Lightweight 400mm AF Lens! My other 400mm prime is the Nikon f3.5 at about 6lbs., so this Tokina is my go to on a daily basis for birding and surf photography. The construction is near the quality of my Nikon 300 f4. The auto focus is snappy on my D7200 and D300 (haven't tried on D500 or D800 yet). The lens hood is firm on my copy. Affordable - got mine at antique store for $75 and it appears to have rarely been used!! The glass is perfect, and there are absolutely no scratches, marks, or dings on the body.

Position of the focus ring is where I tend to place my hand when holding and I hope to not cause the AF gears to strip over time by restricting the movement with my hand - other than that, this lens has no weaknesses - the comments about sharpness are not true with my copy. Try a monopod or tripod if images appear soft, as that should sharpen them up - I did extensive comparison with my Nikon 300 f/4 and under tight tolerance testing, they are nearly indistinguishable.

Sharp, light weight, cost (this is only going to be purchased as a used lens, too, so it's impossible to pay a lot of money for this lens - I paid $163 from B and H for a manual version of the lens, and $255 for a mint close-focus, AF version), internal focus (lens doesn't extend when focusing), SD (APO) glass, close-focus.

- Not as sharp at all apertures as a Canon or Nikon 400mm version? (Nikon doesn't offer a 400mm f/5.6 prime lens, the closest it comes is a 300mm f/4 lens w/ a teleconverter, the lens alone selling new as I write this for about $925 from B and H). - Not as quiet as top of the line optics. - Not as fast to focus as top of the line optics. - This lens may not work with all digital cameras in AF mode. However, Tokina can "rechip" the lens to work with cameras like the Nikon D2x, one of the few cameras that reportedly don't work correctly with the lens. That's not the case with my D70 and apparently most other digital cameras. Cost of rechipping? Well under $100.

This is a discontinued lens, replaced with a 200-400mm zoom, but none-the-less one worth owning in the digital age for those who itching to give their cameras a long, long reach. Imagine, before digital cameras, the knock on this supposedly "amateur" lens was its slow, f/5.6 aperture. But with noiseless ISOs of 800 and beyond that are possible with DSLRs, slow translates today as light weight. Suddenly, a lens like the Nikon f/2.8 becomes an unnecessary behemoth that tips the scale at almost 10 pounds. Same with Canon. "It lacks contrast," "It lacks color saturation," yada, yada, yada. First, these raps are not true. Second, even if they were, once a digital file is in Photoshop, Aperture, iPhoto or virtually any other photo program, color and saturation can be increased with a couple of mouse clicks. Sharpness - this lens not as sharp at f/5.6 as it is at f/8. If a photo made at this aperture isn't going to be cropped, then lack of sharpness probably isn't going to be noticeable. If it is, there's always the unsharp mask on Photoshop, or similar commands with other programs. But wait, there's more. Because a sensor in the DSLR is smaller than a frame of 35mm film, digital cameras cut down the field of view of any lens, compared the field of view exhibited by a 35mm camera. In practice, this means the magnifying power of any lens designed for use on a film camera is increased by 1.6 times on a DSLR. A 400mm lens on a film camera therefore becomes a 640mm lens on a digital camera. There is no need, with this lens, to stick to a full-frame photo. As with any photo made from any quality lens, it's easy to crop out enough from a digital photograph made with this lens, to make the Tokina the equivalent of a 1000mm telephoto. Thus, this "slow" and "soft" 400mm lens becomes, in the digital era, a contradiction in terms: it's a super-telephoto that's both light weight and speedy, with color saturation and contrast that can be dialed in (and not just on the computer, most DSLRs allow this sort of control in-camera, too). Shoot fast enough and this is a lens that, if not hand holdable, can at least be steadied with a bean bag, atop a camera bag, held against a wall, etc., for sharp images. This SD glass on this lens (usually marketed as an APO lens by other manufacturers) supposedly offers a reduction of chromatic aberration not possible with non-SD lenses. Is this true? Well, the optics I've purchased over the years, for my Nikon, Minolta, Rolleiflex and Pentax cameras, have never exhibited CA, at least not enough to catch my attention. Tokina was apparently started by former employees of Nikon, and by and large, Tokina has a good reputation. With the departed, but not forgotten 400mm f/5.6, it's easy to see the reputation is deserved, and even more so in the digital age.

