This lens is well built and has quite an appealling look (among the reason I chose to get the lens over that of Sigma). AF focus is smooth and fast; but that may be due to the camera''s ability to see and focus. I like the AF/MF push-pull clutch, although I mostly shoot with the lens set in manual focus mode. With my F100 and F4, it balances quite well. It adds an extra weight to stablelize the mirror bounce when shoot handheld to prevent any shake. It does this quite well with my old friend (light-weight plastic) Nikon N6006.

The problem with flares I mentioned earlier. A very poor lens for sunset/sunrise photography. I cannot agree that this lens is a PRO lens with the problems that it has.

I sold my beat-up AF Nikkor 35-70mm f/2.8D to get this one. Boy was I dead wrong. My reason was that I like the turn zooming ring and an extra wide angle. Plus I could use one size filters with my AF Nikkor 20-35mm f/2.8D and AF Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED w/ tripod collar. By all means this is not a bad lens. It is a very sharp lens indeed! Excellent contrast and color redention. The handling was also excellent, with its well built and sexy look. Focusing is also smooth and fast with my F100. The problem I have with this lens is the flare it produces. I am a landscape photographer and like to shoot sunset/sunrise. This is a poor lens to handle such situations. Flares are also possible with the sun just a little bit outside of your frame; and you may think that the lens hood would help. Well, not all the time. Not just with the sun in the frame, bright street lights can also produce flares! The lens has 16 elements in 11 groups. The AF Nikkor 35-70mm f/2.8 has 15 elements in 11 groups but does not produce any flare in these situations. Or perhaps because the Tokina has a larger front element (77mm) while the Nikkor has a smaller one (62mm). Well, my AF Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D also has 16 elements in 11 groups and it does not produce flare when shoot directly into the sun; the same for my AF Nikkor 20-35mm. My AF Nikkor 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6D has 15 elements in 11 groups with front element size 72mm and I never encountered any flares when shoot sunset or sunrise (and I sold this lens too...that''s a mistake). I have read all the reviews other people make and agree to most of them. I think that if you don''t often shoot sunset or sunrise or with bright lights in your frame, this lens is awesome. It is capable of producing quality images. This lens is a disappointment for me because 28-80mm is my most used focal length in the field. Now I''m looking to get the AF Nikkor 35-70mm lens back.

Similar Products Used:

Tamron 28-200mm, Tamron 70-300mm LD, AF Nikkor 24-120mm, AF Nikkor 20-35mm, AF Nikkor 70-300mm, AF Nikkor 80-200mm, AF Nikkor 35-70mm

very well built and super sharp images

none

The Tokina atx pro 280 is a very well built lens with super sharp images at an excelent price a great value.

Similar Products Used:

30-70 nikon

Sharpness, Build Quality Contrast and colour reproduction.

Failure to autofocus some times . flimsy and loose lens hood.

This is a sharp lens with exellent contrast,great for group shots and big inlargements (I''am a wedding and portrait photographer). But every now and then it fails to auto focus, I dont know why and as I say it only hapens now and then. All in all an exelent sharp lens

Customer Service

Non existant in Australia (through dealer only)

Similar Products Used:

Tokina 24-200, Tamron 28-200, Sigma 28-70

Well built. Quick focus. Lens is pretty sharp but not as sharp as the 28-70 Nikkor AFS. Price is right.

Not as sharp as the Nikkors. AFS focuses way faster but for $1000 more I''ll live with the Tokina

I use the Tokina with a F100 and the lens had worked flawlessly for about 1.5 years. It is sharp at all focal lengths. Maybe I''m lucky because a friend of mine has had problems with the same setup.

Customer Service

None

Similar Products Used:

28-70 AFS 28-70 Nikkor 3.5/4.5 D

Constant 2.8 aperature, solid build, shares 77 mm filters with other lenses. I sold a Nikon 24-120 to buy this lens and I do not regret it. I really initially wanted the Nikon 28-70 afs but the price was prohibitive, plus the Tokina offers 10 more mm on the long end.

none

I use this as my everyday lens, which replaced my 24-120. This is a pro level lens at a reasonable price.

