55-250 mm lens worth it?

[Indus Monk]

Is a 55-250 mm lens worth it? I have a eos-1200D and am currently using 18-55 mm lens. I did not get a 55-250 mm lens with my camera. I am mostly taking pictures of people and plants in landscape (mostly).

 

Please don't hurt yourself by doing a FACE DESK! and sorry if this ruined your day!

[Dredgy]

Well it's a very cheap lens, but for casual photography it is probably worth it. Think of it as a second kit lens

Then you'll have a focal range of 18-250mm, which is pretty much every length you'll ever need. Telephoto is great for both people and plants, though you will need reasonable lighting for that lens. If your outdoors everything will be fine.

EDIT: Get the STM version if you can spend the extra, will make focusing a lot quicker and quieter.

[ShadowCaptain]

As above

 

Another option is sell your kit lens, and buy a nice Sigma 18-200 with optical stabilisation - great for all scenarios and the lenes are pretty good

 

Not as cheap as the 55-200 though

[montyrule]

I have had the Canon 55-250mm F/3.5-5.6 IS and it was great. fast enough focus, incredibly light and has IS. The quality will be fine for a 1200D. I truly recommend that lens. The only reason I upgraded was 250mm was not long enough for me. 

[Klerk]

Do you really need all that zoom? If yes then it would be a decent lens, if not just get a proper 50mm prime lens which will be great for taking portraits and pictures of plants. You will also get much much better image quality.

[ShadowCaptain]

4 hours ago, Klerk said:

Do you really need all that zoom? If yes then it would be a decent lens, if not just get a proper 50mm prime lens which will be great for taking portraits and pictures of plants. You will also get much much better image quality.

 

I actually prefer to take portraits at 200mm (although on an admittedly better lens)

[Indus Monk]

8 hours ago, Klerk said:

Do you really need all that zoom? If yes then it would be a decent lens, if not just get a proper 50mm prime lens which will be great for taking portraits and pictures of plants. You will also get much much better image quality.

Is it better to use 50mm prime lens or an 18-55 lens for some closeup and mid shots?

[Klerk]

9 hours ago, AmbarChakrabarti said:

Is it better to use 50mm prime lens or an 18-55 lens for some closeup and mid shots?

A prime produces better image quality generally especially against a kit lens. Combine it with a pretty low aperture you can get pretty nice bokeh (background blur). If you really wanna get close to your subject you can try and get a macro lens or even some extension tubes (do a quick google search or extension tubes).

[ALwin]

9 hours ago, AmbarChakrabarti said:

Is it better to use 50mm prime lens or an 18-55 lens for some closeup and mid shots?

There is no right and wrong answers for this.  Some people use longer focal lengths for close up shots and others use shorter focal lengths.  It all depends on the look you are trying to achieve.

As a photographer, you should make the decisions yourself on what focal length to use.  I have over a dozen lenses with multiple different types covering similar focal lengths.