Promaster lens

A buddy of mine has a nice 18-200 Promaster lens he wants to sell me. I am thinking that would be a great vacation lens, so I may snatch it up. He says it is a Tamron but rebadged. Does anyone have any experiences with this lens or Promaster in general?

I've no experience of that lens but have just got a Sigma 18-200, the range is superb and makes walkabout lens changes redundant.

See if you can try the lens for a day or two first and then make a decision.

Promaster is a US-based distributer who (as far as I know) don't actually manufacture anything but import and re-badge other companies' products. Their lines are sold in North American markets only and looking at their website (www.promaster.com) all the lenses on there look rather familiar.

I'd say the 18-200 on there is almost certainly a Tamron (it looks too similar to the "real thing" to be anything else) in which case I'd expect it to be a solid if unspectacular performer. You can find an in-depth test of the Tamron version (albeit attached to a Canon) on Photozone: link

I'd agree with Hardgravity - try it out first and see how you get on with it before handing over your money.

Many thanks. Good advice. I will certainly try it out first. He only wants a hundred bucks for it , but in this economy....not such a trivial amount anymore. And thanks "hefty1" for the informative link.