 BetterPhoto Member |
Usefulness of a preset telephoto lens Are there any significant downsids to buying a 500/1000mm preset telephoto lens by Quantaray. I am a beginner in photography and would like to take pictures of wildlife.
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John P. Sandstedt |
Buy the best lens you can afford. I've always been wary of Quantaray. Check any reviews on the lens you're interested in before you plunk down your cash. If you're into Nikon, get the f/2.8, 70-210 zoom and a companion telephoto - expensive, but probably worth it. After market lenses are sometime OK. I have the Tamron f/5.6, 200-400 mm; it's always been highly rated and reasonably priced. When I bought it years ago, it was about $550. It's been replace by a 200-500 mm version that's been rated highly.
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Kevin Ekstrom |
I believe Sigma and Quantaray are one in the same. I believe Sima makes the Quantaray for the Ritz camera corp. I own a rather cheap Tamron AF 70-300 F/4-5.6. I also have a Tokina manual 70-210 f/4-5.6. Im not fond of either lens. But such is my budget.
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Andrew Laverghetta |
While the quality of this lens won't be anywhere near quality, if you have about $130 that you want to experiment with, it might be fun. If you're wanting to buy quality stuff though, this isn't what you should be looking for. This also requires a T mount to fit. It may be a little harder to use this lens without being very familiar with the manual functions of your camera. This might be a good substitute until you're sure what kind of photography you want to focus on, if you wish to focus in something specific. If it was me and I had some money to burn I would get it, but again, the quality might be discouraging. I assume this is what you're looking at? http://www.ritzcamera.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&productId=29900&bct=t1004%3Bc1022%3Bc914962 It appears that the lens is manual focus and you have to set the aperture yourself, and use the camera in aperture priority or manual mode. Most people here will discourage you but it might be fun if you have the spare money. Here's an example of the lens in quality version that you might use if you were a professional nature/bird photography. Or a crazy paparazzi who doesn't want to approach the subject in bright sunlight lol... If you use Canon you could get the Canon Telephoto EF 500mm f/4.0L IS (Image Stabilizer) USM Autofocus Lens for about $5500. Then, you could get the 2x teleconverter for about $280. Also, you would have to get a professional camera with a kickbutt autofocus to even be able to use autofocus with the teleconverter or you would have to focus manually. This would add up to around $7500 for a lens that would have a very specific use and nothing else except spying on your neighbors...I hope I'm not your neighbor. Anyway, if you REALLY WANT to do insanely long photography, you could get the quantaray for amateur photography that you might use for personal entertainment or the occasional picture that somebody you know might buy, or if you were going to go pro sometime, the $7500 set up is what you would consider to be the equal. You would definitly need a very good tripod or maybe you could get by with a monopod in some situations. Somebody correct me if this doesn't seem correct. PS: Expect the same price for quality Nikon lenses in that same range. Hope this helps!
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