Canon EF-S 55 250mm F 4 5 6 IS II Review | 54 Data compared

The Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II is a lightweight and affordable telephoto zoom lens offering excellent value, delivering impressive sharpness and center clarity, particularly on APS-C bodies. Its 4-stop Image Stabilizer is a standout feature for handheld shooting, complementing the lens's compact design. ePHOTOzine While providing strong performance, the lens features a plastic mount and a less-than-ideal manual focus ring that lacks full-time override. Additional drawbacks include a rotating front element, lack of an included lens hood, and a somewhat cheap construction feel, though these are balanced by its budget price point.

The Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II is a budget-friendly telephoto zoom kit lens designed exclusively for APS-C crop-sensor bodies. Optically, the lens delivers impressive sharpness for its price point, achieving optimal tack-sharp results from corner to corner when stopped down to f/8 at 100mm. Chromatic aberration and corner vignetting are relatively well-controlled, with shading quickly rendering to insignificant levels by stopping down just one aperture setting. Furthermore, it boasts a highly effective image stabilization system at the wider focal lengths and a respectable 0.31x magnification ratio for close-up macro shooting. However, the lens has notable drawbacks rooted in its entry-level build and mechanics. It features an entirely plastic construction—including the lens mount—and lacks a distance scale or a USM motor, meaning users cannot manually override autofocus without switching out of AF mode. The front focus ring physically rotates during autofocus, which alters the orientation of attached 58mm filters and complicates the use of polarizers. Additionally, the lens exhibits visible pincushion distortion in the corners past 80mm, does not hold its focus position while zooming, and features an image stabilization...

The Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II is a highly versatile telephoto zoom lens designed specifically for Canon’s APS-C DSLR camera bodies, making it unsuitable for full-frame cameras. In lab MTF testing, the lens delivered excellent resolution numbers that exceeded 0.3 cycles-per-pixel at both 55mm and 135mm focal lengths, dropping only slightly at the 250mm maximum range. Photographers can achieve the absolute sharpest, optimum performance across all focal lengths by stopping down the aperture to f/8. The lens features an image-stabilization system that is completely silent and highly effective, alongside a reasonably fast autofocus mechanism. However, significant downsides include obvious color fringing across the entire zoom range on high-contrast targets, and a clearly audible autofocus motor that can distract users. Additionally, its physical design features a narrow front focusing ring that rotates during autofocus, making it difficult for photographers with larger hands to cradle the barrel without obstructing the movement.

The DXOMARK test review outlines that the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II, released in June 2011, achieves an overall DXOMARK score of 13, performing best at a focal length of 55mm and an aperture of f/4. When directly compared to its predecessor on a Canon EOS 7D, this newer iteration shows a minor evolutionary advancement, securing an overall score that is 2 points higher. The core physical characteristics such as geometric distortion (0.3%) and vignetting (-1 EV) remain entirely unchanged between the two generations. The major pros discovered during testing include better-controlled chromatic aberrations (averaging 7 µm) in the image corners and a light transmission score of 5.1 TStop, which is roughly 1/3 of a stop brighter on average than the older model. Conversely, the definitive cons center around its sharpness score of just 6 P-Mpix. DXOMARK notes that resolution capabilities did not improve over the original lens, showing identical and unimpressive sharpness figures of 42lp/mm and 44 lp/mm respectively.

The Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II is a budget-friendly, lightweight telephoto zoom lens designed specifically for APS-C bodies, offering an equivalent focal length of 88-400mm. Constructed from tough polycarbonate with a plastic mount, it introduces an upgraded second-generation optical image stabilizer that successfully delivers up to 4 stops of shutter speed advantage. During performance testing on a Canon EOS 600D, the lens produced consistently sharp images with a clear sweet spot at f/5.6 across all focal lengths. It exhibits minimal optical flaws in everyday scenarios, though deliberate torture testing reveals slight pincushion distortion past 100mm, corner darkening at 55mm when shot wide open, and some flare with purple fringing in strong backlighting. The review highlights several clear pros and cons regarding the lens's design and everyday usability. On the positive side, it delivers an excellent telephoto zoom range and great overall value for money, making it an ideal, affordable extension to a standard 18-55mm kit lens. However, the lens does have notable drawbacks, including a cheaper plastic lens mount and printed white markings that may fade over time with...

The Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM is a rugged, professional-grade telephoto zoom lens offering outstanding sharpness, contrast, and color, often rivaling professional 70-200mm lenses. Key advantages include a compact, rugged design, highly effective 4-stop Image Stabilization, and fast, silent Ring USM autofocus, making it excellent for handheld wildlife and outdoor photography. On the downside, the lens is notably dense for its size at 2.3 lbs (1,050g), features an unconventional zoom ring placement, and has a variable aperture of f/5.6 at the 300mm end, which limits low-light performance. Furthermore, the lens is not compatible with Canon teleconverters.