Quantaray lenses???

[Dylan]

I have a opportunity to purchase a Sigma (?) Quantaray lens from Fred Miranda for 100.00. I've heard a lot of things about the Quantaray lenses (good and bad). According to the seller it's in pretty good condition. Since I'm working with a limited budget this is about all I can afford right now. Opinions anyone? Thanks

 

[fmw]

I have no experience with Quantary and a little with Sigma. I'll provide some guidelines for you. Normally, these "off brand" lenses are fine optically and usually not as rugged as the "camera brand" lenses. I would have no compuction about using them in a studio but I might be worried about taking them on a wildlife shoot in the wilderness.

I have a Sigma 10-20mm zoom for the Nikon D50 and it is pretty comparable optically to my Nikon 12-24 except that it is slower. It isn't made as well either but it makes perfectly good images.

In the 35mm days I had a Sigma 14mm super wide angle lens and it shared the same characteristics - pretty good optically and built with less precision and strength than my Nikkor lenses.

I wouldn't have any way to judge one brand over another. Hopefully, this big picture response is useful to you.

 

[Dylan]

Yes that helps very much. Thank you.

 

[astrostu]

I (as you can tell from my signature) have two Quantary lenses, and this was simply because I couldn't afford to spend 3 or more times as much on the name-brand equivalent. I've had no real complaints with my 70-300 mm Quantary, though there's an issue with ghosting when you photograph a very bright object in a very dark setting (such as zooming in on the moon). I really like the 500-1000 mm one, especially considering it was 10% of the price of the name-brand lens.