first try on my Tokina 28-70 f2.8 ATX PRO SV

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Got my lens today and as usual try it straight away on my camera right away.

First Impression:

Pros:
1) Heavy compare to my replaced Nikon 18-70 which is a good thing for me
2) Good build quality compare to my replaced Nikon 18-70
3) AF is quiet for a lens like that, doesn't sound as bad as some people says, my Nikon 50mm f1.8D sounded alot louder. AF on this lens is better then my AFD lens
4) Focus speed is ok but not uber fast, won't recommend shooting super fast movement stuff. Does the job for me like portraits etc.

Cons:
1) Aperture lock is ok but could make it better like the Nikon one
2) feels weird when mounting (don't know how to explain but the lens keep turning .....)
3) AF sometimes doesn't focus well at very dark environment etc but is easily adjustable by technique.

Photo quality:

Haven't really try it our properly because my house lighting is very poor, but try it with a flash and photo quality is very sharp and contrast compare to my Nikon 18-70.

Overall the lens is sharp but not like nikon 24-70mm f2.8 quality but for the price i paid for (£200) i can't complain really.

At f2.8 is ok sharp but a little soft at some place but i can live with that since i'm no pro photography or pixel peel anyway.

At f4 it gets better and sharp all over pretty much

At f5.6 it gets uberly sharp without any question.

I will do more testing at weekend with decent lighting to try it out proper, with very bad and low light the result is acceptable by me so it will be good during day time for me i guess.
 
I bought the f2.6-f2.8 version of this lens last year. It was as soft as hell wide open. It was ok (not great) stopped down but I didn't buy a fast zoom to use that way. I loved the focal length range on a dx body but couldn't live with the picture quality. I persevered with it for 6 months before getting rid of it.
 
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i bought my lens from Aperture UK. The shop base in London and i rang them to buy the lens.

It comes with a 6 month warranty so which is a big bonus.

Lens not came off my camera so far, so is a good sign i hope lol
 
more update on this lens for you guys that planning to buy one or similar.

Will post some pics up soon but here are the feedback.

Tested this on a D7000.

f2.8:
28mm - recentable sharp and is very useable
35mm - recentable sharp and is very useable
50mm - still ok sharp but gets a little soft
70mm - ok sharp but gets a litte soft

f3.5 - 4
28-70mm - sharp all over the frame which i'm very happy about

f5.6 - f11
28-70mm - sharp all over the frame which is outstanding

To conclude this, the lens shines at f3.5 - 11 which is very good for this price range. Wide open to f2.8 it gets very disappointing to behonest if you looking for razor sharpness. Lots of people compare it with prime at 2.8 but THATS prime and it should be sharp ........

f2.8 on this lens is just a big bonus when using in low light so don't expect razor sharp performance from this lens, otherwise it is very good.

also this lens is bad when wide open to f2.8 on 70mm and try to do those bokheh shots because it will produce very soft focus look which is not something i want personally.

If you want close up bokheh shots i would jump back to my primes ......
 
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