Canon 55-250mm f4-5.6 is EF-S Lens

It's as described. Now the real fun begins...once I receive my camera!

Great price for Canon gear!

First things first:If you own a pricey, high-performance sports car, you don't saddle it with tires made for a sensible family sedan because, gosh, they were such a great deal. You'll be sorely disappointed in the results, and you'll look like a dang fool in the process.Similarly, if you own a sensible family sedan, you don't throw a bunch of money at fat, sticky tires made for a sports car to put on it in the hopes you'll feel like Mario Andretti eyeing checkered flags. See outcome above.In other words, pro-quality glass goes on top-notch, full-frame cameras. APS-C cameras like the Rebel series get the EF-S glass. That way, everybody should be happy.That out of the way, on to this lens.I had no qualms ordering this lens owing to my experience with other of Canon's more popularly-priced offerings. My Rebel T3 has proven to be a gracious amount of camera for the price of a song (or close to it). Plus, my experiences with my Canon EF-S 18-135mm and 50mm f1.8, and past experience with their Powershot SX30 "superzoom," has taught me that Canon knows how to pack a fair amount of punch into modestly-priced glass.So when my 55-250mm arrived at my workplace, today, I tore out of the office as soon as possible to take advantage of the remaining daylight to see what this baby could do. And I'm not at all disappointed.Even at twilight in my local cemetery, the IS held true for full-zoom shot after full-zoom shot. The darker things got, the more the auto-focus hemmed and hawed, but that was to be expected. When this happens, I look for the sharpest amount of contrast at the focus point to help the lens out, or know it's time to go to manual focus. These are quite the handier options to having to haul out the tripod (not that I don't value having my tripod for when it's absolutely necessary, but it does tend to cut the feeling of spontaneity one gets hand shooting).Reviewing the results on my computer screen, I am thrilled at the amount of detail this lens can capture, and at the remarkable DOF and purdy bokeh it can generate. I can tell we're going to be best buds for years to come.And let's not forget -- the ostensible 250mm reach translates into 400mm when multiplied by the 1.6X crop factor. Say hello to the craters on the moon.Prior to purchasing this lens, I was toying first with the idea of the Canon 75-300mm lens. But the lack of IS was a deal breaker, for me, and I'm not in a position to spring for the IS version of that lens.Then I toyed with the idea of a 2X converter. But that's an automatic two full stops down on the max aperture of the lens you couple it with. Like the lack of IS on the 75-300mm, this just seemed like unnecessary baggage to burden myself with.And so the 55-250mm with IS became the sweet voice of reason.Finally: My goal with my pictures is mood and effect, so I believe heavily in the transformative powers of Photoshop. However, I've posted some unadorned shots made with this lens as a taste of what it can deliver.

The Canon EF-S 55-250mm is a perfect choice if you shoot mostly wide angle shots and don't want to blow a ton of money on a telephoto zoom lens that you only use occasionally. This lens offers you reasonably sharp photos at a very, very good price. Here's a more indepth evaluation of this lens.- SharpnessThe sharpness is on par with that of the 18-55mm kit lens. In the right conditions, it's almost (but not quite) pro-grade. For a budget lens, it's really about as sharp as they come. I think it's safe to say in terms of sharpness this lens will satisfy all but the most fastidious of prosumers.You best bet for seeing how sharp this lens is is to seek out professional review sites that show you a 100% crop of pictures taken with this lens and then decide for yourself.- Chromatic Aberration (CA)In bright sunlight, where chromatic aberration is most pronounced, the chromatic aberration on this lens is barely noticeable and probably imperceptible to the untrained eye. In more even lighting, this lens shows no signs of CA.- Auto-Focus (AF)The auto-focus is fast enough for still subjects, but for very fast-moving subjects, it's a hit-or-miss. I gave this lens a good workout shooting cheetahs running close to their top speeds at the Animal Ark, Reno, NV (OT: cheetahs can run at speeds of 70 mph or greater). Most of my shots came out blurry (and that's not due to motion blur) because the auto-focus wasn't fast enough.Like the kit lens, the auto-focus has trouble in lowlight conditions. It also has trouble with surfaces that lack texture. The motor whirs back and forth trying to lock on to a focus. It can be a little annoying at times.- Image Stabilization (IS)The image stabilization is amazing, even at 250mm. Interestingly, you can hear a click when the image stabilization mechanism kicks in. For handheld shot, especially at the 250mm end, the IS is immensely helpful for steadying your shots. I'm very impressed. (Bear in mind, too, the rule of thumb: the shutter speed should be at least as fast as the reciprocal of the focal length.)- Internal Focus (IF)The lack of IF would not ordinarily be a problem unless you're using circular polarized filters. The turning of the barrel throws the filter out of adjustment, so you would have to readjust the filter after the subject is brought into focus.- BuildIn terns of build quality, the lens is built a lot like the kit lens. There are complaints that it looks plasticky - maybe so - but it doesn't look cheap to be sure. It's lightweight but it feels well-built and sturdy. The zoom ring feels tight, but not overly so, so there is no zoom creep.- AlternativeJust FYI, the Canon EF 70-300mm is reputed to be sharper than this lens. You might want to give this lens some consideration if the focal range is right and if you can afford to splurge a little.---I suspect the Canon EF-S 55-250mm is the best mid-telephoto zoom lens you can get at this price. For the budget conscious, and for people who need telephoto zoom only once in a while, this lens is a very good choice.

I got this lens refurbished. It came wrapped in a plain box. I took it out this morning and used it and it was just okay. I downloaded the manual for this from the Canon site and wow was I surprised at what this lens does. The photo I made is with the telescope out to a tree limb at least 56 feet away from my porch. I can see the details of the limb like never before. I didn't even need a tripod to get that sharp and I wear glasses with bifocals in bifocals, making it hard to even find what I want to photo. This is amazing.