Comments on: Food Photography Class: Learning About a Lens http://www.familyfriendlyfood.com/2009/02/food-photography-class-learning-about-a-lens/ A blog for people who crave good home-made food but maybe will never buy a chef’s knife. Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:58:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: slowchomp http://www.familyfriendlyfood.com/2009/02/food-photography-class-learning-about-a-lens/comment-page-1/#comment-15335 slowchomp Tue, 13 Apr 2010 05:30:00 +0000 http://www.familyfriendlyfood.net/?p=143#comment-15335 Great article! Helps me a lot in deciding if i should invest in DSLR/lenses ;> Great article! Helps me a lot in deciding if i should invest in DSLR/lenses ;>

]]> By: Joe D http://www.familyfriendlyfood.com/2009/02/food-photography-class-learning-about-a-lens/comment-page-1/#comment-8616 Joe D Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:39:30 +0000 http://www.familyfriendlyfood.net/?p=143#comment-8616 Hi Nurit, Yes, but a little research is required. Promaster doesn't really manufacture much, they buy in bulk, and rebrand them. See, the big shops can buy in bulk, and get a discount. Smaller shops cannot buy 30-40 lenses of one model at a time, so they're forced to pay more. So promaster does that for them. However, not every lens they sell is good. You must investigate what lens they are selling, and see the reviews for the underlying lens. The good thing though, is that they don't really change the name. For the most part they are usually Tamron lenses, and Tamron makes some pretty good lenses. http://promaster.com/products/products.asp?CatID=230&SubCatID=2&sm=sm2_2302 Compare prices to the Tamron equivalent, and if it's cheaper, it's not a bad deal. Oh and Promaster carries a lifetime warranty, which is a huge plus. The Promaster you mentioned in your post is probably the Tamron seen here: http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=311&sort=7&cat=43&page=1 Fred Miranda is a great place to review lenses. Anyway, you still received great advice, but just wanted to clear that part up. Not to start a food photography discussion here, but I am also wanting to start a blog up, and am an amateur photog myself. And the 50mm 1.4 is a good lens. I used it for this shot: http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f132/jdang307/beef.jpg The 50 1.4 allows for great bokeh shots (small part in focus, rest of picture out of focus) but a lens I've been eyeing is the Canon 60mm 2.8 Macro lens, which allows you to get in really really close and maybe have some fun shots. Google that lens and check out some reviews, you can take a photo of some seeds and it'll fill out your whole frame! What lens did you end up getting? Hi Nurit,

Yes, but a little research is required. Promaster doesn’t really manufacture much, they buy in bulk, and rebrand them. See, the big shops can buy in bulk, and get a discount. Smaller shops cannot buy 30-40 lenses of one model at a time, so they’re forced to pay more. So promaster does that for them.

However, not every lens they sell is good. You must investigate what lens they are selling, and see the reviews for the underlying lens. The good thing though, is that they don’t really change the name. For the most part they are usually Tamron lenses, and Tamron makes some pretty good lenses.

http://promaster.com/products/products.asp?CatID=230&SubCatID=2&sm=sm2_2302

Compare prices to the Tamron equivalent, and if it’s cheaper, it’s not a bad deal. Oh and Promaster carries a lifetime warranty, which is a huge plus. The Promaster you mentioned in your post is probably the Tamron seen here:
http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=311&sort=7&cat=43&page=1

Fred Miranda is a great place to review lenses.

Anyway, you still received great advice, but just wanted to clear that part up. Not to start a food photography discussion here, but I am also wanting to start a blog up, and am an amateur photog myself. And the 50mm 1.4 is a good lens. I used it for this shot:
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f132/jdang307/beef.jpg

The 50 1.4 allows for great bokeh shots (small part in focus, rest of picture out of focus) but a lens I’ve been eyeing is the Canon 60mm 2.8 Macro lens, which allows you to get in really really close and maybe have some fun shots. Google that lens and check out some reviews, you can take a photo of some seeds and it’ll fill out your whole frame!

What lens did you end up getting?

