Canon 55-250mm STM with Viltrox EF-M1 - Good or Bad?

Hi,

The Canon 55-250mm STM lens has 0.29x magnification which is better than any native current zoom lens for MFT. The effective magnification on MFT is therefore 0.58x which is very good for butterflies and other bugs where a larger closeup working distance is needed. This exceeds the magnification from the PL100-400mm, PL50-200mm, OL300mm and OL 12-200mm lenses at a very good cost ($300).

I'm therefore considering buying one and pairing with the Viltrox EF-M1 adapter to mount on my OLY E-M5 Mk iii and PAN G9 cameras.

If anyone has tried this combination, would appreciate your feedback on how well it works on OLY bodies supporting PDAF and PAN bodies supporting DFD.

Thanks in advance.

I can't address your specific question, but I bought the Nikon version of that adapter for M4/3 several years ago and was disappointed that it didn't work with all F-mount lenses. Things for Canon lenses are usually easier to reverse engineer than Nikon so it may not be a problem, but you might want to be sure it is compatible with the 55-250 before ordering.

Took the chance and bought the lens + adapter. After using for just 2 hrs, here are my initial thoughts on the E-M5 Mk iii body:

1. The lens + adapter is quite light so no issues with getting tired in the field. Can hand hold for a long time.
2. The optics are quite sharp for the price. Not as sharp as the Pan 100-400mm though at similar aperture. Subject to additional testing, seems more sharp @ 250mm than the Oly 12-200mm at 200mm.
3. Lens IS works surprisingly well and better than IBIS.
4. On factory Viltrox firmware, the autofocus was unbearable. After upgrading to v4.0, the autofocus is somewhat bearable. While CAF works, it hunts too much and is a bit unpredictable and doesn’t smoothly change the focus point. Therefore CAF doesn’t seem to be a viable option. With SAF, one should use the smallest box or the smaller point focus. Any zone focusing option does not work well. SAF isn’t snappy; it’s either slow and steady or hunts for a bit. About 25% of the time, SAF nails the focus properly. About 75% of the time, SAF doesn’t quite nail the focus and I generally increase the view 2x and manually focus.
5. When the subject is focused, you can get really nice images from this combination. This is a llens you need some patience with to get the most out of it.

Overall this lens/adapter on the E-M5 Mk iii combination is not suitable for my intended nature use cases. I’m better off using the Oly 12-200mm for a compact setup or the PL100-400 for better quality images. However, the lens does render very pleasing images so I’ll have to consider other uses (i.e. if I get a similar experience on my G9 body). I would expect that this lens on a Canon body would get great results for the price since really the only issue is the AF performance on MFT so far.

Aside from not working fully with some of my F-mount lenses, very slow AF was one of the reasons that I returned the Nikon version I had. I'm much happier with native M4/3 lenses.

Keep in mind that the 55-250 STM is an APS-C specific lens used on an APS-C body, so the equivalence when comparing the maximum magnification when mounted on a m4/3 camera may be different.

Congratulations on your new/old/adapted purchase! I used the EF-S 55-250 for about a year with an E-M1 II. Very good value for money, fine results for static subjects. For moving targets like birds in flight, I ended up with the Olympus 75-300 I, which acquired focus more consistently and supported advanced features like ProCap. The OIS in the 55-250 was worth the experiment, though: one of my best moments with the E-M1 II was when I was out after dark with “the wrong lens” (the 55-250) and decided to shoot a small dot to one side of the Moon. After I got home I zoomed in and was thrilled to see a small, faint, but very recognizable Saturn – complete with rings! Nothing like the Hubble or anything, more like a blurred dot with ears. But still just amazing to be able to point a camera up on a whim and lock onto a planet millions of miles away, handheld.