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Review by Transfer on 15 August 2008

Individual review
Build Quality	2
Reliability	4
Sharpness	5
Bokeh	4
Other Image Quality	3
AF Accuracy	3
AF Speed	3
AF (difficult conditions)	3
Value for money	5

Pros:  Reliable, sharp, super fun to use.
Cons:  AF speed is not overly slow, but it certainly isn't fast. No full time manual.

I've had this lens for about 4 months and originally intended to purchase a 70-200 f/4 IS L with teleconverter in about a year. After using this lens with great results, I'm gonna hold on to it for quite some time. I don't see any good reason personally to upgrade except for constant aperature and faster AF. I like the 55-250 focal length too.

I really can't recommend this lens enough if you're on a budget and can't buy L glass with IS.

I started this forum thread and many of my pics can be seen here: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=492427

Review by lonelyjew on 20 May 2008

Individual review
Build Quality	2
Reliability	4
Sharpness	4
Bokeh	4
Other Image Quality	3
AF Accuracy	3
AF Speed	4
AF (difficult conditions)	2
Value for money	5

Pros:  IS unit is outstanding, very sharp for the price, autofocus is pretty fast
Cons:  build quality, autofocus can get confused and hunt at the long end on certain subjects

I'll start off with the cons

The build quality is bad. The lens, excluding the glass, is all plastic. It's above the kit lens but that isn't saying much. Unlike the kit it has a focusing ring however I don't think it's all that great and isn't too useful. The autofocus is fairly fast but it has failed me quite a few times when shooting into trees on the long end. It can be very frustrating to nearly have the focus on a bird only to have it hunt away. I have lost a fair amount of decent shots of birds to this problem. The lens also doesn't have the best contrast to it but this, at least in my experience, is an easy fix.

Now, with that out of the way, there is much more good to this lens than bad. The IS unit is simply amazing. I've gotten a usable shots with this lens at 250mm on a 1.6x crop sensor at 1/10s!(theoretically I should have shot at 1/400s) . I'd say it compensates 3-4 f/stops however. The lens is also very sharp, not L sharp but still very good. The autofocus, though as said above, isn't completely reliable is pretty fast. The lenses price is what makes it such a great value however. I've also gotten some very good bokeh out of this lens as well. At under $300 there is really nothing that compares.

Here are a few sample images:
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w148/superlonelyjew/pics/photography/flowerbird.jpg
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w148/superlonelyjew/pics/photography/flying.jpg
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w148/superlonelyjew/pics/photography/fuzzball.jpg

Review by jmarshall on 20 May 2008

Individual review
Build Quality	2
Reliability	3
Sharpness	3
Bokeh	4
Other Image Quality	3
AF Accuracy	3
AF Speed	2
AF (difficult conditions)	3
Value for money	5

Pros:  Excellent value for money, good image quality
Cons:  Plastic lens, rotating front ring, no full-time manual focus

First up, let me say, this is one of the best value Canon lenses. While it's no 70-200 2.8, unlike the other cheap telephoto zooms, this lens actually delivers decent image quality, with proper sharpness and contrast across the range.

It's at least the equal of the 75-300 IS, for less than half the price, and the tradeoff of 15 mm on the short end for the 50mm at the long end is well worth it on a 1.6 crop camera.

With the slow max aperture, the IS is an absolute must, and it does work well, shooting shutter speeds down to 1/30.

The build is typical cheap Canon style, although a step up from the $100-range lenses. I'm not too confident in the durability, and miss full-time manual focus.

If you are after a telephoto zoom, and want the best value for money, this is it!