Which Lens is the best of these Two?

I was looking for a Lens with a better Zoom for things like Airshows. Canon recommended one of these two. I have a Canon EOS 1200D.

 

Amazon.co.uk: Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM Lens - Lenses / Camera & Photo: Electronics & Photo

 

Which one would you say is the best?

 

 

Thanks

What's the second choice? I don't see it.

 

The EF-S 55-250mm IS is a real bargain and gives fair reach. It's much better than its price would suggest.

 

However, 250mm is not so very long for birds in flight or airshows, I would think, even with the 1.5X factor on the APS=C cameras.

I don't see a second choice either.

 

I think that 250 to 300mm, on a 1.6x crop sensor will do decently at an airshow. Be prepared to crop a bit and pray that the sun is behind you and the rest of the audience as the show goes on. Depending on sky conditions, you may need to shoot in manual mode. Broken clouds will totally confuse you in-camera metering. When the background is a white cloud one second, then blue sky next and then grey cloud next, the subject plane will be underexposed, then exposed close to right and then overexposed, all in one pass. If you have total blue sky and the sun is behind you, then an auto setting will work. Still, even then, look at your Preview and add or deduct EV according to what you see. Turn on your blow-out warning blinkies and good luck. Use ISO 800, f/8 and 1/2500-sec. as a default, if on manual, then adjust from there, depending on conditions. Don't be afraid to chimp. Pros and experienced shooters do it all the time, just don't do it too much, or you'll miss the action.

I absolutely love my Tamron 70-300 F4-5.6 VC. I think it was like $399 when I purchased it, but it is a super sharp lens for the money and I thin better built than the lower end Canon Lenses. Nothing beats the L-series zooms but they are super expensive and heavy.

In your case I recommend a camera update. Your 55-250mm STM lens is a keeper but you body is pretty old. Any of the newer Rebel series with the 18 to 24 mp T2i, T5i, T6i would make excellent images with your current lens and not cost you very much. I have a couple of those camera bodies used in the classified for sale that are very low mileage. Good luck!

The 55-250 STM is a very good lens, especially for the price. The image quality won't disappoint. The next step up from there would really be an L series lens because you need a faster, consistent aperture across the zoom range. Along with that comes a lot more weight and expense.

I would highly recommend the 55-250 STM. It's a bargain, and it will do just fine for airshows, as will your camera body.

 

This was taken with an old 70-210 USM on a Rebel XT. I've replaced the lens with a 55-210 for the IS.