Customer Reviews:
 Excellent value June 14, 2008
JR Physics (Durham, NH)
15 out of 16 found this review helpful
This is a very good lens given its price. Like with any lens selection there
are compromises, and a more expensive lens is not necessarily better in all
respects. These are the main considerations for me:
* The lens comes with an excellent IS. One could probably save a hundred bucks
buying a non-IS lens in this focal range which may even be a bit better optically.
However, long range shots without IS are difficult, especially in low light. The
IS on this lens works very well, better compared to my Canon 28-135 IS and even
compared to the 100-400L. The IS really makes a lot of hand held shots possible
that one could not do with a non-IS lens.
* The lens is fairly cheaply built and has a plastic mount. However, the
trade-off is that it is also fairly small and light (the small size is also due
to the fact that it is a EF-S lens). My other tele-zoom is a 100-400L lens
which is built like tank, but it is also huge and weighs 3 pounds. In many cases
one does not want to carry that much weight around, and that is where this lens
comes in really handy.
* Image quality: No, it cannot quite match the 100-400L, but it comes surprisingly
close. Of course, the 100-400L costs 5 times as much. Lack of good color
saturation is the most notable deficiency. On the other hand images are very sharp.
For outdoors one should get a hood, there is quite a bit of glare in shots with
frontal sunlight.
* Zoom range: the 55-250mm range makes the lens quite versatile. 250mm is long
enough for most outdoor sports, many nature shots, people from afar, etc. At the
other end 55mm is still good for close action, for example at a soccer field.
That is almost a factor 2 shorter compared to 100-(300/400) lenses.
It also provides a nice overlap with walk-around lenses, like the Canon 28-135 IS.
* Aperture: F4-5.6 is nothing to brag about, however, a faster lens would also
have to be much bigger, heavier, and costlier. And as long as you objects don't
move too much the IS makes the lens effectively faster. If Canon's 4 stop
improvement holds it would be equivalent to a non-ISF1-1.4, although F1.4-2 is
probably more realistic. A F1.4-2 with that focal range would have to be big,
heavy, and expensive, if it even existed.
In summary, this is an excellent second lens to complement a short zoom or a
walk-around lens. Very versatile and a lot of bang for the buck. In my case,
even though I own a 100-400L I still keep this lens because it is often more
practical because of the shorter focal length and the smaller size.
 Misleading advertizing March 5, 2008
Srulik
14 out of 73 found this review helpful
Amazon adveritize this product as "$400.00 $299.99 7 Used & new from $287.00"
while Canon told that retail suggested price $299.
IS is the way to go April 17, 2008
C. Oleksyk (uxbridge, ma)
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
okay so granted i just got this lens today and have limited use with it but i also own a canon 70-200 L series lens WITHOUT stabilization and the difference to me was immediately apparent. i am not one to carry around a tripod which is what you need with my other lens in order to get a clear shot all of the time. yes this lens does feel much cheaper and it was! but the point and shoot shots came out much clearer. i did not notice any color differences between the two lens as mentioned in a previous review. and i also gained mm on both ends which fits nicely with the kit lens. i am so satisfied that after one day i have already placed my other lens for sale on ebay. any takers!
Decent for the price April 3, 2008
Kevin (Chicago, IL)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
I just got this lens a little over a month ago and have been steadily using it since. Compared to other lenses I've bought, it's a good deal for the price.
On the downside, if you're used to a lens that can go to 300mm this may not be the lens for you. I have to say sometimes I miss the extra 50mm. On the upside, the image stabilization works great and you get some really clear action shots that other lenses would blur.
One annoying thing is the autofocus - in lower light, it takes a while to focus and often changes the zoom and loses your original shot. Gets kind of irritating, but that's what I get for using autofocus like a chump. :-)
Great lens for the price May 29, 2008
L. Lim (SF Bay Area)
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
This is one of Canon's cheapest lens. The lens mount is plastic, the AF is slow, the front element rotates and extends when focusing, it is somewhat soft at the long end, and contrast is OK to good.
Note the part about front element extending. This means that when packing the lens away, you will most likely need to switch to MF and then turn the focusing ring to retract the lens to the most compact size.
So why 4 stars?
Low price, light weight makes it a great lens to bring on a casual trip when you need telephoto occasionally. Has IS (which works, mostly) and decent magnification (0.31x at full zoom). Images are reasonably sharp.
I wouldn't bring this lens (except as a backup) if I'm going on a safari. But at this price, I wouldn't hesitate getting one just for occasional telephoto in good light.
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