Those who have 55-200, was it worth getting the 55-250?

Beetles wrote:

I had both, found the 55-250 to be visibly better than the 55-200 at longer focal lengths and sold the 55-200. That might have been with an m2 or maybe m6 mi. I also find the 55-250 very well balanced on the M6mii. I easily carry it with two fingers ready to use on a long day/walk. I got the Kenko teleplus, tested it, found the quality poor on my copy or combination, and have never used it again. It also added weight and slowed focus, for no benefit to me over cropping

The basic 4-element MC4 Kenko Teleplus, if that's what your TC was, isn't great optically. Also the electronics don't play nice with the M autofocus system.

I use the 'better' (older) 5-element Kenko Teleplus 1.5x SHQ for the EF (not EF-S mount) which required modifying the rear mount of the EF-S 55-250 IS STM to allow EF accessories. I also removed the internal chip from the TC, making the electronics straight pass-through.

AF and IS work great, just like the lens without the TC -- the only issue is that the camera doesn't correctly report the combo's revised focal length and aperture, but shows only what the lens was set at. Although the image is very slightly lightly softer with the TC, it isn't much and a little extra sharpening in post and a little more CA correction compensates for it well, and the result is nearly as good as the lens alone, and definitely better than shooting without the TC and cropping, even with the M6ii's high 32 MP resolution with the lens wide open.

I believe part of the problem people have using teleconverters with this lens is that you have to correct the combo manually in post-processing for best results, as Canon DPP 4, DxO Photolab, and other image processing programs won't have the lens correction settings for it.

For me a 2x MC7 TC with Kiron optics provides little benefit above the Kenko Teleplus 1.5x SHQ for full pixel-resolution shots, although it is very useful and more than good enough for 4k resolution video.

Having said all that, and using my 'discounted' setup for 2 years now.... I've had my eye on the Sigma Contemporary 150-600mm f5-6.3 lens in EF mount, but found it a little too pricey for my budget. I do try bird & BIF photography from time to time, and the 55-250 + 1.5x TC (for a 375mm f8 lens) isn't quite bright or long enough for those) I also do a lot of astrophotography and really could use something more like the Sigma's specs for deep sky galaxies and nebulae on my iOptron SkyGuider Pro tracking mount. From what I've seen the Siggy should be even sharper than my 55-250 + 1.5x TC combo and will have much more reach.

FInally this week Wednesday the Siggy 150-600 C went on a one-day sale at B&H for $699.... with a 6-year warranty, and that being close to the eBay 'used' price.... I finally took the plunge, and am looking forward to filling the 'last gap' in my lens lineup.

The Siggy 150-600 is big and heavy though, so I"m sure the EF-M 55-200 or EF-S 55-250 will continue to go with me frequently as the 'light' telephoto option if I'm not specifically shooting wildlife.