Photo answers review
Photo answers rating 
Features and handling
The unusual 55-250mm focal length range of this telephoto lens butts up neatly with Canon’s 18-55mm standard kit lens. Between them, the two optics offer EOS users an uninterrupted range of 18-250mm – that’s 29-400mm once you factor in the EOS system 1.6x crop factor. (This is an EF-S lens, so it shouldn’t be used on D-SLRs with full frame or APS-H sized sensors.)
As with most new Canon lenses it features IS (Image Stabilisation), effective down to a claimed four shutter speed stops and making this a useful tool for low-light work, noting that the maximum aperture is f/4 at 55mm and f/5.6 at 250mm.
Designed as a companion to the standard Canon kit lens, the 55-250mm is not as flimsy as its shorter sibling, offering a proper focus ring and a large zoom ring with a smooth action.
However, as you’d expect from a budget lens, the mount is mostly plastic, which keeps weight and price down but also means it’s more vulnerable to wear and tear. Annoyingly, the lens hood is optional (an extra £18). While this keeps the price down, most of the cheapest lenses from other manufacturers come supplied with a lens hood and we think it’s essential.
Performance
Over the years, photographers have become inured to the fact that budget zoom lenses offer little in the way of image quality. Happily, this lens has done much to alter our perceptions.
It’s surprising that USM (Ultra Sonic Motor) is not featured, though autofocus is fast and quieter than expected. Image stabilisation proves useful for low light photography and on bright days, too – especially at the 250mm lens end where any camera shake is at its most magnified.
Edge sharpness is excellent throughout the zoom and aperture settings and the centre of the frame is extremely sharp, too. There’s a slight amount of barrel distortion evident at the 55mm end of the lens, and only marginal pincushion distortion at the long end. Colour fringing is well controlled. It’s only when you start shooting heavily backlit subjects that you really start to notice.
Through the testing process we didn’t experience any vignetting (darker patches around the corners of the frame) although we can’t say for sure whether the same is true when using the optional lens hood.
Verdict
Performance is impressive, and image quality is unbelievably good. At a snip over £200, this lens rates pretty highly. It may not look quite as impressive as the pro spec lenses but most of us in the Photo Answers office would happily sacrifice style for pin-sharp results.
Specification
Focal length: 55-250mm (effective 88-400mm)
Maximum aperture: f/4-5.6
Minimum focus: 1.1m
Filter size: 58mm
Dimensions: 70x108mm
Weight: 390g
Mounts: Canon EF-S
Contact: www.canon.co.uk