A damaged EF-S 55-250mm lens: Repair or upgrade?

[eihubbard]

I damaged my Canon EFS 55-250mm lens.  Should I attempt to repair it or purchase a Canon EF 75-300mm lens ($160.00) for my EOS Rebel T3?

[shadowsports]

Greetings,

Not sure what the extent of the "damage" is, but the lens itself can be replaced used for $100 and new for $250. 

I'm inclined to tell you to replace it with a used copy.  

The EF 75-300 is a low quality, entry level optic.  You'd be much better off with the EF 70-300 USM II. It can be had used as well.

[Ron888]

Where is the damage?I've repaired lenses in the past so may be able to tell you whether its worth trying.

Also Rick is right about 75-300 lens.It isnt very good.I very much prefer the 55-250

[eihubbard]

The auto-focus no longer works.  The lens works fine on manual-focus.

[Ron888]

Ok.To repair that i think it would need a lot of disassembly.It wouldn't be easy

[eihubbard]

Which means it might be a bit expensive.  Thanks for narrowing my options.

[ebiggs1]

Always check the used market before you decide on repair or replace or upgrade. You must know the prices unless you don't care and just want a certain lens. As to which you will have to make that decision. I know a lot of people that are perfectly happy with their ef 75-300mm. A lot of the Rebel kits came with that lens so there is a lot of them around. In my DSLR 101 classes it was the most common tele zoom I saw as most of those folks bought Rebels.

Are there better choices, yes, but is the "better" going to be a thing for you and how you do photography.

[eihubbard]

Thanks much.  I am always reticent about buying anything used, but I’ll keep this option open.  Do you know whether the ef 75-300mm has image stabilization?

[Ron888]

No, the EF75-300mm lens doesnt have Image stabilization

[eihubbard]

Ouch.  I like image stabilization.  Thanks for the info.