Tokina’s new ultra-wide is fast, sharp, and the only game in town at this range and speed.
Announced in January, Tokina’s new fast ultra-wide for APS-C DSLRs has begun shipping to U.S. customers. Mine arrived yesterday, and I took it out for a few shots today. So far, I like what I see very much!
See also: Sigma 8-16/f4.5-5.6 First Look
Updated 5/20/2009. Nikon’s new 10-24/f3.5-4.5 lens is giving the Tokina a run for its money as the top wide-angle zoom for DX-format cameras.
Buy the Tokina 11-16/f2.8 ATX Pro DX Aspherical for Nikon
Buy the Tokina 11-16/f2.8 ATX Pro DX Aspherical for Canon
Background. We all know the trade-offs of the APS-C DSLR. With its “lens conversion factor” (focal length multiplier) of anywhere from 1.3-1.7, one of the biggest has been the loss of true ultra-wide capability (16-20mm in 35mm focal length equivalent). While slow (constant f4 or variable-aperture designs from f4-f4.5 on up) zooms in the 12-24mm range are now widely available (even dipping down to 10mm or 11mm on the wide end), those of us looking for an equivalent to the 35mm 17-35/f2.8 lens have had to make do without, until now. Tokina has taken their highly-regarded 12-24/f4 lens and modified the design to produce an 11-16/f2.8 lens for Nikon and Canon mounts.
Update: 6/22/2008. Got a chance to try the lens out fitted with a slim Cokin P filter holder and circular polarizer. Unfortunately, this combination vignettes significantly at 11 and 12mm. See photo toward end of article.
Update: 7/6/2008. Took a look at distortion, and summarized my observations in a separate article. In short, the lens exhibits barrel distortion if you look for it, but it is uniform and fairly easily corrected.
Washington & Lee University. 11mm, 1/160 @ f11, ISO 200.
Specifications. According to the Tokina web site:
| Focal Length: | 11~16mm |
| Maximum Aperture: | F/2.8 |
| Minimum Aperture: | F/22 |
| Construction: | 13 elements in 11 groups. |
| Coatings: | Multi-layer |
| Angle of View: | 104°~82° |
| Minimum Focus Distance: | 0.3m |
| Reproduction Ratio: | 1:11.6 |
| Focusing Mode: | Internal Focusing |
| Zoom Mode: | Rotary Zoom |
| No. Aperture blades: | 9 |
| Filter Size: | 77mm |
| Lens width: | 84mm |
| Lens length: | 89.2mm |
| Weight:: | 560g |
| Accessories: | Flower design Bayonet lens hood(BH77A) |
| Mount Availability: | Canon and Nikon APS-C |
Handling. The lens is made to Tokina’s tried-and-true standards, which I call “deceptively well-built.” The lens does feel solid, but I know from experience that Tokian’s lenses are not quite as well built as they seem. (I’ve seen a malfunctioning 20-35/f2.8 lens taken apart and repaired by replacing the electrical tape that was used by Tokina to hold key components together!) In practice, however, Tokina’s lenses hold up to typical use fairly well.
Ultrawide Creativity. 11mm, 1/400 @ f8, ISO 200.
Finish and markings are also typical Tokina, highly functional if somewhat 70′s-looking. The included, petal-shaped plastic lens hood fits securely enough, and a new “pinch” lens cap design is an improvement. The lens has a filter size of 77mm and it appears that even polarizing filters can be used with the lens hood in place (albeit with some difficulty). The lens does not have an internal focus motor, though it sports Tokina’s auto-manual focus clutch. Manual focusing is well-damped and fairly smooth, though with only a very short throw of just under a quarter turn from infinity to the minimum focus distance of about a foot.
Auto-focusing is of the internal type, and typical for an ultra-wide is very quick. For sports photographers, this lens has great potential for remote mounting behind a basketball backboard or inside a soccer or lacrosse goal. With the end of the college sports season, I probably won’t have a chance to try out any of these applications until fall.
Lee Chapel. 11mm, 1/2500 @ f2.8, ISO 200.
Performance. From a handful of initial shots, this is typical Tokina glass: very sharp and reasonably contrasty, not quite up to Nikon standards but quite acceptable for professional use. Sharpness at f2.8 is not bad at all, with a “sweet spot” of between f5.6-f11 at 11mm.
Bokeh leaves a bit to be desired, even with the 9-blade diaphragm, although this is not surprising for such a wide lens.
Distortion is also quite reasonably controlled, with barely perceptible barrel distortion visible at 11mm. At such a wide focal length, however, distortion is most noticeable in the compression of perspective typical of ultrawide lenses.
Bokeh. 16mm, 1/2500 @ f2.8, ISO 200.
Infrared. Infrared capability seems fine, from a few sample shots taken with my D70i. There is no IR focus mark, although at such a wide angle there’s likely to be little need for one.
Virginia Horse Country. D70i, 16mm, 1/320 @ f10, ISO 200.
Vignetting w/filters. With the Cokin P system, utilizing the “slim” one-filter holder, the lens vignettes noticeably at 11mm and 12mm (the shot below is at 11mm).
26 responses so far ↓
1 Mark // Jun 7, 2008 at 8:22 pm
How does this lens compare to the Sigma 10-20mm for Nikon? The Sigma goes 1mm wider, doesn’t go to f2.8, uses an AF-S type focus system, and costs about the same.
2 The Sports Photo Guy // Jun 7, 2008 at 10:13 pm
I have not used the Sigma 10-20, but a constant f2.8 lens such as the Tokina, IMO, is far more useful than a slower lens that has a nominally wider zoom range. I will be posting some comparison images to the excellent Sigma 12-24/f4.5-5.6 which I use extensively.
