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is the canon 55 250 lens a good starter lens
It's a decent starter lens if you want more range than what you would get with Canon's standard kit lens (18-55).

Photo.net review

dpreview.com review of the 55-250 and the 18-55 Canon lenses

If this lens is what's in your price range, I think it's a pretty good buy. My wife and I have one that we got at Target for $149 when it was on sale this summer. The kids like to use it as it's pretty light (and if the worst happens and they destroy it, no one's going to lose much sleep over it).
 
The lens is a very good lens for the beginner. It takes pretty good quality pics and complements the 18-55 kit lens perfectly. You can usually find these lenses on sale at Target/BestBuy so keep an eye out for those. They just released a version II model for this lens so the "older" models might actually be cheaper.

I had this lens for awhile and really enjoyed it. Since then I've upgraded lenses but the 55-250 was a quality lens. I'd recommend you get it as a great, affordable lens.
 
For $150, this lens is the best bargain out there. It's amazing. That is, until you get into $500 lenses and $1000 lenses. It's limitations will become pretty apparent then (build quality, slow maximum aperture, lousy bokeh, speed, etc.). But if you're not into stuff in that price range, it's a great lens.
 
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