Lens Review: Canon EF-S 55-250mm F/4-5.6 IS

Canon EF-S 55-250mm F/4-5.6 IS

TECHNOLOGY

Bokeh: The 55-250 has a circular aperture opening for more-rounded out-of-focus highlights which is nice.

Auto-focus: Micro Motor AF (autofocus) delivers relatively slow AF but focus accuracy is not a problem. Of course, being a narrow aperture lens (relatively deep depth of field) helps in this regard. FTM (Full Time Manual) focusing is not available. Actually, the manual indicates that you should avoid touching the focus ring during AF as it physically turns.

Colors: Colors produced by the 55-250mm F/4-5.6 are decent for a general user although the contrast is a bit low.

Chromatic Aberration (CA):  Flare and CA are very well controlled and color cast is not noticed.

Magnification: The Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS Lens has a short MFD (Minimum Focus Distance) which yields a very high MM (Maximum Magnification) for a non-macro-specific lens.

WHAT YOU’LL LIKE ABOUT IT:

1. Value for money
2. Light
3. Decent image quality
4. Image Stabilization at this cost

WHAT YOU WON’T LIKE ABOUT IT

1. Not very sharp at long focal length
2. Slow AF

The Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS lens is from the EF-S series lenses from Canon and can be used only on APSC/1.6 FOVCX bodies. The 55-250mm is a light and economical lens from Canon with a very useful and long focal length; hence enabling users to use it as a brilliant general walkaround purpose lens.

The build quality on the Canon 55-250 F/3.5-5.6 IS is on the lower side because the lens is made of plastic.  That said, it is not very bad. The zoom ring is reasonably smooth (but stiff) and there is only a minor amount of play in the rings and barrel.

The one great feature the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS Lens has beyond just the basics is a 4-stop Image Stabilizer with vertical and horizontal auto-panning detection. With IS switched on, a half-press of the camera shutter release results in a much less jittery view through the viewfinder.

CONCLUSION:

The Canon 55-250 F/3.5-5.5 IS is a very inexpensive IS tele-zoom Lens. The 55-250mm focal length range this lens provides is very useful. The lens may not be the sharpest lens out there, but for the general beginner/user who infrequently wants such a zoom lens, the 55-250 ticks all the boxes of being affordable, light and decently sharp.

We recommend this lens to the beginner who wishes to explore photography after being over with the kit 18-55mm lens.