Review of the Canon EF 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II USM

www.canon.co.uk
Canon’s EF 55-200mm has an Ultrasonic Motor (USM) for fast and quiet autofocus and provides an imaging circle suitable for full frame and APS-C sensors, so it will work on any Canon EOS camera. If using a model with an APS-C sensor such as the EOS 400D, the lens offers the focal equivalent of 88-320mm.

Performance
The lens is constructed of 13 elements in 13 groups and incorporates optimised lens coatings to reduce flare and ghosting. The all-plastic two-piece barrel, including a plastic lens mount, is lightweight but the zoom ring is quite loose. The USM-driven AF system, however, is quick and reasonably quiet, if a little juddery. What it’s lacking though is a gripped manual focus ring – you need to rotate the inner barrel, which is awkward, especially at 55mm. The lens displays reasonable sharpness which, if not the best, is certainly consistent. Apertures up until f/11 maintain similar degrees of sharpness, with a rapid drop in sharpness at f/16 and f/22. Chromatic aberration is among the in this category, with good central control but a consistently high pixel rise at the corners.

What We Like
Quiet, fast AF

What We Don't Like
No focus ring, CA

Features: 15
Design: 15
Performance: 16
Image Quality: 17
Value: 16
What Digital Camera Score 79%