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None needed.

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Mini-review/tips for the manual version of the lens, which I owned briefly: On my D70, and most other digital Nikons, focus is confirmed in the viewfinder (green dot/beep). The trick to making correct exposures with this manual version of the lens is to make a best-guess manual exposure and auto bracket - one of the exposures will be close enough. Note: the original version of the lens was so lightweight that Tokina dispensed with the tripod mount. Tokina changed its mind, subsequent versions all have the mount.

LOW COST - LOW COST - LOW COST Great optics - sharp and good contrast Built like a tank but lightweight Good AF capability Great built in lens hood (I wish Canon supplied these on their lenses) Relatively small filter required (72mm)

May not work on all camera bodies. It workd great on my Canon 10D but is not sharp when used with my 350D (all my other lenses work fine on the 350D) No gelatin filter slot (but that is not really needed with a digital camera) Needs to be stopped down to f/8 for optimum imagery Discontinued by Tokina - probably will have low resale value (but, I intend to keep it)

I purchased this lens because I wanted good imagery but, couldn't justify the purchase of a Canon "L" lens because I use a 400mm so seldom. I was suprised and astounded at the quality of imagery and build. The images from f/8 to f/22 are excellent and acceptable at f/5.6 and f/32. The autofocus is right on with my 10D (see weaknesses) and is rapid. I would highly recommend this lens if you could ensure that it works correctly with you camera body. It has been discontinued in favor of the 100-400 zoom by Tokina, but is still available new from Cambridge for about $400. I would give this a five star rating if f/5.6 was a tad sharper and if it worked on my 350D body.

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Canon 70-200mm f/4L Canon 17-40mm f/4L Canon 28-135mm IS

It is also one of the few auto focus lenses I have. Since I tend to use it more in the manual focus mode, I cannot give the auto focus feature an extensive evaluation. I can, however, say that it works well in either the auto focus mode or manual focus mode. Some of the other things I like about the lens are: a) It works well in auto exposure mode or manual exposure mode b) It seems to be well made c) It produces good images d) The manual focus control rotates in the same direction as Nikon lenses e) The manual aperture control rotates in the same direction as Nikon lenses f) It shares the same 72mm filter size as my Nikon lenses g) It has good size, weight, and balance h) It is reasonably priced (paid $260 for near-mint condition lens, pouch, box, and paperwork)

a) It is a discontinued lens that is only available on the used market b) The f/5.6 maximum aperture is too slow in some lighting situations. c) I sometimes forget to lock the aperture control ring on the smallest f/stop when switching from manual exposure mode to auto-exposure mode.

The 400mm f/5.6 is the only Tokina I have and it is one of the few non-Nikon lenses I own. Sure, I would love to have a fast 300 or 400mm Nikon lens but I could not economically justify that expenditure.

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Since I do not do as much long telephoto shooting as I do the shorter focal lengths, I was never in a rush to fill the gap in my lens inventory between my 180mm lens and my 1000mm lens. For a long period of time, a 2X teleconverter on my 180mm lens adequately filled the gap. However, when I received an auto focus Nikon body as a gift, I used it as an excuse to buy the Tokina 400mm f/5.6 AT-X auto focus lens

1. Small and light for 400mm 2. Autofocus is fast enough for my needs 3. Reasonable cost 4. Sharp and contrasty pictures 5. Equivalent to 640mm on a Digital Rebel

1. Focus can hunt a bit in lower light or situations with low contrast. (Easy to avoid) 2. Chromatic Abberation can show up in certain types of contrasty shots.

