We have a T5i and the 18-55 and 55-250 lenses (both are the EF-S ISM STM len's which have the newer STM motors and optical image stabilization), they were part of the kit that came with our T5i. While the 18-55 is common, usually the kits come with the cheaper 75-300 telephoto lens. The 55-250 was Costco's value "upgrade" for their customers. According to the reading I did online, this is actually a VERY big upgrade as the 75-300 is an old film lens refitted and reclad for DSLR. Apparently, because of this, it has some issues with CA above 200mm. I can't speak to this as I have not used the 75-300 lens, but I can say that I
love the 55-250 lens. It has allowed us to get some REALLY nice zoom shots, shots that I never thought we could get beforehand. While certainly no zoom queen, it is very solid for capturing nice zooms in nature.
The best I can do for examples right now are some pics I took of Mt. Rainier from a hike my girl and I took back in August. Unfortunately, the zoom pic is not at full zoom and is after facebook did its thing (reduced resolution). For this hike we only took the 55-250 (there were several close up pics that the 18-55 would have been useful):
Picture from my cellphone, gives a rough idea of how far away the mountain is:
Picture using the 55-250:
I will confirm the zoom from EXIF tonight as well as try to get access to some other better comparison pics.
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