Tokina 11-16mm 2.8 or Nikon 10.5mm 2.8??

TimB

TimB

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Hi all,

I have been looking at expanding my small lens collection with a high quality wide angle.

One of my lenses is the Nikon 18-200mm VR, and I often find myself hitting the 18mm stop and wanting more when shooting buildings, architecture and cityscape/landscape scenes hence my desire for a more extreme wide angle.

I'm currently using a Nikon D90 and I read that as far as wide angle lenses for a DX sensor goes, the Tokina 11-16mm 2.8 AT-X Pro DX was actually a better lens optically than similar offerings from Nikon themselves??

My budget is around £600 for my next lens so the Tokina fits right in... But so does the rather nice Nikon 10.5mm 2.8 ED DX.

I have read very good things about both lenses and I'm kind of thinking that the small zoom range on the Tokina would be quite helpful.

Any suggestions or any experience of these lenses?

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
TimB said:
Hi all,

I have been looking at expanding my small lens collection with a high quality wide angle.

One of my lenses is the Nikon 18-200mm VR, and I often find myself hitting the 18mm stop and wanting more when shooting buildings, architecture and cityscape/landscape scenes hence my desire for a more extreme wide angle.

I'm currently using a Nikon D90 and I read that as far as wide angle lenses for a DX sensor goes, the Tokina 11-16mm 2.8 AT-X Pro DX was actually a better lens optically than similar offerings from Nikon themselves??

My budget is around £600 for my next lens so the Tokina fits right in... But so does the rather nice Nikon 10.5mm 2.8 ED DX.

I have read very good things about both lenses and I'm kind of thinking that the small zoom range on the Tokina would be quite helpful.

Any suggestions or any experience of these lenses?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

These are fundamentally different lenses- the 10.5 is a fisheye and the 11-16 is an UWA. They are not comparable.

Fisheye lenses have their place but for what you describe I'd buy the Tokina. It's a great lens, is flexible and is far superior to Nikons 10-24 having used both. Not as good as the 14-24 but then you have a D90 so not really worthwhile.
 
The Nikon 10.5mm is a cracking lens but as already pointed out this is a full frame fish-eye lens as apposed to a ultra wide angle.
Saying that you can de-fish your images in P.P. to give ultra wide angle view :)
Best of both worlds ?
I now use Tokina 10-17mm FF fish-eye zoom on DX
and a 15mm or 16mm Fish-eye on FX
 
I have the 10.5, and it's a great lens. I take it on every trip because it's so small and light; takes up almost no room at all in the bag. Downside is that it is limiting because of the fisheye effect. Yes, you can de-fish your images, but you lose something in the corners as a result. So, just like all lenses, it's a trade-off. There is no doubt, though, that a 10.5 will get you shots that just can't be gotten any other way...unique and alluring.
 
Thanks for the input so far guys.

I was just trying to compare them as I thought they might be similar at the 11/10.5mm end.

I don't want a fisheye as such, just really wide for landscape and architecture stuff.

The less distortion the better!

I think the Tokina would be a good choice for me.

Any suggestions where I can get it from at a good price? The cheapest I've seen it is about £545 from 'well known' retailers but I've seen photographic supply shops on eBay selling them for £480... Now these people are UK sellers and have it in stock in the UK to send via royal mail, and a saving of £65 is quite a lot!

Is there something I need to be wary of?

They sometimes say in the advert it is 'brand new Japanese market stock with a 1 year sellers warranty'
 
£445 with free delivery! That's really cheap :) the cheapest yet in fact.

I might have to phone them before ordering to check out if they have stock etc first though based on your warning...
 
Phiggys said:
The Nikon 10.5mm is a cracking lens but as already pointed out this is a full frame fish-eye lens as apposed to a ultra wide angle.
Saying that you can de-fish your images in P.P. to give ultra wide angle view :)
Best of both worlds ?
I now use Tokina 10-17mm FF fish-eye zoom on DX
and a 15mm or 16mm Fish-eye on FX
Click to expand...

The 10.5 fisheye is a DX lens isn't it?
 
The 10.5mm is a DX-only lens. It can be used on FF bodies but it'll either vignette or kick the camera into DX-crop mode.

As a lens it's fantastic. Ultra-specialised in that it gives you one look and that's it. Optically it's excellent and for doing close-ups with a twist, you will cut yourself, it's that sharp. It's very well made too. Size-wise it's a bit longer than a 50mm in physical length, so does look a bit diddy. It isn't AF-S so will only AF on bodies like the D90 with a built-in AF motor.

I wrote a review about it here

I've only fiddled with the Tokina 11-16 in shops but if you don't mind f/4, maybe have a look at he brilliant Nikon 12-24mm and the cheaper (but optically excellent) Tokina 12-24mm. Both are sharp as hell.
 
Here is the Tokina 11-16mm f2.8.Taken with Nikon D7000 at 11mm. There is very little distortion nice straight horizon.It is performs just as well on my D90.Fantastic lens.
 
i have tokina 11-16mm and i love it. using on D7000. bought from onestodigital (HK). arrived in 3 days and no taxes to pay.
 
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