What do you think of Tokina lenses?

jdeg

^ broke something
Staff member
I'm considering going out of the relm of Nikkor lenses. Can anyone comment on Tokina lenses?
 

Ranie

Senior Member
I have a Tokina 11-16 F2.8(DX) and had a Tokina 28-80 F2.8 (FX) and Tokina 80-400 F3.5-5.6 (FX) before. I already sold both FX lenses and kept the 11-16 F2.8
The 11-16 for DX is a keeper. Its even better than the Nikon 12-24 according to most reviews.
The 28-80F2.8 is a different story. It should be a cheaper alternative to the Nikon 28-70 F2.8 (The Beast). This lens is soft wide open but at F4 up, it can stand on its own versus the Nikon. AF is fast and doesn't hunt. Colors are comparable to the Nikon counterpart.
The 80-400 is a little bit slower in focusing specially when there is not enough light, but picture quality was at par with the Nikon counterpart.


Tokina was founded by a group of Nikon engineers who left Nikon to concentrate on the development of high-quality zoom lenses.
 
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LensWork

Senior Member
Tokina makes some nice glass. They are the only after-market lenses that zoom & focus in the same direction as Nikkor's so there is no "oops, wrong way" when transitioning from lens-to-lens. Tokina was originally started by former Nikon engineers, so this is no surprise. At one time, Tokina was the OEM manufacturer for Minolta's "white" lenses (300mm f/2.8 APO, etc.), so quality of their higher lenses is top-notch. I don't know if they still produce the white lenses for Sony.
 

Ruidoso Bill

Senior Member
Each of the other lens manufacturers seem to have great, good and fair. I really think you need to look at a specific lens and start with the reviews. I like the sigma 105 I have yet there are reviews that some of the other sigma lenses perform poor ie soft on the long end etc. I don't think you can generalize by manufacturer.
 

AfterImage

New member
I picked up a Tonika 12-24mm back in October and I am satisfied with it. It's heavy in a satisfying way and the images are good. The 11-16mm is supposed to be a better lens in many regards but I can't find a game-breaking fault with the 12-24. Good build, good price, good performance... I'd buy from them again. Hope this helps!
 

aZuMi

Senior Member
Tokina is more well known for their UWA and WA lenses. I would stick to that. I'm also considering Tokina 16-28mm 2.8 as an alternative and I've heard great reviews for it.
 
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