Tokina Lenses - your opinion

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chilli_vision

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Hey All,

I've been hunting around for a macro lens and read a few reviews in various mags. Whilst hunting, I came across the brand Tonkina, and to be 100% honest I'd not heard of the them before, but then again i've only been in the hobby for lens than a year.

Does anyone have any experience with any of their lenses? What are your feelings/views about them?

They seem to have some nice lenses at good rates compared with the Nikon brand. But, they say what you get is what you pay for, but Tokina seems to have some good write ups.

Any comments?

Matt
 
As far as I know the company was formed by Nikon guys so the pedigree seems good.
 
Hello Matt

I have a Tokina 28-70 FD lens which I bought more than 20 years ago for use on my Canon T90 film camera and have to say it is probably the best lens I have ever used, in fact I still use it occasionally using an FD-EOS converter.
I shall be getting the Tokina 100 macro myself in the spring.

I believe Tokina was originally set-up by 2 Nikon guys who left to start their own business many years ago.

Hope this helps.

Alan.
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killwilly said:
Hello Matt

I have a Tokina 28-70 FD lens which I bought more than 20 years ago for use on my Canon T90 film camera and have to say it is probably the best lens I have ever used, in fact I still use it occasionally using an FD-EOS converter.
I shall be getting the Tokina 100 macro myself in the spring.

I believe Tokina was originally set-up by 2 Nikon guys who left to start their own business many years ago.

Hope this helps.

Alan.
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Thanks Alan,

Nice to hear an actual report on the use of this brand.

Set up by 2 Nikon boys, now that could be really good, or bad, depending on their confidence and experience at Nikon. I shall look into Tokina further.

Cheers
Matt
 
killwilly said:
I shall be getting the Tokina 100 macro myself in the spring.
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This lens has had a great write up in a couple of reviews i've seen. It has it + & - points just like every other, but they all say it is extremely good value for money compared with the leading brands.
 
Had both the 11-16mm Tokina and 14-24mm when also owning the D300S - I seriously couldnt tell the difference between the 11-16mm and 14-24mm. What a fantastic lens for the money - however the 11-16mm was near useless on the D3 with severe vignetting upto 15mm.
 
razor777 said:
Had both the 11-16mm Tokina and 14-24mm when also owning the D300S - I seriously couldnt tell the difference between the 11-16mm and 14-24mm. What a fantastic lens for the money - however the 11-16mm was near useless on the D3 with severe vignetting upto 15mm.
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You make it sound as if the 11-16 is a bad lens, but it's not designed for use on an FX camera, being specifically an APS-C lens.
 
Flash In The Pan said:
You make it sound as if the 11-16 is a bad lens, but it's not designed for use on an FX camera, being specifically an APS-C lens.
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Oh I hope not, the Tokina was a brilliant lens; but it's cross over to being used on a FX (D3) camera isn't the best even though some DX lenses perform fairly well on a FX model but this isn't one of them.

Even at 15mm/16mm the vignetting was fairly evident on the D3.

However, just to clarify IMO the Tokina 11-16mm is unsurpassable as a wide angle lens on a crop (DX) camera.
 
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I was wondering about tokina too. Never really heard much about them so looks like they're another brand to try.
 
I have 12-24mm and it is really nice, and works fairly well with my 1-series (I don't have any crop any more). It is built like tank, very sharp but doesn't have weather sealing or USM motor.
 
I have the 11-16 Tokina, and i'm finding it to be a real gem of a lens. I have purchased it for use on my D300s, and found the pictures to always be very sharp, indeed. Granted, when i purchase a D700, i'll be looking for a Nikkor 14-24 f2.8 to go with my Nikkor 24-70 f2.8, and my 70-200 VRII to give me the "holy trinity", but i will still keep the 11-16 for my D300s, as well.
 
Cool. Thanks for all your comments guys.

I am really considering the 100mm macro on the basis of the review write ups and this thread. I don't want to get heavily into macro stuff, but would like the opportunity to dabble as the chance takes my fancy.

For that reason I don't want to spend £600+ on a Nikon macro lens I can use the money more effectively elsewhere. So, a Tokina for under £400 seems a much better price for me and what I want from it.

Is there anything I need to consider when buying a non Nikon lens, i.e. the Tokina. I have a DX camera and where Nikon clearly labels their compatible lens as DX, Sigma, Tokina, and the other one beginning with T I can't remember, don't.

Cheers
Matt
 
chilli_vision said:
Is there anything I need to consider when buying a non Nikon lens, i.e. the Tokina. I have a DX camera and where Nikon clearly labels their compatible lens as DX, Sigma, Tokina, and the other one beginning with T I can't remember, don't.
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Take my previous statement as rubbish, I have just checked out a few websites for prices on Tokina and they do have DX in the lens description when looking at Nikon monuts. Doh!!!!. The 100mm Macro has D on, but reading the description it says that it can be used for FX or DX, I assume that is due to the technology of the lens itself.
 
The Tokina 10-17 is a very highly sought after lens in the underwater photography world for some time, practically everyone has one, and I've never heard of any problems, a great reputation. Nothing wrong with Tokina if its the lens spec you want
 
Digital Camera Magazine has a review of 100mm macro lenses this month. They reckon that the Tokina is the best option for Nikon users.
 
The 116 is on my 'to buy' list :D
 
Tokina are good, yep, apparently set up by Nikon employees who were disinterested in nikon's lack of love for making zoom lenses so went off to make their own. Some of Pentax's lenses are Tokina but with a different badge.
 
Boldonian said:
I have a Tokina 16-50 F2.8 . Excellent sharp lens with build quality Tamron can only dream of.
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...and you sure pay for it as well. You'd be as well buying a 2nd hand Canikon 17-55mm than paying a price very close to it for a third-party lens.

I don't doubt they're very good lenses though....
 
Just been doing a price comparison search, I can't believe how varied all the prices can be for Tokina lenses. As you would expect all the best deals are sold out.
 
Ahhh,

I am now trying to decide between the Tokina 100mm & the Tamron 90mm. Both rated highly in the latest Digital Camera, and the best prices I have found have the Tokina £60 higher in price.

The Tokina comes out as the best for Nikon (but is it £60 better?), but the Tamron has some excellent comments. As both can be used on a APS-C, some of the lens issues are reduced by the fact that the APS-C will not use the lens edges.

Hummmmm, What to do, what to do.
 
chilli_vision said:
Ahhh,

I am now trying to decide between the Tokina 100mm & the Tamron 90mm. Both rated highly in the latest Digital Camera, and the best prices I have found have the Tokina £60 higher in price.

The Tokina comes out as the best for Nikon (but is it £60 better?), but the Tamron has some excellent comments. As both can be used on a APS-C, some of the lens issues are reduced by the fact that the APS-C will not use the lens edges.

Hummmmm, What to do, what to do.
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For that decision Tokina.

Sharpness will be negligable difference - but the tokina is really really well built. I have the 12-24mm and would have no issues buying tokina again.
 
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