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platypus
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Registered: Oct 29, 2005
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Aug 12, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Light, mostly sharp, very usable IS feature, small filters, inexpensive, reasonable colour quality and contrast
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Cons:
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Rather plasticky, could be sharper at longer end, bit fragile
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Have had this one for about a year now and overall I am pleased with it. Certainly, considering the price I paid for it, it performs admirably but it's far from perfect.
Pretty sharp at shorter end from 55 to about 120mm, but really needs stopping down to f11 at longer and longest lengths. However, due to the IS this is practical. Only drawback is that you then don't have desired control over depth of field.
In dull conditions if I set my EOS40D to about 1000 ISO shooting AV mode @F11 then sharpen and reduce noise in DPP or preferably Lightroom I can get pretty nifty results. Have got the feeling that other samples are sharper than mine at longest focal length (I've seen internet samples suggesting this) but as I say I'm pretty satisfied for the money paid.
Considering the range it offers for little weight/bulk or financial outlay, I would recommend this.
This is the first IS lens I've owned and I have to say it makes quite a difference particularly on dull days or at the long end in all conditions.
Effectively you have a 400mm lens with IS which opens up quite a few creative possibilities.
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 Aug 12, 2009
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Dickers_2009
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Registered: Aug 7, 2009
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 3
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Review Date: Aug 10, 2009
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Recommend? |
Price paid: Not Indicated
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I was looking for a lens to continue where the 15-55 kit lens left off. Thinking that a Canon lens with AF and IS would cost the proverbial arm and leg, my search centred on Sigma and Tamron until, out of curiosity, I looked at the Canon website and found this little gem.
I have been using it for about three weeks mainly at Horse Trial Events and am absolutely delighted with the results. It has also been used for my other passions, flowers and wildlife to excellent effect. Even with the f4-5.6 limitation and the focus hunting problems in low light, for the money, it is almost impossible to fault it.
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Aug 10, 2009
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Dickers_2009
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Registered: Aug 7, 2009
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 3
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Review Date: Aug 10, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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For the price, it is extremely hard to beat this lens. It is light to carry around and is a good general purpose lens. The picture quality is excellent.
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Cons:
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Apart from the lump of lens sticking out the front when on full 250mm focal length, none.
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Aug 10, 2009
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ashy
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Registered: Jul 22, 2009
Location: N/A
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Aug 6, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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+ fairly effective IS system
+ very unique & useful zoom range
+ OMG, look @ the price tag!
+ fairly sharp! stopping down doesn't improve much though
+ chromatic aberration a.k.a color fringing is pretty well controlled
+ fairly quick & accurate AF under full light
+ small & light weight for a tele-lens
+ good color & contrast (personal preference)
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Cons:
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- normal focusing motor, easily hunts when light gets dim
- plasticky bayonet, so-so build quality
- focus markings are absent
- ....... but kill yourself if you ask for more from the price X D
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a F-ing great-bang-for-buck lens! gosh it's such an amazingly sharp little lens for its price! it's one among those few but finally, it is from Canon! thumbs up!
IMO it's just, really, a must-have in every Canon DSLR user's line-up X D
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Aug 6, 2009
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aladyforty
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Registered: Feb 3, 2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 977
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Review Date: Jul 31, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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small light fairly sharp
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Cons:
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non for the price
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I got this as a stop gap lens while I made my mind up over two different L lenses. It does produce some reasonably sharp images, I stop it down a little if possible. Its not L quality but there have been a few shots Ive taken that would rival my F4 L photos. The IS on this is VERY good, Ive shot images at 1/5s handheld. I have passed it on to my husband as he is more of a casual photographer and he is really impressed with it
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Jul 31, 2009
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HBOC
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Registered: Apr 3, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 840
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Review Date: Jul 17, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $200.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Price, Sharpness, lightweight, 58mm filters
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Cons:
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Plastic mount, really none at this price!
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I saw reviews about this little gem, and also saw pictures shot with this lens. I just HAD to have it. It was sold out at a lot of camera stores around where i live, but I finally found one.
I am VERY pleased with this lens! If i just looked at the pictures and not had known what lens they were shot with, I would have guessed an L lens! It is a MUST have for any Rebel/xD owner!
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Jul 17, 2009
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EOS20
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Registered: Mar 6, 2005
Location: Australia
Posts: 11981
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Review Date: May 14, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Cheap, Light weight, Sharp, IS, 58mm filters.
