Camera lens

[sheila14]

Is 55-250 a good enough lens to use for Kilimanjaro Safari n also pics of Cinderella's castle while being on the platform of the train in front if disney world? I don't want blurry pics

 

[kenny]

If that is the longest focal length you have then take it. I find my 70-300 too short sometimes at shows (if I am too far back) and on the safari. However outside of disney I couldn't see myself using anything longer enough times to justify the cost.

As for pics being blurry that would have to do with your shutter speed. For castle pics you should be fine as you are not moving. Use a tripod as well. For he safari you will need to bump up the shutter speed depending upon how fast you are moving

 

[zackiedawg]

Without knowing the actual optical quality of your particular 55-250mm lens, I'll just stick to commenting on the focal length - in general, yes - you can pretty well fill the frame with the castle from the train station if using a 250mm lens on a cropped DSLR body (like a 'Rebel'). In fact, you'll probably only need about 120-130mm of focal range. To give an idea, here's a shot at 120mm on a 1.5x crop sensor DSLR body from the train station platform:

And yes, that focal length should be fine for Kilimanjaro as well - sometimes, you'll have animals too close, and won't even be able to get them in the frame - most will be fine, and those that are more distant should be just about right with the 250mm lens. Most of my Kilimanjaro shots are taken with 18-250mm lenses, and most shots seem to be between 130mm and 210mm. As Kenny mentioned, the blur has more to do with keeping your shutter speeds high enough to compensate for the animals moving and for your safari truck bumping around - even stabilization isn't always a cure for the truck's movement, and doesn't help at all with moving animals!

Here are some shots taken with an 18-250mm lens on Kilimanjaro on a DSLR with an APS-C sensor:

At 250mm:

At 210mm:

At 60mm:

At 110mm:

To avoid blur, mostly try to keep your shutter speeds to 1/500 or higher, and you should be fine. Use stabilization if you have it, as it can help with some of the minor hand-shake and movement on the truck, but mostly keep the shutter speeds up.

 

[boBQuincy]

From Main Street station you can use the railing for a camera support but *not* while the train is pulling in!

The flagpole will usually be right in the center of the photo unless you move a little to the left or right (or take the photo on the days around the Christmas Parade taping when the flagpole is moved).

Or take two photos from slightly left and right and edit the flagpole out...

 

[bob100]

Without knowing the actual optical quality of your particular 55-250mm lens, I'll just stick to commenting on the focal length - in general, yes - you can pretty well fill the frame with the castle from the train station if using a 250mm lens on a cropped DSLR body (like a 'Rebel'). In fact, you'll probably only need about 120-130mm of focal range.

And yes, that focal length should be fine for Kilimanjaro as well - sometimes, you'll have animals too close, and won't even be able to get them in the frame - most will be fine, and those that are more distant should be just about right with the 250mm lens. Most of my Kilimanjaro shots are taken with 18-250mm lenses, and most shots seem to be between 130mm and 210mm. As Kenny mentioned, the blur has more to do with keeping your shutter speeds high enough to compensate for the animals moving and for your safari truck bumping around - even stabilization isn't always a cure for the truck's movement, and doesn't help at all with moving animals!

H

To avoid blur, mostly try to keep your shutter speeds to 1/500 or higher, and you should be fine. Use stabilization if you have it, as it can help with some of the minor hand-shake and movement on the truck, but mostly keep the shutter speeds up.

the optical quality of the 55-250IS is actually pretty good, the newer STM version is better but it's more expensive. I now have better lens but I've kept the original 55-250 because it's small, light and (literally) pocket size - and it's sharp

with Canon Rebel XSi/450D
55-250IS
200mm

 

[photo_chick]

Is 55-250 a good enough lens to use for Kilimanjaro Safari n also pics of Cinderella's castle while being on the platform of the train in front if disney world? I don't want blurry pics

You can make the lens work for you just fine, IMO. But that is no guarantee that you won't have blurry shots. Usually that kind of problem is a user issue.