noticed there they're marking them as almost 170 off.

Is this related to the 'best in glass' sale that canon is having right now?

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-EF-S-55-250mm-F4-5-6-Cameras/dp/B00EFILVQU/ref=sr_1_4?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1457039751&sr=1-4&keywords=canon+lens+55-250mm+stm


so the Canon EF-S 55-250mm F4-5.6 IS STM would work? seems people don't like the 70-300.

The Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM Lens is very well liked for wide angle landscape shots. Though it's an ultra wide - so maybe the Canon EF-S 55-250mm F4-5.6 IS STM Lens is better for you. Both of these lenses are very sharp for the price, and the STM autofocus will make it nice and quiet.

Take a look at sample images for both. And check out Keh.com for used copies of the lenses. They have an excellent reputation.

Thanks! Canon 55-250mm IS, a great value for a decent lens. I'm currently saving up for a more powerful telephoto.

These are the two in particular. The extra zoom of the sigma would be nice if they're both comparable otherwise.

Sigma 18-250mm f3.5-6.3 DC MACRO OS HSM for Canon Digital SLR Cameras http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008B48AAE/ref=cm_sw_r_an_am_at_ws_us?ie=UTF8

Canon EF-S 55-250mm F4-5.6 IS STM Lens for Canon SLR Cameras http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFILVQU/ref=cm_sw_r_an_am_at_ws_us?ie=UTF8

> Point to where in the FAQ it says if what I am asking is a good deal?

I linked the specific sections that relate exactly to what you're asking.

I mean if you can't do the math to understand that the T7i retails for $749, the EF-S 55-250 retails for $299, the bundle you linked is $899 and the FAQ tells you about bundles, what else could you possibly be asking?

You have also not specified a budget for "other options," which both the FAQ and rules say to do. The FAQ also tells you how to decide what kind of camera you should get regarding mirrorless vs. DSLR.

So yes, the FAQ fully answers your questions.