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Cons:
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Slow Auto focus, Hunts in low light, No full time manual focus, Front element rotates, Manual focus ring rotates when auto focusing. Some CA, No focus limiter, no lens hood included.
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Got this lens as a part of a 500D twin lens kit to use as a light weight kit.
This lens has good optical quality and is better then the other kit lenses I've owned (55-200 and 75-300 III). Build quality is ok, but not as good as Canon's "Gold Ring" consumer grade lenses.
The all plastic construction means it is very light weight, and when combined with one of Canon's plastic d/SLR's makes a nice light weight setup.
The IS does seem effective and offers about 2-3 f/ stops of hand hold ability.
The lens does seem to hunt allot in low light and the autofocus is noisy and a bit slow, if you plan on shooting anything that moves you should look at one of Canon's USM lenses.
The front element rotates when autofocusing, so using a polarising filter means you need to adjust the filter after you've focused.
There is some chromatic abbreviation, but this is easily corrected in post production.
There is no focus limiter so the lens can become very out of focus and also results in the lens hunting. But this is only a small issue and wouldn't really be a problem for the shooters that Canon is aiming this lens at.
Colours and sharpness seem good for a consumer lens and better then the older non-IS kit lenses.
Overall it's a decent lens for those looking for something lightweight, or are on a budget.
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May 14, 2009
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Diamond Dave
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Registered: Mar 16, 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 88
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Review Date: Apr 29, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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price, weight, size
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Cons:
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autofocus hunts in low light
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I'm new to the DSLR world, so take this for what it's worth. This has become my "walk-around" lens for outdoor shooting. I love the added range. Compared to the low-end Tamron and Sigma super zooms, the Canon is by far the best value. The IS is great. Don't even try to shoot without a tripod without the IS on.
The AF does hunt in low light, though. Like anything less than full sun. Not a major deal, just be aware of it.
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Apr 29, 2009
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dalephill2
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Registered: Aug 26, 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 485
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Review Date: Mar 6, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $210.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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it blows me away how darn sharp this lens is without adding any sharpness, I like it better than the 70-200f4
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Cons:
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little slow focusing, easy to work around
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This is an outstanding lens, the 70-200f4 and 2.8 have more saturation or added color, but this lens is on par with both as far as the sharpness, yet the 50-250 is way more versatle and the is gives me way more keepers, and the saturation or color that i do not get in it lightroom 2.2 fixes it right up, and for half the cost or less than the 70-200f4 its a bargain.
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Mar 6, 2009
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Tony Fletcher
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Registered: Oct 10, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 2
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Review Date: Jan 9, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $225.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Price, light
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Cons:
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None worth noting.
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After finally coming to grips with the fact that the 70-200 L is not in my immediate future, I purchased this lens to pick-up where my terrific 17-55mm EF-S lens leaves off.
I decided that a good real world test would be the NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field, January 1, 2009. This lens did not disappoint.
Take a look at the results: http://tonyfletcher.com/images/winterclassic
Note that the first few shots of the entire park were taken with the above mentioned 17-55mm EF-S. When we arrived at our seats, I switched to the 55-250mm.
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Jan 9, 2009
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aVOLanche
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Registered: Apr 7, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 139
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Review Date: Jan 1, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $229.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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sharp
cheap
VERY light
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Cons:
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none at this price!
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Canon finally is buiding worthy consumer lenses at bargain basement prices.This lens is terrific.
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Jan 1, 2009
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bilga
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Registered: Dec 17, 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Dec 22, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $200.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Very good image quality, IS works
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Cons:
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Little Jittery focus lock
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I have this lens for about 2 months now and I can say that this may be the best value lens. The image quality is actually very good. I'm not a professional but in last one year, I have tried a lot of highly rated lenses and I will say that with respect to image quality, this is surprisingly very good.
I had the highly regarded 70-200mm f/4 L lens and I will go on a limb to say that with respect to image quality and sharpyness, I can "almost" compare to the L lens with added IS which actually really works.
The one problem I noted with the lens is that there is some kind of jitter when you press the shutter. I'm not sure if this is how IS works or it is something else; but that results in focus shift a lot of times between when you press the shutter half-way to when you press it fully. If you wait for a split second and then press the shutter fully, the focus remains good.
Otherwise, highly recommended lens. Actually I compared the pics at 85mm with my 85mm prime lens and I was surprised at the quality. Of course, the prime lens just rocks when it comes to focusing.
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Dec 22, 2008
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