[JMan09]

Amazon.com: Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras: Camera & Photo
I need a good zoom and i saw this with the IS. Looks good for the price. The only thing is I have to wait until May 20th for it to ship. But I don't really need it until June so i can wait. What are your opinions on this lens?

[Buckaroo]

I'm not an expert, but that looks like a good deal to me.

[iMOTOR]

It might be a decent lens but I would check to see if your camera still does autofocus at 5.6, or it might say in your manual that autofocus performance is diminished at small apertures. The other thing is, this lens will be worthless if you ever switch to a full frame camera.

[imitchellg5]

Seems to be a pretty good lens. Great price though, I'd go for it I suppose.

[Jawbone54]

It doesn't seem like a bad lens, but forget about using it indoors. You'll get nothing but shutter lag when shooting inside. It should be pretty good outside though, and that's not a terrible price. I do wish there were some reviews posted on Amazon.

[Peter]

whats your budget

[JMan09]

I'm getting a Rebel XTi with the 18-55 kit lens today. I mainly want it for travel, outdoors and baseball games. And my budget is about $300.

[keltorsori]

It's a good deal, but not a good lens. If you want to see what others think about this lens or any other, I highly recommend checking Fred Miranda's Reviews section FM Reviews - Main Index

Outdoors this lens might be OK, but you'll find the actual performance pretty weak (not so sharp and certainly not very contrasty). If you need the telephoto, save up a little more money and get a prime lens like the Canon 100mm f2 USM (FM Reviews - EF 100mm f/2 USM). With the 1.6x multiplier on the XTi, it's a 160mm effective, which is pretty good. As well, prime's will force you to become a better photographer: you have to think a lot more about framing, etc.

Remember that 250mm sounds sexy, but is going to be virtually impossible to handhold, especially with the 5.6 minimum aperture at 250mm (slower shutter speeds) and the quality is going to be disappointing.

[Buckaroo]

Originally Posted by JMan09 

I'm getting a Rebel XTi with the 18-55 kit lens today. I mainly want it for travel, outdoors and baseball games. And my budget is about $300.

Why don't you wait for the new Rebel XSi? I don't know when it is going to be released. It's 12mb.

[Peter]

megapixel is irrelevant

[JMan09]

I was thinking about it, but the price of the XTi was better and i not really care about or need the extra 2mp and the live view on the lcd. There's probably more I'm missing but I like my XTi.

[Buckaroo]

Originally Posted by JMan09 

I was thinking about it, but the price of the XTi was better and i not really care about or need the extra 2mp and the live view on the lcd. There's probably more I'm missing but I like my XTi.

I have an Xti and I love it. I tried a (I forget the exact model number) EOS 20. I liked it, but it was too big and bulky for my taste. After 8 months Costco gave me my money back and I waited until the Xti came out.

Will I upgrade, I doubt it, but I am thinking about buying that lens for $299.

[IceEnclosure]

Is this sort of equivalent to this lens from Nikon? It gets great reviews, but doesn't do 250mm. I picked mine up for extra cheap and I love it.

I think with the OP's needs in mind(outdoors, ball games, etc) this lens should perform well. But where's the reviews, is it brand spankin' new?

[Railroader]

As has been stated earlier, that lens is pretty much an outdoors only lens. you'd do better getting something from Sigma like this: FM Reviews - 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 DC OS or one from Tamron like this one: FM Reviews - AF 18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 XR Di II LD Aspherical (IF)

Alas, they cost a little more, both will be a little better build quality than the EF-S lens from Canon.

[Buckaroo]

Do these lenses have Image Stabalization? I think the Canon one does, which makes it a good deal for a Canon lens.

Originally Posted by Railroader 

As has been stated earlier, that lens is pretty much an outdoors only lens. you'd do better getting something from Sigma like this: FM Reviews - 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 DC OS or one from Tamron like this one: FM Reviews - AF 18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 XR Di II LD Aspherical (IF)

Alas, they cost a little more, both will be a little better build quality than the EF-S lens from Canon.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Buckaroo 

Do these lenses have Image Stabalization? I think the Canon one does, which makes it a good deal for a Canon lens.

There's more to a lens than image stabilization.