PROMASTER 28-200MM AF...Opinions

Has anyone heard of Promaster and has anyone ever used this lens? Opinions please.

Optically, not good. A bargain for sure, but IQ is pretty low.

Hello WRoberts,

there are better alternatives than ProMaster, Quantaray, Digital optics etc. lenses.
They might not even be cheapest, either.

Tell us what lenses you already have, what you want to do with the new lens and what is your budget.

Maybe we can give you a more targeted answer then (other than 'I'd try to avoid it')

Best regards,
Andy

Rule of thumb, still applies. No more than 3x zoom if you want real quality.

P.S. Yes I know I have a 6x+ lens.

I know someone who has this lens. He leaves it on the camera all the time and uses it for snapshots. He is happy with it, but he is not a pixel peeper. He uses it on his Digital Rebel (300D). Basically it's an okay lens if all you want are snapshots and don't want to be changing lenses. If you want to be serious about your shots and blow up beyond 5x7, I would recommend looking elsewhere.

That being said, I just got (came today) a used 28-300 Tamron Xr Di. Why get such a lens when I've obviously got sharper lenses (my 24-70 EX for example)? Because there are times I'm not concerned about anything other than not having to carry 3 or 4 lenses and just want to go and shoot.

If you are interested in the Promaster because of its reach, I would recommend the Sigma 18-200 or the Tamron 18-200 instead. Read some reviews here, there are plenty of them. Also, I'm assuming you are using a crop factor camera. If not, the 18-200's won't work.

I'm trying to find a zoom that would for shooting my friends wedding and for portraits and product shots. The basic kit lens is all I have and it has done a bang up job for me. I have a relatively low budget of no more than $600. If there is a lens that is within that cost and the max apature of f4 to f2.8, please let me know. Just need something that is going to give a good quality pic, I can live something that isn't razor sharp. I've looked at the canon EF 70-200mm F4 L. Thanks

wroberts wrote in post #2018021
I'm trying to find a zoom that would for shooting my friends wedding and for portraits and product shots. The basic kit lens is all I have and it has done a bang up job for me. I have a relatively low budget of no more than $600. If there is a lens that is within that cost and the max apature of f4 to f2.8, please let me know. Just need something that is going to give a good quality pic, I can live something that isn't razor sharp. I've looked at the canon EF 70-200mm F4 L. Thanks

I don't get it. The "weddings, portraits, product shots" part goes totally against "live with something that isn't razor sharp." Not sure I'd want to have to explain to a bride that, sorry, the shots are all a little fuzzy as its a cheapo lens, but you know, I can live with that. And product shots have to be spot on, hair perfect.

The 70-200 f/4 L is a wonderful lens, it would do good for portraits. For weddings though, you'd have to be a mile away to get a group shot and for products its close focus distance is pretty long.

The Sigma 17-70 f/2.8-4.5 gets good write ups and may be a better, good quality, general purpose lens for what you've said you'd be doing.

Believe me Citizen, I would love to have a killer lens such as the 70-200 f2.8 IS or something that could produce dead on sharpness but price is the issue. I've been blessed with being able to use the equipment from my photography classes at school (which is very good but yet pricey to buy as a student). What I meant was something comparable to the highend stuff but we all know with a decrease in price comes a decrease in quality. Right now I'm going from having all this nice equipment to use to just the old rebel and kit lens. Got to start somewhere.

^^^^ another vote for the 17-70 sigma lens. I'd go further and say get the sigma 70-300 APO macro as well, and you'll still have change from your budget.

the 70-200 f/4 is a fantastic lens, but it isn't really a wedding lens. It makes great individual portraits, and that has a wedding application, but lousy for groups.

the other options for you involve significantly more cash, but once you've done some research you might like to up your budget Tempted by any of these recommendations - just being the Devil's Advocate here

Wedding lens Recommendations

Another thing I might consider if I were you would be to get a flash. I'd probably buy a kit like this:

(prices from Sigma4less.com)
Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di $354.95
Canon Normal EF 50mm f/1.8 II $79.95
Sigma EF-500 DG Super $199.95

Total is just over $600. I know that I haven't listed a long zoom but the Tamron gets such fantastic reviews I think it would be a great upgrade to the kit lens (I love my 24-70 Sigma, and it's in the same price range too). I'd also think that for portraits you need a prime, the cheapest prime being the 50mm, hence it being on the list. I just don't see how you could get away without a flash though.

I know that the 28-75 overlaps the kit lens a fair bit, but I think it's worth it. The other possibility is the 28-135 IS to get some more range and something you can hand hold during a wedding.

I shoot indoors a lot and although there are a lot of people that don't like flash photography, I think its a necessary evil. Hope this is another point of view you haven't considered.

wroberts wrote in post #2018847
Believe me Citizen, I would love to have a killer lens such as the 70-200 f2.8 IS or something that could produce dead on sharpness but price is the issue.

Most of us here would. Think of it this way though, on a scale of 1 to 10 (glass bottle bottom to perfect lens) the Promaster is a 2, maybe a 3 if you are lucky. The 70-200 L is an 8 or 9. You just need to aim for the middle quality as they are affordable and good enough. Why limit your abilities by going for the cheapest lens out there. There are lots of good, affordable lenses that will help you show off your skills and be nice and sharp.

This forum is also a good place for recommendations. If you say you want to spend $400 on a telephoto zoom at least 1 in 3 of the recommendations will be for what you want. The rest will be either to buy a 70-200 L or a 50 f/1.8 as we tend to be a little one track minded here.

Guys, y'all have been a tremendous help in this. Layston, I lucked up on a deal for a 550ex flash. One of my classmates dad owns a camera shop. He just happend to have one of his 550's he was wanting to get rid of, so he hooked me up with that. That's why I asked about the Promaster, that's his third party line of lenses. So, I think I won't go his route but start checking more into these lenses. Thanks alot and if there are more suggestions let me know.

Im not 100% sure but I think Promaster are rebadged tokinas. They have a 12-24 that is Identical to the tokina. So if you have a hard time finding any info on the promasters check the promaster version, they "may" be exactly the same.