Quantaray High Speed 70 mm-300 mm F/4.0-5.6 Lens For Canon

The Quantaray AF 70-300mm is a budget super zoom lens that can take excellent images.

These particular models are re-badged Tamrons sold by Ritz cameras. They can be found in excellent condition for anywhere between $60-$100.

Build quality is very good and it's actually quite light weight. The lens size is large at 62mm and I had no problem finding a quick replacement lens cap for under $2 on ebay.

Zoom and focusing is very easy. And I'm able to take wonderful pictures. In decent light, AF is fast and not loud. Although it will use the screw-drive for AF.

The ultra-zoom is great. At 300mm, f5.6 is quite excellent considering that kit zooms will do 55mm at f5.6. But at 300mm, a small vibration is a pretty big change, so you will need either lots of light, high ISO, or a good tripod if you really want to get the most out of your pictures.

For the price, it's a wonderful lens. Of course, we all want 70-300mm f2.8, but just look at the 4-figure price-tag.

Macro mode is incredible fun. However, the *only* negative about this lens is sometimes switching from Macro to Normal takes some adjusting. It may require that you AF in macro mode to something far away so that it can reduce the barrel length, then zoom out enough to flip the switch back to normal.

Full extended (300mm plus max focus in Macro), this is a beast of a lens!

There are few versions of this lens, I'll summarize my findings here:

DI version - Re-badged Newer Tamron DI/LD
LD version - Re-badged Tamron LD (model being reviewed here!)
- white/gold, macro at 180-300mm
LDO - Re-badged Sigma non-DG APO Super Macro II (?)
- Gold ring, macro at 300mm
TECH-10 - Re-badged Sigma non-DG APO Super Macro I
- Green writing, macro at 300mm

General rule is that 62mm filters are Tamron and 58mm is Sigma.

I believe Quantaray used Sigma first, starting with the TECH-10 and then the LDO. Then, they switched to Tamron. Starting with the DL, then moving to the Di/DL which is the most recent model.

You'll find mixed reviews about which is better in many Sigma vs Tamron forums.

Summary: Excellent budget super zoom. Great quality. Performance per dollar cannot be beat for these zooms. 300mm is tricky.

Though not up to Canon L-series specs, the Quantaray 70-300mm f/4-5.6 AF DI is a lens that any serious photographer with a serious budget should carry in their bag. This lens boasts sharp, accurate focus with creamy-smooth background blur. The only downside is that the autofocus motor is rather noisy. This may spook the most timid of wildlife, so to compensate for the loud motor, this lens has incredible reach. At 300mm, the lens has enough reach to remove you out of earshot, rendering the noisy autofocus motor a moot point.

When shooting in the lens' macro mode, I would highly recommend doing so with the camera mounted on a tripod, using a remote trigger. This should minimize the camera shake that would otherwise throw your macro shot out of focus. As long as you take careful precautions against camera shake, this lens should provide you with crystal clear, well balanced and saturated close-ups.

All-in-all, this is a wonderful lens for those starting out, those on a tight budget, or for the professional who realizes that a lens doesn't need a red stripe around its case to be a heckuva great lens!

I had the same Lens twice and they got damaged due to dropping the camera. My last Camera and zoom got stolen when the smashed a window in my car and took my camera and zoom lens. along with other things. This was a fantastic buy and I love the lens. I needed to replace my outfit as inexpensively as possible. Fantastic savings!!

I got this lens for my new Canon T1i. The lens produce clear and quality photos both far and near. The zooming and marco are great. I do not have any dislike for this lens at all. I got a nic camera bag to store it. I needed this lens for my trips to Africa and Hiking.

The zoom function is push/pull, which is very similar to my film lens. The focus is pretty big, i.e., there is a lot of room to focus, which, I suppose you need for 300mm. The biggest problem so far is that the weight of the end of the lens draws it back towards the camera if it's up at too much of an angle, so you have to keep your hand on it the whole time, but that helps with balance and steadiness, so it's not all bad.

For the money and for the 'beginner' status, it's a great lens.