Extremely tough and durable, I bought my lens new in 2002 and still use it.
Profession build quality.
Focus clutch makes manual focusing silky smooth.
Pro qualities at a fraction of the price.
Common 77mm filters on all my AT-X Pro lenses. Filters can be picked up at very reasonable prices on eBay. I use B&W filters which have the reputation of being the very best all purchased at very reasonable prices.

The minimum focusing distance could be closer to the 12 inch range rather than the 27 inch range.
This isn't a weakness but I'll list it anyway. The lens would really look nice if it had the crinkle finish that my other pro lenses have.

This is my second review of the Tokina AT-X 287 Pro SV lens. Now that I shoot digital I've had a chance to test and reconfirm my original findings of about 4 years ago. This lens is still a great value and a great lens. Shooting digital I found that the complaint I've read most about this lens regarding softness wide open is not a result of poor lens quality, it's a result of very limited dof in my opinion. In testing the lens I photographed stuffed animals at 3ft, 5ft and 15ft from a sturdy tripod mounted camera. The results showed softness wide open at 5 and 15 ft but the image got much clearer once I got to the 3 ft range. The image starting getting sharper at f3.2 and even sharper at f3.5 so in my opinion you can shoot at a fraction of a stop from maximum aperture and get acceptable results. Another finding and one I always saw when using the lens with my Nikon N90s was that the lens was and still is extremely sharp at all apertures f4 and above and very useable at close to max aperture of f3.2 and f3.5! My results in testing the lens showed that at 5 and 15 ft the lens benefited most my gradually stopping down to get good/better dof.
This was an unscientifice test and one that I needed to do to prove to myself that this lens performs very well because I always wondered about the complaints I've read here and at other sites on the web about the Tokina 28-70 AT-X Pro SV. I'm an avid hobbyist and own many great lenses and I'm also of the opinion that you can't please everyone because some people just have to gripe or compain or have the misfortune of receiving and using a bad product which fortunately has never happened to me. BTW, I also own the Tokina AT-X Pro 20-35/2.8 and the 80-200/2.8 and those lenses are even better than this very good lens!

Customer Service

None needed on any lens I've ever owned and I've owned and still own a bunch of them!

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I currently own and use the following 3rd Party lenses:
Sigma 15/2.8 EX fisheye
Tokina 20-35/2.8 AT-X Pro
Tokina 80-200/2.8 AT-X Pro
AF Nikkor lenses:
24/2.8, 28/2.8D, 50/1.4D, 85/1.8. 105/2.8 micro, 300/4
AFS 24-85, 28-105D, 80-200/2.8 (1st version) and the 70-300D
AFS DX 18-70

Built like a tank, kinda cool looking

everything but build quality. The manual focus clutch is LAME

This lens is garbage. I almost threw in the towel because I thought the drab photos i was taking was due to a lack of skill or talent. I also thought that my SLR was broken until I did a bunch of shots with my 100mm Canon macro that were fantastic.

And to think, I originally bought the Canon 24-70L but then felt guilty because of the expense, sent it back and got this instead. Stupid.

The shots lack contrast. This lens is only OK when you use the huge hood, which makes the whole system giant and heavy. Even indoors, it will find a way to ghost. When shooting digital, it has aweful chromatic abrasion, the texture of the image is noisy, even when shooting raw at 100 ISO. I don't know if I've ever seen a sharp image from this lens. Skin tones come out puddy like and landscaps look drab.

I have continued to gravitate back to the zoom because it fits my style of shooting (for location style portraits). I like to compose on the fly depending upon the attitude of my subject. But because of the aweful image quality, I will not use this or any other zoom again. I'm retraining myself and changing the way I work with people just so I can use primes.

Customer Service

Uh, can I have my money back?

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Canon Primes, Macro, rented L glass zooms

+ "like a professional" look and weight + Relative cheap + Sharp and good saturated (f4 and above !)

+ Extremly soft focus and bad saturated on f2.8 !!!

Egy Nikon D70 vázon próbáltam ki ezt az objektívet. Vegyes benyomásokat keltett bennem. Elsore profi benyomást kelt a külso és a súly is, de kicsit alaposabban átnézve máris tovaszáll az olcsó profi objektív képe. Nyitott (f2.8) belendénél a képe NAGYON(!) lágy lesz. Mintha egy Soft-focus rendszerrel ellátott portréobjektív képét látnánk (csak itt nem lehet kikapcsolni ezt a "funkciót"). Ilyenkor a szaturáció is csak jelentos digitális utómunkálatokkal hozható elfogadható szintre. Amint zárunk egy rekeszt (f4) : Éles képet és szép telített színeket produkál! F5.6-tól ez a teljesítmény tovább javul és közel egyenrangúvá válik egy 5-ször drágább profi Nikon optikával. Ha a Tokina nem tette volna bele a 2.8-as blende lehetoségét, egy egészen kituno f4-es fényerovel megáldott varió lenne, kedvezo áron. Aki képes ezt a hiányosságát elnézni az objektívnek, annak kituno társa lehet a mindennapokban.

