Some Gearhead Stuff

Any good hobby provides numerous opportunities to spend lots of money on "stuff", and lots of time researching said "stuff". In that respect, photography is an excellent hobby.

Since getting into photog it took me six months to invest in a new lens. I'm pretty slow at buying stuff. I finally decided to get the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS. In case you don't know what all that means, you can go look it up the next time you have trouble sleeping.

Actually, photofolk enjoy talking gear once they learn the language. It's not so bad. Having an exclusive lexicon is another fine quality of hobbies. Keeps the looky-loos away.

Anyway, back to business.

I chose this lens because:

• Range - my kit lens is 18-55mm, so this one conveniently picks up where the kit leaves off.
• Diameter - it's 58mm so it will take the same filters as my kit lens.
  
• Amateur - in reading reviews, it seems like this lens is a logical next step for XSI/XTI owners. If I start getting hard-core about photography I may need to do some upgrading. Until then...
• Price - this is a very affordable lens at around $250 brand new!

and I got it in spite of the fact that:

• It's EF-S, meaning that if I should upgrade to a full-frame camera body, this lens won't be compatible :(
• It's driven by a DC motor, not an Ultrasonic (USM) one. It's noisier and slower to focus. Since I don't plan on doing any funeral photography, noise is not a problem for me. The dead won't mind either.
  
• The construction is plastic not metal, although that may come in handy when getting that once-in-a-lifetime paparazzi shot of Magneto:

but on the other hand:

• It's still made by Canon, so it's a high quality product, and
• It's cheap! :)
  

Oh, and did I mention that the price is right?

With the money I saved I also picked up a UV filter, circular polarizer, and lens hood (Canon ET-60). I have to admit, it felt pretty good attaching all this expensive plastic gear to my camera. Similar to the feeling of attaching a silencer to the muzzle of a sniper rifle, I'd imagine.

Guess all I need to do now is take some pictures.

For specs on all Canon lenses, feast your eyes on this PDF, you spec freak.