Opinion on Quantaray lenses??

Anyone have an overall opinion on this line of lenses??

Quantaray is made for the Ritz chain of photo stores by Sigma. Generally, they are what can be called charitably "consumer" level quality. Also, they tend to be older designs. You can do better unless you live someplace that has no other photo stores and you have no access to internet stores. Generally, the best lenses command the highest prices so if you are like most of us you have to shop price. The best rule, to which there are many exceptions, is to get the best lens you can afford, preferably the same brand as your camera.

Cheap,crap!

Quantaray is made by Sigma. These two line of lenses are the same. Well, Sigma has a more extensive line and it usually take Quantaray a while to up date their lenses. But that is more likely because Quantaray is primarily made for and offered by Ritz Camera. While Sigma lenses are available through just about every camera dealer including Ritz Camera.

Again...

When will people understand that a brand of lenses doesn't mean anything?

Nearly every company makes both good lenses and crappy ones. Well, yeah,

I suppose Quantaray has fewer good ones than Sigma, Nikon, Canon or

Tamron but it wouldn't be helpful to give you a generalized idea. Instead,

please ask specifically opinions about a particular lens, you'll end up with

much more useful information. However, a generalization that's safe to be

made is about mechanisms: all Quantaray autofocus much slower than

Canon, Nikon and older Sigmas (Sigma has greatly improved recently with a

close enough equivalent to Canon USM mechanism), and most Quantaray

lenses are very imprecise in manual focusing, there is a mechanical lag

which feels awful. Optically, on the other hand, I suppose they made more

crap than the other brands but I DOUBT Quantaray hasn't at least one which

is optically above average.

None of the above statements are entirely true; Simga is NOT the only maker of lenses for Ritz/Quantaray (never has been). Also, Quantaray lenses are NOT necessarily older Sigma designs (depends on the lens in question). That said, not every Sigma-designed lens is released in the same exact form as a Quantaray lens; in fact, many are NOT. An overall opinion of a lensmaker is of little use; after all, Canon and Nikon have made some pure crap in recent years (as zooms go...just test one!).

Simga is NOT the only maker of

lenses for Ritz/Quantaray (never has been)

 

I never stated that Sigma was the only company that made Quantaray/Ritz lenses. Ritz Camera has many different companies manufacter products for sale by Ritz exclusively. Usually the entree level stuff. Although, for the last few years, the autofocus Quantaray lenses are Sigmas.

 

Quantaray lenses are NOT

necessarily older Sigma designs (depends on the lens in question)

 

That is true. But as I had pointed out that Sigma is offered by by just about every camera dealer, so there for it has a higher volume. Which means that there would more likely be less older version out on the market. Quantaray is primarily offered by Ritz( I've been told other companies offered them, but I haven't ran across any). Which means that it doesn't enjoy the same sale volume as it's more famous twin. Depending an how many lenses the Ritz in your area sales can be a factor in whether or not the Quantaray lense is an up dated version. There are other factors, such as equipment being tranfered from store to store, but that is the main reason from my exprience.

 

 

not every Sigma-designed lens is released in the same exact form as a Quantaray

lens; in fact, many are NOT

 

 

Which is why Sigma has a much more extensive line. Quantaray offer just your basic run of the mill line of lenses. The most expensive lense they offer is about $550. They are not for the serious at heart. Just for someone who wants to save a few dollars.

 

 

An overall opinion of a lensmaker is of little

use; after all, Canon and Nikon have made some pure crap in recent years (as

zooms go...just test one!).

 

 

I agree. If you are trying to decide on whether not to get that name brand lense that comes with the camera kit or the Quantaray, then you can save some cash and get the cheaper one. Becasue neither is probably going to offer any significant quality over the other. If quanlity is an issue, save your money and get something in a hire price bracket. Like the L series or something close. Sigma now offer lenses that come close to Canon's high end lenses without the high end price.

I had a quantaray 28-200mm zoom for canon af. It was fun to use and I enjoyed it. It performed about as well as most lenses of this type. However, the mechanical quality was poor and Ritz WILL NOT stand behind their lenses. When the manual focusing mechanism became stiff after about 3 months of fairly light use, I took it back assuming it would be covered under warranty. They called me about 3 weeks later and told me the warrenty was void. They had found a small scuff mark and told me this was proof it had been dropped. It hadn't. I paid them about $80 to fix an under warrenty lens. About a year later the same problem occured again. Needless to say, Ritz would do nothing for me. I got rid of the lens.

As noted above, many Quantarays are Sigma made, though I have never heard of someone having to pay to have Sigma honor their warranty (as the above story goes regarding the relabeled Quantaray Sigma). Perhaps another reason to buy a Sigma lens, if you were thinking of the Quantaray. Another factor is resale value. Most 3rd-party lenses (though by no means all) do not hold their value as well and the body-makers lenses, but Quantary might be the worst for depreciation. Though a lens might be $259 from Quantary and $289 from Sigma, if you do not intended to own it "forever" you might opt for the Sigma lens. If you do searches on ebay and elsewhere and compare resale values, Quantaray doesn't do all that well.

If you wish to protect your valuable Nikon or Canon from being stolen, tape a Quantaray label on the prism finder!

 

Alex

I actually have more of a question to all those who are more educated on lenses that myself. I am looking to buy a 28-200mm zoom/macro lens. I have done a lot of research and have heard bad things about the quantaray lens, so I began looking for Sigma lenses compatible for my Canon EOS. I do know that Sigma makes quantaray lenses but am curious specifically of the quality of the Sigma zoom wide angle telephoto, 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 compact hyper zoom aspherical macro, autofocus lens? Is this a reliable lens? I am an aspiring photographer with a student budget.

I tried a Quantaray 70-210mm F4-5.6 with the Canon EOS Digital Rebel and it generally doesn't work, even in manual everything mode. The camera keeps giving an Error 99 (i.e. "dunno"). I'm returning it to Ritz.

I was recently in the market for an entry-level SLR camera. I first bought a Canon Rebel XSN with a Canon 35-80mm zoom lens for about $250. Later I found a Nikon N55 with a Nikkor AF 28-80mm lens for $226 at Walmart. Then, I stumbled upon Ritz camera, who had the Rebel GII with a Quantaray 28-90mm for $209. I actually kept all three cameras for a couple of weeks. One of the problems I found with the Canon 35-80 lens was that it was difficult to autofocus close up. Although the Nikon lens was better (same test), the Quantaray was able to autofocus real close with the use of a macro switch it locks in at the 90mm setting. Autofocus speed appeared to be the same across all three lenses. My guess is that the Canon and Nikon lenses, being entry level zooms, are not much better than the Quantaray (actually the Quantaray looks and feels like its built better). At the end of the day, I returned them all, and bought a Nikon N65 instead. This one came with an AF 28-100mm lens, that has the same close up autofocus deficiencies as the others.

<p>An Opinion is just that. My experience as an Engineer and now Camera Technician is that premium lenses generally have tighter tolerances. Basically this means that you get more excellent lenses per batch. The Quantaray lenses are good value and you may be lucky and get one that is perfect. Mechanically, they tend to be sloppier and looser than top priced lenses.</p>

<p>Just tried a Quantaray 28-80mm 1:3.5-5.6 zoom that was attached to a Thrift shop Pentax SFX/SF1 SLR. The camera was toast but the lens worked okay on the venerable Pentax K1000. The lens focus ring was far too loose. Turning the camera to a vertical position unwound the focus! Not really a problem however - just felt weird. As far as quality is concerned - judge for yourself. Here is one of the images: </div>

<p>Here is one other Quantaray image: </div>