Customer Service

none needed

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 80-200 afs
Nikon 17-35 afs
nikon 70-300

Great Zoom Range. Is my everuday walking around lens.Sharp, sharp,sharp.Feels great mated to a Maxum 9. Is as solid as a tank.Any easy switch between AF& MF.

None noted

This lens would be worth it at twice the price.I hope Tokina continues to make great lenses like this

Customer Service

Havn't needed

Similar Products Used:

None

Lens is very sharp at all focal length and aperture, except at 80mm wide open, the image is abit soft, which is excellent for shooting portraiture.
In fact, as compared to tokina AT-X 20-35mm F2.8, it outperforms the wide-angle zoom in the 28-35mm range. Built quality comparable to the Nikon AF-S lenses

None so far

Just bought this lens new and did afew test rolls. From observation, this lens may not look as crispy in the viewfinder as compared to the AT-X 28-70mm F2.6-2.8 Pro. Maybe this is due to the longer focal length. However, as the pictures turn out, the images are very sharp, corner to corner. Except at F2.8 80mm range, the image is slightly soft, which is good for portraiture.Close it down to F4, the image sharpens a great deal. I see it as an option how to control how soft or "hard" i want (for shooting people close, I will opt for the soft option!). Anyway, having that 10mm extra is very important, as 80mm is closer to the standard portraiture focal length of 85mm as compared to 70mm (as I always find 70mm inadequate to isolate the main subject, which is why i also regretably bought the tamron 28-105mm F2.8. For more on the tamron, plus check out my review on it). And comparing with my tokina 20-35mm F2.8 lens, this 28-80 outperforms the wide-angle zoom in the overlapping range of 28-35mm at all apertures, especially in terms of overall sharpness and corner sharpness. Maybe I should sell the 20-35mm and get a nikkor 20mm since most of the range has been covered by the 28-80mm. So far, very happy with this lens, and would recommend it to anyone.

Similar Products Used:

Tamron 28-105mm F2.8
Tokina AT-X 28-70mm F2.8 Pro
Tokina AT-X 20-35mm F2.8 Pro
Nikon AF 35-70mm F2.8
Nikon AFD 105 DC F2

Superb lens, sharp as a tack, crisp images. easy to handle, solid construction, comes with lens hood -- a great lens!

Really haven't found any. One needs to be careful when shooting at wide angles that the lens hood is on fully and straight, otherwise some vignetting can occur but that is a fact of lens design, not a flaw or weakness.

This is a great mid-range zoom, a worthy alternative to the Nikkor 35-70 f/2.8. Some have said its as good as the Nikkor 28-70 Af-S lens, but I can't speak to that. It has gotten glowing reviews in Pop Photo and other photo magazines. Makes great images -- I look forward to many more!

Customer Service

Excellent -- comes packed with hood, soft case, and $50 rebate.

Similar Products Used:

Nikkor 35-70 f/2.8
Nikkor 28-85 f/3.5-4.5
Nikkor 35-135 f/3.5-4.5

SHARPNESS, useful mm range,lightweight compare to the AFS nikkor, fast AF, IF, 77mm filter size, SOLID construction, easy A/M switch design, price!

makes it hard for me to concentrate on Nikkors when choosing gears;-)

for the price and the performance, this lens is unbeatable! there's really no reason to invest three times as much on the AFS nikkor, which is 10mm shorter!

Customer Service

not yet needed.(hope never)

Similar Products Used:

various nikon zooms and primes.

Extremely well built,
Fast and smooth focusing, Razor sharp.

none found

Extremely well made and excellent performing zoom at very affordable price. You can't go wrong even if you need "top-notch" quality

Customer Service

none needed yet.

Similar Products Used:

35-70mm f/2.8 Nikkor
28-70mm f/2.6-2.8 Tokina