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Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS Lens $249

  • Last Updated:
  • Jun 8th, 2014 10:06 am
24 replies
Deal Expert
Oct 27, 2003
18402 posts
9704 upvotes
Greater Toronto Area
This is a great lens (a personal favorite of mine), but cold price. It's often under $200 tax in on Amazon.ca
Deal Fanatic
Jan 18, 2010
7725 posts
5238 upvotes
Canada
Can you use it for portraits?
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Feb 9, 2009
2893 posts
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GTA
If you want to sell your lens, post it in the BST.

Thanks.
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Sep 5, 2011
1447 posts
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Toronto
iHateShaw wrote: Can you use it for portraits?
Not really. 55mm on a crop is a bit long plus the aperture doesn't allow for the bokeh or background blur or sharpness required for portraits. Obviously it will still take a picture but usually portraits are done with a 50mm or 35mm lens with at least a f1.4 or f1.8 aperture.
Deal Fanatic
Jan 18, 2010
7725 posts
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Canada
BrianRFD wrote: Not really. 55mm on a crop is a bit long plus the aperture doesn't allow for the bokeh or background blur or sharpness required for portraits. Obviously it will still take a picture but usually portraits are done with a 50mm or 35mm lens with at least a f1.4 or f1.8 aperture.
I don't think 35mm is a preferred focal length for portraits...... On a crop sensor 50mm would be good.
But with a telephoto lens you should still be able to get decent bokeh if you use a long focal length. Obviously you would have to stand away from the subject, but it should still work (outside). I was asking if someone had first-hand experience with this technique though.......

Edit: Found some examples. http://sdigitalphotography.blogspot.ca/ ... 250mm.html
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Dec 13, 2006
623 posts
31 upvotes
Any deals on the newer 55-250mm STM? I have the 70D. The auto focus for video is amazing but I need the STM version for complete silent and smooth focus.
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Oct 19, 2003
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papaniad wrote: on Amazon.ca
Has been this price on Amazon perpetually.
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May 28, 2011
1139 posts
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I have one of these lenses im selling if anyones interested. prob be gone this weekend if you done pm today or tmo tho
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Deal Expert
Oct 27, 2003
18402 posts
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Greater Toronto Area
BrianRFD wrote: Not really. 55mm on a crop is a bit long plus the aperture doesn't allow for the bokeh or background blur or sharpness required for portraits. Obviously it will still take a picture but usually portraits are done with a 50mm or 35mm lens with at least a f1.4 or f1.8 aperture.
I use it for (casual, not studio) portraits all the time, but I'm an amateur. It's actually a very sharp lens and most of the time it takes sharper pics than my 50 mm f1.8.

You can get a reasonable background blur if you so desire. No, it won't compete with a professional and dedicated portrait lens but telephotos are a great, cheap poor man's portrait lens.
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Jun 17, 2013
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Kurtz7834 wrote: I use it for (casual, not studio) portraits all the time, but I'm an amateur. It's actually a very sharp lens and most of the time it takes sharper pics than my 50 mm f1.8.

You can get a reasonable background blur if you so desire. No, it won't compete with a professional and dedicated portrait lens but telephotos are a great, cheap poor man's portrait lens.
It's definitely not the ideal portrait lens (especially not for use indoors given the focal length) but should work fine outdoors. It won't give you the same results as say, the 70-200's would but those are also not $200.
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Deal Guru
Jul 20, 2006
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$184 at Amazon.ca now. Again, tax and shipping included.
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Mar 21, 2006
3804 posts
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iHateShaw wrote: Can you use it for portraits?
The "ideal" general/multipurpose lens to get would be a 18-200mm, but those sell for no less than $550-600. :( 18mm would allow you to take portraits, yet the 200mm will give you some reach if you needed to take some more shots from far away.
Newbie
Aug 23, 2011
44 posts
11 upvotes
TORONTO
guardianflash wrote: Any deals on the newer 55-250mm STM? I have the 70D. The auto focus for video is amazing but I need the STM version for complete silent and smooth focus.
Price Match Futureshop with Simon Camera will get the price to come down to 298+Tax. I just bought it two weeks ago. Really happy.
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User avatar
Aug 3, 2011
418 posts
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Toronto
This is a general lens. If you are doing occasional portraits, then yes. But if you are doing a lot, then I wouldn't pick this lens (you need f/2.4 or lower in general).
Newbie
May 7, 2014
5 posts
Quebec, QC
Right. It can be used for fairly decent portraits, especially outside when you can have the extra distance so you can use it at the long end. The nifty fifty can also be used for a lot of that (but ideally not headshots). Not that it really compares to having a bunch of long fast prime lenses (like the 85, 135 or 200) and I wouldn't run a portrait studio business with it... It's not as nice as the fancy f/2.8 L glass either but those are both expensive and heavy. It's a fantastic lens for the price. It's cheap, sharp, it has image stabilisation and it's not half bad at macro either. It's good enough that I hardly ever bother lugging around the old 70-200 f/2.8 anymore. The newer STM lens might focus a bit quicker but it costs twice as much. It might still be a good deal, if you shoot sports or such.

The deal here isn't very hot though. The 55-250mm IS II is $150 year-round on ebay (try item # 300899899058).

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