Solid construction and small size make this an excellent lens for outdoor use. I was looking for a good birding lens that didn't cost an arm and a leg and the Tokina fit the bill. Photos are sharp and contrasty at f/8 - f/11; acceptable at f/5.6. Good lens for use on digital rebel or 10D. Autofocus is resonably fast and accurate. Small and light enough to use hand held on a bright day. I think I'll be keeping this one.

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Tokina AT-X 80-400mm

Fast accurate Auto Focus with my Digital Rebel. Not necessarily 100% accurate color, but at least vibrant color instead of the flat washed out look of other lenses... Good sharpness for a low priced aftermarket lens. I will never afford the "L" lens luxury, so I keep trying 3rd party lenses. This one's a definite keeper...

Lens hood is loose and sildes back and forth on it's own...

Overall I would rate this lens as the best 3rd party (EOS) Prime I have tried yet. This lens has much more sharpness than the similar Sigma lens... This is the AT-X SD version and I really am enjoying it...

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Not needed, but I did contact them by e-mail not too long ago and received an answer within 24hrs...

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Sigma's 400mm prime, Tamron 200-400mm

low price, small size, light weight, solid build.

Wide open performance. Nikon AF 300mm f/4 + 1.4x may be the way to go if sharpness is essential and it is also cheap in used market.

As AF 400mm f/5.6 is missing from Nikon, I go for a 3rd party lens. I purchased it for bird photographying. It is small, lightweight and well built. The 2.5m min. focusing distance is generally close enough for shooting small bird like house parrow. Wide open this lens is a little bit soft, definitely not up to Nikon telephoto's quality. However stop down to f/8 greatly improve the performance. Since the price is so low, it is a good starting lens for bird shooter.

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No need.

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Nikon AF 300mm f/4

handholdable,light,short, great value for the price

focus isn''t USM/AFS fast,but not a big deal

best 3rd party 400 on the market, if you find one get it! only 400 f5.6 worth getting for a nikon! hey moose peterson shot this for year, must be good?

Customer Service

never used

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sigma 400 f5.6, tamron 400 f4, canon 400 f5.6, nikon 400 f5.6 ais

Build construction. Size and balance. Reasonable AF speed. Sharp when stopped-down w/tripod.

Discontinued. Not an f4, but that would mean more size and money.

One of my favorite lenses. It''''s discontinued so you have to look for it. Got a good deal on ebay. It''''s light enough and well-balanced enough to hand hold for following birds, but you get best results when mounted on tripod and stopped down to f8-11. I was pleasantly surprised with the results. Optics are better than I had read about. Build quality is superb. AF is adequate and manual focusing is excellent for an AF lens. If you can find it, get it.

Customer Service

Haven''''t needed.

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Sigma 400mm f5.6 (non APO)

Small, light and easy to handle, takes 72mm filters and has a nice built in hood. It''s sharp and little distortion, straight lines are straight! Fast AF but decent manual focus feel. Nice metal build and tripod collar. Did I say cheap to!

Low contrast, pictures look bland it just doesn''t have any SNAP to them. This lens feels like you can hand hold it but don''t!! use the tripod collar. The biggest weakness is that it is no longer made!

I purchased this lens 2nd hand but in unused condition. Even for it''s full price it''s not a bad lens when compared to the 80/100 to 400mm zoom lenses. Sharp and impressivly fast AF, but it lacks contrast and colours are a little dull ( I tried agfa rsx with a ploarizer to make sure it wasn''t the print film ). Too bad they don''t make it any more since this is a rather decent lens for it''s price. If you are looking for a long telephoto and are considering a 500mm F8 mirror save a little more and try and get one of these used, it''s much better. Same if you want a zoom that goes to 400mm this is sharper. 72mm filters! I''m giving it a 5 for value based on it''s original MSRP and a 4 overall, this could be a great lens if it was a bit more contrasty but you''d have to pay a whole lot more to get a better lens.

Customer Service

Tokina''s distributor in Canada had a 6 year warranty on the lens and they honour it even 2nd hand from the original purchase date, even tho I only have 2 years left it feels nice that this used purch

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sigma 135-400mm, 500mm mirror lens