Another lens question for Canons

[Daisy57b]

Have you guys heard anything about the Promaster Lens? My local camera shop carries them and recommended them. There is a Promaster that is 18-200mm, which would be perfect. I took a couple pictures to test everything out - I took one with the Canon lens with IS, and then one with the Promaster, and I really could not tell a difference. I asked them about the Sigma lens and then said that the Promaster is optically better than the Sigma. The Promaster is made by Tamauran (sp??).

What do you guys think? Ever heard of the Promaster Lens?

Thanks!!

 

[Anewman]

Have you guys heard anything about the Promaster Lens? My local camera shop carries them and recommended them. There is a Promaster that is 18-200mm, which would be perfect. I took a couple pictures to test everything out - I took one with the Canon lens with IS, and then one with the Promaster, and I really could not tell a difference. I asked them about the Sigma lens and then said that the Promaster is optically better than the Sigma. The Promaster is made by Tamauran (sp??).

What do you guys think? Ever heard of the Promaster Lens?

Thanks!!

I am not going to put down promaster, I have owned a decent promaster flash unit.

But dont believe everything your local store claims, they will always recommend an item they carry and put down an item that they do not carry.
During my high school days I worked at a bike shop and was instructed that if a customer came in asking for a brand that we did not carry to answer, "we used to carry that but had to many complaints from customers." 9 out of 10 times they would switch brands and buy an item/bike from us.

How did you review the pictures taken in your promaster vs canon comparison?

 

[Daisy57b]

Yes, I was thinking the same thing...are they recommending this lens only because they carry it? I looked up the lens on B & H photography and they have a Tamron Zoom Super Wide Angle 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di-II LD Aspherical (IF) Macro Lens for Canon Digital EOS. I don't know if that's the same. Sounds like it would fit on a Rebel. I'm not sure what the Aspherical (IF) means though...

Anewman - I had them pull up the pictures on the computer to review them.

 

[boBQuincy]

Read the lens reviews on Fred Miranda's website and at:
http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/index.html
and then if you still like a lens they panned, buy it and enjoy it anyway!

A poor photo taken with an L series lens is still a poor (but sharp) photo.


boB

 

[WeLubDeeDub]

Just a heads up: I just got rid of my Sigma 18-125 3.5-5.6 cause it had a bad case of front focusing on my Rebel XT. I used it on our last trip to DW and after shooting 600+ pics, about 60% of them came out sharp. You'll see on Fred Miranda that some users are reporting the same issue. In hindsight, I should've researched it a bit more before buying, but we were time crunched, as we got the camera & lens 1 week before going on vacation. I was wondering why some pics were blurry, but thought it was my "noob"ness with DSLR's. Not so. I found out that it was a widely reported issue way after B&H's return policy had expired. You can get around it by refocusing once or twice more if you're using AF (not good for action/candid shots) or manual focusing (I'm not that quick, nor are my eyes that good).

My advice: check the focusing on the lens immediately after receiving it, that way you can exchange it until you get a good copy. Other than that, I really liked the lens. The pics that came out sharp were very good looking, the 3.5 gave enough depth to the background for decent portraits, and obviously, the focal length is money.

I now have the Canon 17-85 f4 IS. Decent lens, IS allows me to handhold in low light/no flash situations pretty decently, but not a real eye-popper in general. F4 not a real plus when taking portrait style photos (getting the 50mm 1.8 to fill that gap). And expensive.

 

[Kelly Grannell]

There is a 17-85 f4 IS? I thought it's f/5.6 for most of the range (f/4 only from 17 to 24), beyond that is f/5.6.

 

[Lancer]

The one and only time I bought from Amazon.com was last week. I purchased a Canon EF 70-200 f/4L based almost exclusively on these boards.They offered it free shipping in about a week or $6.75 for 3 day delivery. I read on another web site that they had focusing problems(an old article) so I tried it immeadiatly and found no problems. My only problem was with the way they packaged it.While the lens was well packed in its factory box, amazon simply put it in a bigger box with one air pillow, allowing it to rattle around. Other than that, the transaction was smooth and delivery on time. I was suprised at one thing though(not that its important). I saw pictures and read so much about "white" lens, that I was suprised to find that this lens is actually a light beige color! Not that it matters, as long as it a quality lens.

Of course one advantage of a local dealer is having a hands on look at a product. As with many things I buy, I have store loyalty. If I have a good relationship with a local store , they treat me right and make me feel that I am their most important customer, I will gladly pay the extra money(as opposed to discounters) to give them the business. Unfortunately, other than walmart, there are no local camera shops in my town.

Hope this little bit helps,
Lancer