]]> By: Nurit - 1 family. friendly. food. http://www.familyfriendlyfood.com/2009/02/food-photography-class-learning-about-a-lens/comment-page-1/#comment-8563 Nurit - 1 family. friendly. food. Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:40:20 +0000 http://www.familyfriendlyfood.net/?p=143#comment-8563 Joe, Thank you for sharing this info. I didn't know that. So, it sounds like by buying a Promaster one can get a good deal on a lens that was actually manufactured by another/better brand? Is that what you're saying? Joe,
Thank you for sharing this info. I didn’t know that.
So, it sounds like by buying a Promaster one can get a good deal on a lens that was actually manufactured by another/better brand? Is that what you’re saying?

]]> By: Rachel http://www.familyfriendlyfood.com/2009/02/food-photography-class-learning-about-a-lens/comment-page-1/#comment-8366 Rachel Sun, 01 Nov 2009 02:54:36 +0000 http://www.familyfriendlyfood.net/?p=143#comment-8366 Thanks for this post! I am researching DSLRs for food photography and this is really helpful. .-= Rachel´s last blog ..<a href="http://houndsinthekitchen.com/2009/10/31/happy-halloween/" rel="nofollow">Happy Halloween!</a> =-. Thanks for this post! I am researching DSLRs for food photography and this is really helpful.
.-= Rachel´s last blog ..Happy Halloween! =-.

]]> By: Joe D http://www.familyfriendlyfood.com/2009/02/food-photography-class-learning-about-a-lens/comment-page-1/#comment-8192 Joe D Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:29:49 +0000 http://www.familyfriendlyfood.net/?p=143#comment-8192 Just wanted to chime in with the Promaster comment. Promaster does not make lenses. They rebrand lenses from other manufacturers. They do this to allow smaller camera shops to compete by buying a bunch of lenses at a discount. For example, while hard to find now (because a new model is out) the Promaster 17-50mm is actually a Tamron 17-50mm which is/was an excellent lens. The Tamron goes for around $500, the Promaster rebadge was found for less than $300 and sometimes $200. Just wanted to clarify that a bit, that when you come across a Promaster, look for a comparable 3rd party lens that share the same specs, it may just be it. Just wanted to chime in with the Promaster comment. Promaster does not make lenses. They rebrand lenses from other manufacturers. They do this to allow smaller camera shops to compete by buying a bunch of lenses at a discount. For example, while hard to find now (because a new model is out) the Promaster 17-50mm is actually a Tamron 17-50mm which is/was an excellent lens. The Tamron goes for around $500, the Promaster rebadge was found for less than $300 and sometimes $200. Just wanted to clarify that a bit, that when you come across a Promaster, look for a comparable 3rd party lens that share the same specs, it may just be it.

]]> By: Nurit - 1 family. friendly. food. http://www.familyfriendlyfood.com/2009/02/food-photography-class-learning-about-a-lens/comment-page-1/#comment-201 Nurit - 1 family. friendly. food. Tue, 17 Feb 2009 06:29:36 +0000 http://www.familyfriendlyfood.net/?p=143#comment-201 It makes a huge difference. It makes a huge difference.

]]> By: Kevin http://www.familyfriendlyfood.com/2009/02/food-photography-class-learning-about-a-lens/comment-page-1/#comment-199 Kevin Fri, 13 Feb 2009 02:53:00 +0000 http://www.familyfriendlyfood.net/?p=143#comment-199 Great post about photography. I am currently using a lowel ego lamp. Great post about photography. I am currently using a lowel ego lamp.

]]> By: Vered - MomGrind http://www.familyfriendlyfood.com/2009/02/food-photography-class-learning-about-a-lens/comment-page-1/#comment-197 Vered - MomGrind Fri, 13 Feb 2009 01:07:00 +0000 http://www.familyfriendlyfood.net/?p=143#comment-197 A 500 watt-lamp sounds like a great first step for me too! I don't have a food blog, but I do post the occasional recipe. A 500 watt-lamp sounds like a great first step for me too! I don’t have a food blog, but I do post the occasional recipe.

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