Thoughts on EF-S 55-250mm with a EOS R50 or R10.

[Kocerlan]

I am a beginner to photography and I am going to get either a R50 or R10 for my first camera. I want to use it for basic photography as well as wildlife and nature pictures. When looking into lenses it seems that the EF-S 55-250mm is the best budget nature lens even after buying the adapter, but I just wanted to know what the overall review on it is. It may not get the best zoom but I feel like it would be a good start on learning how to take pictures with the zoom. Please let me know if you have used this lens before and if you would recommend it as a starter lens. Thank You!

[kvbarkley]

That lens is fine, but depending on what you are shooting you may want to go to 400 to 600mm.

You might want to look at the new RF 75-300 to get you a bit more reach

[March411]

Kocerlan, If the budget allows I would go with  kvbarkley suggestion and look for a longer lens. The EF-S 55-250mm is a decent lens but it really doesn't have the range for wildlife, you would have to be pretty close to grab a good frame.

If you were to pick up the RF100-400mm and use it on the two cameras you mention which have an ASP-C sensor the effective range would be 160-640mm. This would give you better range for wildlife. 

https://www.usa.canon.com/shop/p/rf100-400mm-f5-6-8-is-usm?color=Black&type=New

[Kocerlan]

Thank you!

From what I have heard people have suggested buying the adapter and the lens above instead of getting the RF 75-300mm. Any reason as to why this might be?

[Kocerlan]

March411, thank you for your response! The RF100-400mm is a bit out of my price range at this moment and since I am new to photography I am not sure if I can justify spending that much on a lens with such minimal knowledge. But out of curiosity, is the RF100-400mm that much better than the EF-S 55mm-250mm that it might be worth purchasing that as a first lens instead?

[kvbarkley]

For wildlife, you want as long a focal length as possible. Unfortunately, focal length comes at a cost.

Actually, I am going to have to un-recommend the 75-300. Neither of your chosen cameras have in-camera stabilization and the 75-300 does not have IS, which is pretty much required for a telephoto.

So the EF-S 55-250 might be a bit better since it has a tiny bit more reach than the RF-S 55-210

[March411]

Kocerlan if your budget doesn't allow a more expensive purchase then I would take my suggestion off the table.

As it pertains to shooting wildlife the general rule is the more reach....the more better 😁

The RF will give you significantly more reach. Now with that being said the EF-S 55mm-250mm with a adapter will work, you will simply need to get closer to fill the frame.

[johnrmoyer]

I have used the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS with the Kenko Teleplus HD C-AF 2X DGX teleconverter to get 500mm focal length. I do not know whether the Kenko is still available.

https://www.rsok.com/~jrm/2017Sep28_birds_and_cats/2017sep18_robin_IMG_6515c.html 

The reason that the focal length is listed as 500mm for a 250mm lens is that a Kenko Teleplus HD C-AF 2X DGX teleconverter was attached. This photo was made hand held through a window from inside the house. F/11 is wide open for this combination of lens and teleconverter. The F6.3 listed is incorrect and two stops should be added. Auto focus was used. The combination of lens and telephoto converter confused the metering with a resulting very high ISO.

On a modern mirrorless camera, the lens works better than it did on my older cameras. The aperture will be very small so some sort of diffraction correction will be needed. The free to download Canon DPP software does this in "digital lens optimizer" and rawtherapee free software does this in "capture sharpening". 

https://www.rsok.com/~jrm/2021Sep08_birds_and_cats/2021sep02_bumblebee_IMG_3837c.html 

A Bumble Bee (Bombus pensylvanicus) was on a Zinnia in Norman, Oklahoma, United States on September 2, 2021. I made this photo with a very old lens as an experiment. I purchased the lens in 2011 and nearly wore it out. For this photo, it was attached to a newer camera body with an adapter with two telephoto extenders.

F Number	16.0
ISO	5000
Shutter Speed Value	1/395
Focal Length	700.0 mm
Lens ID	Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS
Lens ID	Kenko TELEPLUS HD C-AF 2X DGX
Lens ID	Vivitar SERIES 1 1.4X AF