The best kit lens? Canon 55-250mm IS STM review

I initially planned to sell off the kit lenses that came with my 80D when I upgraded from the 60D, but to my surprise I found myself using the included 55-250mm lens more than just about any other lens in my kit! My only real complaint about it would be the dark, variable aperture.

In addition to the video review, I've published a full written review on my blog:

http://illuminationsfromtheattic.blogspot.com/2017/10/canon-55-250mm-is-stm-f4-56-review.html

I was the first one here to preach the gospel of this lens 45 months ago on this seminal thread:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3641158#forum-post-53318866

IoannisZ wrote:

Hi! I have an eos m3 with a 18-55mm which I like very much. Most of my photos are in the 55 position and I search for a tele for street photography (from a safe distance). Do you recommend this lense?

EF-S 55-250 STM will work fine, but is a bit big relative to your M3. EF-M 55-200 is much smaller, possibly making it a better choice, as it sounds like you don’t need the 200-250mm range and not drawing attention to the camera seems to matter for you.

I thought for what it was, the original version of this lens was okay. I still have it but it started looking a bit hazy at some point. Not sure if I bumped it, but something wasn't quite right. The STM version is better from what I read, which is good.

The Canon kit lenses are mostly decent. All the newer STM kit lenses are not bad. I think the main issue is the variable aperture, but if you can deal with that, you have a capable lens.

rmexpress22 wrote:

I thought for what it was, the original version of this lens was okay. I still have it but it started looking a bit hazy at some point. Not sure if I bumped it, but something wasn't quite right. The STM version is better from what I read, which is good.

The Canon kit lenses are mostly decent. All the newer STM kit lenses are not bad. I think the main issue is the variable aperture, but if you can deal with that, you have a capable lens.

My copy of the non-STM 55-250 IS II was pretty respectable when shooting things only a few meters away, but became rather soft when focusing at objects more than 20-30m away, which was a problem because such focal lengths are most useful at shooting distant objects. The STM turned out to be much more consistent at different distances.

Incidentally, I was rather disappointed with the autofocusing and IQ of the STM when attached to an EOS R, which was interesting because I had great experience with the same lens when paired with APS-C bodies (M2, M5, 7D mark II, T4i).

quiquae wrote:

IoannisZ wrote:

Hi! I have an eos m3 with a 18-55mm which I like very much. Most of my photos are in the 55 position and I search for a tele for street photography (from a safe distance). Do you recommend this lense?

EF-S 55-250 STM will work fine, but is a bit big relative to your M3. EF-M 55-200 is much smaller, possibly making it a better choice, as it sounds like you don’t need the 200-250mm range and not drawing attention to the camera seems to matter for you.

Personal preference differ sometimes. I have the EF-s 18-55 STM and EF-s 55-250 STM. Both bought for fun out of curiosity.  Both are surprisingly good, but I hardly use the lenses as I have other option to choose from. The 18-55 is usually in the closet and the 55-250 normally lives with my dad. I do sometimes use the 55-250 STM on an M5 though. A low weight "100-400mm" hiking alternative (to FF 100-400mm). Really like the combo. I find the somewhat larger size a plus compared to the EF-m 55-200 as it makes the combo better to handhold and more stabile.