3 Raygun // Jun 8, 2008 at 9:36 am
What kind of sharpening did you do on the last image of the flower? Or was that just a tight crop? There seems to be some edge-effects going on. Otherwise, on the other photos, the large depth of field, lack of CA, and sharpness seem very nice.
4 The Sports Photo Guy // Jun 8, 2008 at 10:32 am
The last image is a 100% crop, so you’re looking at a larger magnification than the other images. This isn’t exactly a macro lens, so fine details in flowers isn’t going to be its forte.
5 twig // Jun 13, 2008 at 8:45 pm
I look forward to your comparisons to the Sigma 12-24., which I also use extensively and find to be an amazing performer.
6 Mark // Jul 3, 2008 at 1:42 pm
I just got this lens and I need some grad ND filters. Your photo clearly shows vignetting with the cokin P series filter. Have you tried a Z series or Z-pro cokin filter to avoid vignetting? I am not sure which size to buy.
7 The Sports Photo Guy // Jul 6, 2008 at 4:12 pm
I have not tried the larger Cokin filters. Standard 77mm filters (one at a time), however, don’t appear to cause problems, though I don’t have a thicker, rotating filter such as a grad or polarizer in that size to try out.
8 Canon SLR Lense Recommendation - Tyresmoke Forums // Sep 7, 2008 at 11:30 am
[...] a Nikon heathen here, but I’m looking at this thing right now, which also comes in Canon fit: First Look: Tokina 11-16/f2.8 AT-X Pro DX It’s either that (fast-ish at f/2.8, if not up to gizze’s specs) or the Sigma mentioned above, [...]
9 Gressler // Nov 11, 2008 at 8:04 am
Hi Chuck,
Have you rotated the Cokin filter in vignetting photo? About 30 degrees ?
10 The Sports Photo Guy // Nov 11, 2008 at 8:48 am
If I recall I rotated the filter, but not the filter holder; however, I don’t remember for certain.
11 Tad Gage // Mar 7, 2009 at 11:46 am
I’m trying to deside between the Tokina 11-16mm and the 12-24mm…mainly for landscape & auto photography. Also, the 12-24mm has a Pro DX II newest version. Your comments would help. Thanks
12 The Sports Photo Guy // Mar 7, 2009 at 12:40 pm
I’ve not used the Tokina 12-24, though I have the Sigma 12-24. I can tell you that my Sigma has been collecting dust since I acquired the 11-16; and I really liked the Sigma 12-24. I wouldn’t get too excited about the AF motor in the new Tokina 12-24 version, or the “improved” multi-coating.
13 beto // Apr 2, 2009 at 4:17 pm
why would you use a polarizer on such a wide angle lens anyways? it will only “polarize” about half your image!
14 The Sports Photo Guy // Apr 2, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Glad you asked.
It all depends on the composition. I probably wouldn’t use a polarizer if my image contained blue sky from corner to corner. But there are many other uses for a polarizer besides darkening a blue sky.
Take the image above. My objective was to eliminate some of the reflections coming from the monument’s top surface. I was only partially successful due to the presence of smoke from a massive wildfire miles to the south of the photo location which scattered light every which way.
But I often uses polarizers on wide angle shots of streams and waterfalls, both to get slower shutter speeds as well as cut through surface reflections on the water which may only appear in a portion of the frame.
15 paul // Jun 10, 2009 at 8:59 pm
I’m in the market for a wide-angle lens for my Canon Rebel (hopefully going to graduate to a 40D eventually). I’m trying to decide between this Tokina 11-16mm and the Canon 12-24. Any thoughts?
16 The Sports Photo Guy // Jun 14, 2009 at 11:38 pm
I’m not a Canon shooter, so I have no experience with Canon glass. Sorry.
17 joe // Jul 9, 2009 at 8:00 pm
I use the Tokina on an S5 pro and this lens is sharp!!!
18 ashok gulati // Jul 28, 2009 at 4:27 am
i have nikon d-70 camera can i use tokina 11-16 lens on this
suggest.
19 The Sports Photo Guy // Jul 28, 2009 at 5:47 am
Yes – this lens works fine with the D70.
20 Ariful Islam // Jul 31, 2009 at 12:21 pm
It was my dream lens as I love landscape very very much. Just received it an hour ago. Need to wait till the morning to make some experiments … I know I cant sleep tonight.
21 Sergio // Sep 2, 2009 at 12:11 am
Great review!! It’s nice to hear that the Tokina 11-16 is good and suitable for IR. Just to be sure, when you tested it on your D70 IR, you did not have any hotspots?
22 The Sports Photo Guy // Sep 2, 2009 at 7:26 am
No IR hotspots, but as with “normal” shooting, keep the sun out of the frame with this lens.
23 Randall // Sep 20, 2009 at 10:06 am
Anyone have experience with the Tokina and the D200? I also have B+W circ polarizer but it’s 72mm for my 18-200 VR…guess that won’t work well with the Tokina with an adaptor.
24 Jon // Nov 29, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Hi, i am using a D50 IR modded with ELP filter.
I heard rumours that this lens will cause hot-spots for IR photography. What are your experiences with this lens? What is the usual aperature that you use?
Thank you.
25 gigi // Jun 2, 2010 at 3:41 am
ciao,qualcuno mi sa dire se il Tokina 11-16 è indicato per la mia reflex Nikon D3000?Grazie
26 The Sports Photo Guy // Jun 2, 2010 at 6:06 am
Gigi from Italy would like to know if the 11-16 is compatible with the D3000.
The answer is yes; however, autofocus is not available because the 11-16 does not have an internal focus motor.
La risposta è sì, ma messa a fuoco automatica non è disponibile perché il 11-16 non ha motore interno.
(Thanks to translate.google.com)
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