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Sigma 24-70 HF

Build quality Sharpness at f4 and above Excellent value, the quality belies the cost

Soft at f2.8 (what zoom isnt?) Quirky method of engaging manual focus

When I purchased my Nikon D50, I decided against buying any kit lenses. Not having reams of cash, I settled on a good value-priced yet high-quality lens. I found it in the Tokina. The build quality of this lens is what first attracted me to it. Having a Sigma DSLR for two years, I've only used Sigma lenses and have been quite happy with them, this has caused me to consider 3rd party lenses. I never laid my hands on a Tokina lens but when I did, I was sold on it. The photo quality is very good, it belies the cost of this lens. It's soft at f2.8 at 28mm, sharpens up a bit as the range is extended. At f4 and higher it is quite sharp. Colors are vivid without being over-saturated. I like the realistic skintones it produces when photographing people both indoors and outdoors. The range is good although I would like it to be a bit wider like the 24-70mm Sigma EX I considered which I also use with my Sigma DSLR and like very much. This lens compares as well if not better than the Sigma. Although it's not an HSM lens, I find the AF speed to be quite acceptable, certainly fast enough for my needs. The manual focusing ring clutch-lock takes some getting used to, I'm still trying to determine if perhaps mine doesn't work properly. It can only engage when the ring is rotated completely clockwise or counter-clockwise, at times mine won't. I rarely use MF anyway.

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Sigma 24-70mm EX DG

It is built like a tank. The manual focus is the smoothest I have ever seen it, and there is a reason for that, you will use it! Oh yeah, and it's cheap.

Autofocus extremely slow, images come out soft and dull, and too much post production involved.

I am not really happy with this lense, and frankly, don't understand how people can be. I think for the money, it's ok, but why spend money at all for an ok lense. The focus is very soft at 2.8, the autofocus is slugishly slow to say the least, and the colors are extremely unsaturated and dull. With the help of photoshop and many hours available to touch up the pictures, you can get decent photographs, but shouldn't the artistic energy be spent on photographing the subject rather then "painting" it later. You might as well become an artist with a canvas and a brush and you may get sharper results. I am searching for an alternative for this lense that I can afford, but am scared to throw any more money at a cheap lense.

Price. Built like a tank. Sharp at f3.5, extremely sharp at f4 and smaller.

HUGE! some glare: hood highly recommended when shooting outside.

Ok, here's the deal. At $220, this is hands down the best lens out there in it's price range. It is by no means an L glass lens, but it is surpringly sharp enough at f3.5-f4 or smaller. I have taken some great pictures with this lens at low light levels. I'm sure my 20D had something to do with it too, but it only takes pictures of what the lens can give it. Another reviewer described the manual focus ring as 'butterly smooth' and I couldn't agree more! I originally bought this lens to keep my expenses low so i could afford the 20D in hopes of buying a more expensive lens at a later date, however this lens has definitely delayed my next purchase since it does the job admirally at a mere 220 bucks. I don't know if im just lucky to have gotten a good copy, but the first time i used it, it exceeded my expecations of a lens at this price range. Conclusion: If you wanna save lots and lots of dough without HUGE sacrifice in quality, then go for it. If u are a perfectionist, then the $1500 24-70mm L lens if for u.

Customer Service

None needed thus far.

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Sigma 24-70 f2.8 EX Canon 24-70 f2.8 L

Magnificent build quality, feels really good in your hand, how do they do it for the money? Quite sharp when stopped down but see weaknesses.

Flare/ghosting at f2.8 (to be expected frankly, but this bad?). Really ugly backfocus (tested it today with the well known Tim Jackson chart) Together with the softness wide open I really get lousy pictures.

Bought this lens because I needed something solid in this zoom range that was also fast. I use it mainly for concert photography indoors in low light. My pictures have always been a little soft during last summer but I corrected it with unsharp mask. Now I'm using it constantly at f2.8 indoors and the pictures really are bad. I will send it back, see if they can fix it, otherwise I'll try the Sigma and Nikon alternatives. I've always believed that good quality doesn't have to mean the highest price, but my lens is a dud.

Customer Service

More dependent on the shop I guess but the shop was at least friendly and helpful with my other Tokina lens.

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I use the Tokina AT-X Pro 828 80-200 f2.8 as well. Have both the Minolta and Nikon versions. The Minolta one has always been magnificent to this day. The Nikon one feels slightly less well built, but worse, it's focus clutch system broke after a few months. Returned it to the shop, I expect it back next week.

all

a little too heavy ugly tokina on it

I have only very little complain about this and this is quite simple;it doesnt stand Canon or Nikon on it with a red or Gold stripe!! and i think its better than that!the quality and design is very good and i use it more and more often,my version is the Nikon model and i use it on my beloved F2 and F100;it works on both! well,its the best 75 dollars i spend ,and it is on par with my best Zeiss and leica glass,in terms of sharpness bokeh and colours! think of that guys for 75 bucks!

Customer Service

nope

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many

Bright viewfinder fast focusing Built like a tank Value for money internal focusing

Manual focus takes a little getting used to but when you do its fine. The name, the image isn't great

Read a review in a camera magazine thought it sounded good,When i recieved my lens i was very impressed with the build quality,matches any of the l series lenses,Image quality is excellent allmost on par with the canon l glass and better than the sigma ex .Focusing is quick allthough the manual switch over takes a little getting used to. For the price i payed for it its probably the best value lens i have ever owned even at full price its good value for money.

Customer Service

not needed

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Various canon sigma tamron budget and pro range

Sharp Good value

possibly a bit fragile not so good wide open not so good in low light

I think that this lens has its faults, but for the money, it is very good. An L series lens will be more versatile, but will cost you a lot more. This lens is average around F2.8-4.0, but very good in the mid-range f-stops. It is very sharp, reasonably fast, pretty good colour (though not as saturated as my 2 L-series lenses). For outdoor portraist and landscapes, I'd definitely recommend. Indoor, it's not that great. Bear this in mind when considering it. Only other point is that it got a bit of a whack when my d*** girlfriend dropped the backpack it was in, and now feels a bit 'loose' (the lens, not my girlfriend) but this has not affected performance. I think it is a bit fragile.

Customer Service

n/a

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Tokina 20-35 (didn't like) Canon 17-40 (very tasty)