Photographers: anyone like Quantaray Brand lenses?

Question

I'm not a professional, but hope to become one some day. I'm looking into purchasing Quantaray 70-300 mm DI f/4-5.6 Digital Series AF Zoom Lens for Nikon
http://www.wolfcamera.com/product/251666095.htm?bct=t13031003%3Bcidigital-cameras-and-accessories%3Bcilenses-for-digital-cameras%3Bcislr-lens%3Bcilenses-for-nikon

I don't think the Nikon version of this lens has a macro capabiltiy. Any thoughts?

Answer 1

I've owned a couple of Quantaray brand lenses, and although I don't consider them top of the line, the ones I've had have performed well. Their guarantees, and service contracts give me a better feeling about purchasing them. They are a cost effective alternative to Nikon's own lenses, or some of the other third party lens manufacturers. Probably not a bad choice for a beginner, or even an aspiring pro until the dough starts coming in.
My wife has the same lens on her Pentax k100d. She's had it for about 3 months now, and so far so good.

Answer 2

Quantaray is the Ritz/Wolf Camera House brand and is manufactured by Sigma Corporation, so what you are getting here are the consumer grade Sigma lenses. From a quality perspective, they are fine if you are just starting out but they won't have the build quality or optics of more expensive pro lenses. I personally like Tamron better than Sigma and in fact despite having a pretty nice set of Canon pro glass, I own some tamron lenses for when I travel to places where I don't want to be carrying around really expensive gear and while they don't have the same durability as Canon L glass (the pro series canon stuff) they do fine for what I need in certain circumstances.

Answer 3

The Quantaray lens series is imported by Ritz Camera and represents a very good value based on the large purchasing power of the Ritz/Wolf chain of stores. The lenses have less expensive bearing systems and the systems use to secure the lens elements are less exotic, but the lenses are designed for the advanced amatuer market where wear and tear and durability (lens drop/vibration) are less of a concern than for the commercial photographer.
The price is EXCELLENT for this type of lens, and for your first zoom purchase is probably a very good choice. Take the money you will save by not buying all of the "add ons" the guys will try to sell you, save it for another wide angle lens purchase later , and you should be ready to go!

Answer 4

I use a Quantaray 28-200 or is it 208? Well, no matter it's very light weight and easy to zoom with. I mostly shoot travel and baseball images and love it. I bought it at Wolf a couple years back to replace a broken and discontinued Tamron of similar zoom. For the money saved I think it's a great investment. Hope that helps:)

Answer 5

I would look for a Sigma, but then I would look for a Vivitar first if I was not going with the Nikon brand. I have seen too many Quantaray lenses simply come apart.

go to www.keh.com

Answer 6

Go with aMacro