The Basics
The full name of the lens is Tokina 12-24mm f/4 (IF) AT-X Pro DX II, which tells us we’re dealing with a lens designed for crop sensor DX bodies. The last wide angle we reviewed, the Tamron 17-35 (see below), was a 35mm/FXdesign.
Tokina is less well-known than Sigma and Tamron but well-regarded for making quality lenses. The company is now owned by Hoya, along with Pentax, which explains why the Pentax 12-24mm lens looks like (and is) a close relative. It comes as no surprise that a number of Pentax lenses are the result of close collaboration.
Optics 13 elements, 11 groups
2 aspherical, 1 SD element
Diaphragm blades 9
Min aperture f/22
Min Focus distance 30mm
Dimensions 84mm X 89.5mm
Weight 570g
Filter Size 77mm
AF Optional built-in AF motor for Nikon
Price $399 and $499 for the version with BIM
http://www.adorama.com/searchsite/default.aspx?searchinfo=Tokina+12-24
Construction
The review lens is the version with the built-in AF micro-motor for Nikon models without an AF screw drive in the body. The optics and dimensions of the two versions are the same. Even the higher price for the BIM version is at odds with what you get for the money, as the Tokina AT-X 124 looks like pro lens costing two or three times as much, with a subtle, classy-looking crinkle finish and a quality lens cap.
It feels solid and weighs 570g, and its design employs a chrome-plated brass mount plate and an all-metal zoom unit. The polycarbonate that covers the zoom and focus rings has none of that cheap plastic stickiness we find on some cheap lenses.
A constant f/4 across the zoom range makes the lens useful in imperfect light conditions. Tokina offers the 11-16mm f/2.8 if you need a faster lens, but this lens is dearer and doesn’t offer a version with built-in AF motor. The flimsy user guide is in Japanese but who needs a user guide for a lens?
Handling
If you dropped the 570g AT-X 124 Pro on your foot, I suspect that your toes would break before the lens. It feels a bit hefty on a small Nikon body but the barrel is only 8cm long without the hood. The lens doesn’t extend during zooming and the internal focus design ensures that the use of filters presents no problems. It’s possible to change filters without removing the petal shaped hood.
Performance
Autofocus on the Tokina is fast and silent, much like a Nikon AF-S lens. Switching between auto-focus and manual is a simple matter of sliding the focus ring back and forth, which can be done in any focus position, and a distance scale for manual focusing is provided. Both the zoom and focus rings move smoothly with just the right degree of resistance. Getting the lens hood on and off takes a bit of effort, as the slot is very positive. The hood is pretty substantial too and won’t come loose once it’s locked in.
Image Quality
I sold a Sigma 10-20mm EX HSM lens before I bought the Tokina, and I have a Tamron 17-35mm/FX lens so I have some points of comparison. The Tamron’s IQ is superior to the other two but then it is a remarkable lens as I pointed out in a recent blog post (check the side bar). The Tokina is a touch sharper than the Sigma and more consistently so, but it flares almost as badly.
Just about all ultra-wide lenses flare badly as a result of the huge image angle, so you need to factor that into your shooting technique. I confess that I miss the extra width of the Sigma, and it’s surprising just how much difference that last bit from 12 to 10mm makes. Both lenses render colours with good accuracy, with the Tokina’s a fraction more neutral than the Sigma’s.
Real World
Ultra-wide lenses need concentration and good technique to get the best out of. Their optics are stretched to the ragged edge and that shows when you work on the super-wide end of their zoom range. Away from the centre of the images, things tend to go a bit vague, and the Tokina is no different from other ultra-wides in that regard.
The experts tell us that stopping down – way down – is the way to get sharp pictures from lenses like these, but I found f/6.3 and 7.1 the most reliable settings for getting sharp images. Still, sharpness tends to fall off away from the centre. Getting right in close to the subject is often a better idea with these lenses than trying to grab big armfuls of landscape, and then sharpness is much less of an issue.
You’ll get sharper images from a kit lens with your eyes closed – with ultra-wides, you need to work harder on the shots you take, and you’ll need to do more post-processing to correct distortion and vignetting.
The bottom line
The Tokina’s build quality is astonishing given the pricing but the performance at the wide end of the spectrum is not without disappointments. That said, it is pretty much as good as it gets in the sub-$1,000 range. Ultra-wide lenses aren’t easy beasts to use, as I hinted above, and practice is needed to get the best from them.
This lens is great value, and it’s built to withstand plenty of knocks. It’s an ultra wide-angle lens with a zoom range equivalent to an 18-36mm lens on a 35mm film or FX digital camera, and the minimum aperture is a constant fairly fast f/4. What more do you want for $500?
For more images see Tokina 12-24mm f/4 shots in the sidebar on the right under PAGES
Reviews
Here’s the glowing verdict from dpreview.com
http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/tokina_12-24_4_n15/
‘The Tokina AT-X Pro SD 12-24mm F4 (IF) DX is a lens that could easily be overlooked by buyers considering a wide-angle zoom, simply because of its more limited angle of view compared to most similar lenses on the market. But perhaps because of its more modest aspirations, it comprehensively outperforms the other third party APS-C wideangle zooms we've tested recently, i.e. the Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC HSM and the Tamron 10-24mm F3.5-4.5 Di-II. It's simply a much sharper lens, especially wide open, delivering consistently good results at almost all settings; it also scores well with respect to its distortion and falloff characteristics. These characteristics, coupled with the constant F4 maximum aperture, makes it much better suited to shooting interiors or in low light than similar lenses (with the exception of Tokina's own 11-16mm F2.8), adding to its overall versatility. This from an extremely solid, well-built lens which feels like it would shrug off knocks capable of breaking less rugged designs, and which also has excellent operational characteristics; the zoom and focus rings are impressively smooth, and the focus clutch system is one of the better-implemented of its kind.
Other reviews
http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/tokina_12-24_f4_review.html
As far as we know, there’s no difference in the optics of the versions with and without the BIM for Nikon.
Kim
Nice post. I love it. Waiting your new posts. Thank you...
Posted by: Devremülkler | 01/11/2011 at 12:17 AM
Amazing pictures shared by you here. The clarity of pictures is very high. I have 14 mpx camera which is really very effective in such types of places. Thanks for sharing this one.
Posted by: עבודה לצעירים | 01/30/2012 at 02:39 PM