Rod Snaith
New member
Is anyone familiar with this lens? Pros/Cons? I've got a chance to buy one reasonable, and I know I'll need a macro lens when my D50 shows up.
Thanks in advance...
Rod
Thanks in advance...
Rod
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PROMASTER AF 70-300mm f4-5.6 LD TELE-MACRO LENS
- Thread starter Rod Snaith
- Start date
Doug Kerr
Well-known member
Never heard of it.
What would you consider a macro lens to be, and does that one fulfill that criterion?
Kathy Rappaport
pro member
Promaster
Promaster products are pretty basic 3rd Party pieces of equipment. They are not going to give you very good quality images. You are better off waiting for OEM (Canon/Nikon), Tamron, Sigma products if you are serious about your photography. Lenses are probably the most important place to invest in your photography. You can skimp on the camera, the lighting but without a decent lens your photos will not have quality.
Promaster products are pretty basic 3rd Party pieces of equipment. They are not going to give you very good quality images. You are better off waiting for OEM (Canon/Nikon), Tamron, Sigma products if you are serious about your photography. Lenses are probably the most important place to invest in your photography. You can skimp on the camera, the lighting but without a decent lens your photos will not have quality.
Rod Snaith
New member
Ah, unfortunate.
In response to your second question, I consider a macro lens to be one that can focus at a minimal distance for its given focal length. I am glad that you asked the question though, as I checked mimimum focus on that particular unit and its a fairly lengthy 37 inches, which is further away than I normally do my macro stuff.
Kathy, its my understanding that Promaster simply rebadges different manufacturers lenses, and that list includes Tamron and Sigma. Is this incorrect?
Duke Beattie
Member
At 300mm the 37 inches isn't horrible.. But the lens itself isn't the greatest. I had a 70-200 Tamron that looks very similar.. It was an ok lens. But I used a Nikon 5t and/or 6t diopter to get closer to 1:1. It worked pretty well. After a while I bought a Sigma 150mm 2.8. Much better lens that can do 1:1 as it sits. For me it was the best compromise. Most of the stuff I did with the tamron +diopter was at the long end. Insects and such. So the working room with the 150 is best for me. It really depends on what type of macro work you do. If it's flowers and things that don't move around you could get by with something shorter than 150-180mm. I have a Nikon 55mm micro with an adapter for my Canon equipment. Very nice lens. It's to short for butterflies but fine for flowers.
You can also go the extension tube route. They are cheap(ish), have no glass to mess things up. You don't need to but the Nikon ones. With a set you can focus very close with any of your lens. Just do a search for 'extension tube' and read up on them.
It really does come down to what type of macro work you normally do.
I think you are correct in that Promaster rebadges existing Tamron or maybe Sigmas. Depends on the phase of the moon.......
You can also go the extension tube route. They are cheap(ish), have no glass to mess things up. You don't need to but the Nikon ones. With a set you can focus very close with any of your lens. Just do a search for 'extension tube' and read up on them.
It really does come down to what type of macro work you normally do.
I think you are correct in that Promaster rebadges existing Tamron or maybe Sigmas. Depends on the phase of the moon.......
Clayton Lofgren
New member
I may be wrong, but I believe the D50 wants lens with built in focus motors, unless you are happy with manual focus.
I have a Promaster flash that I am very happy with, but I doubt I will ever go with any of their lens. I do not know of any 70-300 lens that are good without spending major money.
I have a Promaster flash that I am very happy with, but I doubt I will ever go with any of their lens. I do not know of any 70-300 lens that are good without spending major money.
Rod Snaith
New member
Nope, the D50 has a focus motor from what I've been able to determine.
I passed on the lens. Discovered it was a Sigma 70-300 rebadged, but not the AOS version of the lens. Looked at some other test shots and it gets soft after 200 mm. The camera is already coming with a lens that gets soft after 200mm, so I'm going to go back to the original plan of finding a 50 or 60mm Nikkor prime Macro lens.
Rod
I passed on the lens. Discovered it was a Sigma 70-300 rebadged, but not the AOS version of the lens. Looked at some other test shots and it gets soft after 200 mm. The camera is already coming with a lens that gets soft after 200mm, so I'm going to go back to the original plan of finding a 50 or 60mm Nikkor prime Macro lens.
Rod