Tokina AF 16-28mm f/2.8 at-X PRO FX Lens for Canon

What made me wait so long? The story began with the Tokina AT-X Pro 28-70mm f/2.6-2.8. It was and still is one of the sharpest lenses that I have ever owned and I regret selling it to purchase the Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8 G as well as it's successor the VR version of the same lens. Really good and reliable glass in my opinion but the Tokina is the hands down beast in this segment. I considered several prime lenses but I kept coming back to this one. The images are from a Nikon D610 with the AT-X 16-28 f/2.8 affixed to the body and shooting raw. Little post production and there is not filters that have been added to the images to make the sky bluer. It is plain and simple long years of studying light, time of day and shooting angles. The lens focuses extremely fast and is very crisp. The colors are rendered exceptionally. The build quality is in keeping with the Tokina tradition and the optics are awesome. I will not get into fine details about the MTF and other things and suffice it to say, that if you are looking for a lens to photograph landscapes, residential interiors, exteriors, and nature you cannot go wrong with this lens.Recommended? Hell yes!!!!

The Tokina ATX-PRO 16-28mm f/2.8 is their latest ultra-wide zoom aimed at FX cameras. This is a big and heavy lens that is built like a tank... it weighs a little over 2 pounds by itself. Once you add a Nikon D700 you will be lugging around at least 4.3 pounds.It uses the Tokina exclusive "One-Touch Focus Clutch" mechanism to switch between auto and manual focus. Basically you push the focus ring forward for auto focus and pull it back for manual focus. This means that when the clutch is in the auto focus position you cannot simply move the ring to override the AF like you can with some Nikon lenses. The built-in focus motors are quiet and fast.Optically this lens is amazing. I really don't see any distortion or light fall off throughout the entire zoom range. All of the images I've taken with it are sharp and have really good contrast. This lens is definitely a keeper.There are a couple problems/drawbacks to this lens. First, you cannot attach filters because of the front bulbous element. If I have to choose between pictures with imperceptible distortion and being able to use filter, I'll live with the bulbous front element. Also, I wish Tokina would include a better lens cap. The included lens cap is a plastic cap that slips over the built-in lens shade. I've noticed that if I'm working in a hot environment, that the lens cap becomes more flexible and has a tendency to fall off. To rectify this situation I am now using a small LensCoat Hoddie.In conclusion, I have no regrets buying this lens. The images are fantastic. I could have gone with the Nikon 16-35mm lens that is smaller, lighter and has VR but is slower and has more distortion than the Tokina.

Very nice lens, I bought it after reading reviews from others. The glass is bowed outward like a fisheye, but it is not a fisheye, and gives a nice wide image. The zoom is perfect for making adjustments for photos in tight places.What is this lens best used for? I would say interior shots, such as buildings, or other tight places where you can't control where you are going to stand, but you want a perfect shot anyway. On an FX sensor, which is what this lens was made for, 16mm, is very wide, and a zoom to 28 is still pretty wide, but just enough to make the difference between a perfect shot, and one that will need cropping.The lens has a very nice lens cover, and you will need it. The lens will not let you put any filter on it, as it looks like a fisheye, even if the picture it takes is not a fisheye image. It is a great bargain, love it.I will attach two pictures, one at the widest, and one at the narrowest. Both taken with the cameras flash, so they are not works of art, they are only to demonstrate the range of the lens.

This was the first SLR lens I purchased, originally for use with a D5100 but knowing I would eventually buy a full frame camera (now using a D600). Optically this lens is pretty fantastic. I've had no issues getting razor sharp images from either camera (much easier with the 600 as the 5100 has a pretty strong anti-aliasing filter). If you're worried about lens resolution, fear not as this thing is positively fierce in that department, though it does come with a few downsides.I have exactly three gripes with this lens. One is major, the other two not so much. First and foremost is lens flare. If you have a light source, any light source, within or just outside the frame, your image will have flare. Honestly I knew when purchasing a lens of this variety that this was going to be an issue, but I underestimated it by a fair margin. Any lens of this particular design is going to exhibit quite a bit of flare, however when compared to the Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 this one has an undesirable tendency. The Nikkor flares like crazy as well, but it's mostly easy to control and relatively simple to fix in post processing. The Tokina has a tendency to introduce quarter-circular rainbows around any light source at the points closest to and farthest from the lens center. These become more defined as you stop down. Depending on how you shoot, this might not be an issue. If you're out shooting landscapes with the sun at your back, you'll likely never have a problem. If you're in a studio where you're controlling all of the light sources, you'll likely never have a problem. Sadly I primarily shoot architecture at night so the flare issue drives me quite crazy. I'm rather seriously considering selling this to someone it's better suited for and spending the big bucks on the Nikkor.Gripe number two is fairly minor: the weight. This lens is heavy. Easily the heaviest that I keep in my normal kit. I don't mind the weight so much when it's in the bag, or even when I'm shooting handheld. It's when it's mounted on the tripod that it's irritating. I frequently keep the camera on the tripod as I walk around and unless I get the ball super tight, it starts creeping down due to the lens weight. Again, not a very big deal as I just have to make sure the ball is clamped good and tight, but it's worth noting on account of the fact that I'm using a pretty stout tripod head setup (Really Right Stuff BH-40 with camera specific plates). I do not trust any universal or generic setup with this lens on the camera as it's heavy enough to work the camera loose. Most people are smart and responsible and take their camera off of their tripod before moving it, but this is a bit of a sticking point for me as I'm almost always working on a tripod and therefore prefer to leave the camera attached to it, even when moving around.Gripe number three is also pretty minor: having to pull the focus ring back for manual focus. I frequently use autofocus to get my initial focus and then flip a switch for manual to make minor adjustments if a subject starts moving or something. Having to pull the focus ring to switch on this lens causes the exact autofocus spot to get lost in translation as it's too easy to spin the ring ever so slightly when pulling it. I know this is just me being lazy, but I've missed one or two good shot opportunities before because I was fumbling with the focus. I much prefer having physical switches to this sort of mechanism.Outside of my one major and two minor gripes, the lens is excellent. The focus and zoom rings are smooth. The autofocus isn't the quietest or the fastest, but I'm not expecting perfection for this class of lens at this price point, plus it's fast enough to not cause any major issues. Build quality is better than expected. It's not the near bulletproof build of the Nikkor, but I expect it to take a bit of a beating. Overall I do recommend this lens for certain types of photography, but if you're going to be shooting into the sun or other direct light sources I would consider some alternatives, notably the 14-24mm f/2.8 and the 16-35mm f/4 even though they're both at a much higher price point and the latter is a full stop slower.EDIT 2013-06-06:I have since purchased the Nikon 16-35mm f/4. Since that purchase the Tokina has been removed from my primary kit as the Nikon is sharper, lighter, has a manual focus switch, has VR, takes 77mm filters, and is significantly less likely to exhibit lens flare. I still like the Tokina and I think it would make an excellent pairing with a 28-300mm for two lens full frame travel kit, but it honestly doesn't get much use other than serving as an additional reference point when I do lens comparisons on my blog. A friend of mine has actually been borrowing it for the past 2 or 3 months and I've not missed it. I'll keep it at the 4 star rating, because it's excellent for the price, but for real world use it honestly doesn't compare with the Nikon. In my opinion you should get this lens over one of the Nikon lenses only if money is a big issue.