This lens is built like a tank. I think Tokina replaced some of the metal parts from the earlier version of the lens with plastic to keep the weight down when they redesigned it, but it still has a solid, heavy feel. The manual focus dampening is some of the best I have used. The focus is smooth, no vibration, and stays where you put it. The autofocusing is snap-quick, though it does seem to hunt a little at low light levels. Photozone's customer reviews about sharpness and quality are right on. Will this lens compare to top-end Canon L lenses and pro Nikors? With scientific measuring devices point for point, no, but then nothing will. This lens produces pictures that are of equal quality. Remember, Tokina used to make the lenses for Canon, they are one of the best makers around. This is a great lens for the price--you get images and build that rival L lenses at about 1/3 the price.

The focusing clutch takes some time to get used to, and on the Canon version you do have to flip a little switch. The whole process takes an extra second, but some people may find it a pain. I shoot 99% of my stuff in manual focus so it doesn't both me. The minimum focusing distance is just under 2 feet -- which is a lot, especially if you are trying to do wide-angle hyperfocal work or creep into closeups. This is the one drawback I find myself working around more than not, but then again, the type of photos I take I can either recompose to capture the same essence or I need to switch lenses anyway.

This is a solid lens that produces quality results. The focus-clutch mechanism may take soem getting used to, but overall the lens does a professional level job.

Customer Service

Not used.

Similar Products Used:

Sigma, Canon

F2.8 build fast AF 28mm-70mm (covers all the focal lengths that a street photographer needs). Very sharp, at first.

weight my lens is braking :( 77mm filters $$$$

I bought this second-hand lens about ten months ago. At first it was working great. It had a pro-feel and great looking glass. Then I noticed that most of the pitures were getting soft.The more i used the lens, the worse the pictures got. Finally I sent it to THK. The repair would have cost more than what I paid for the lens. Now I can't even get 5x7s.

Customer Service

Very frendly over at THK.com. they sent me the estimate quickly. I'll make sure to get the extended warrenty next time.

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 28-300mm Tokina 19-35mm

It's cheap and gives you a bright viewfinder. Its prettiness may impress those who don't know the difference. Avoid purchasing expensive 77mm pro mist filter.

Useful range is far too narrow, and even then does not compare to Canon optics, probably not even the cheap ones.

The useful range of this lens is so narrow that it controls what and how you shoot rather than the other way around. The previous reviewer who said you can take the time to "master" this lens was being kind to it, in my estimation. I'm not saying this to be arbitrarily negative. I've been messing around with this lens for days prior to writing the review, and this is what I've found: 1. The lens looks gorgeous. When you hold it in your hand, you want it to work for you. This is the quality for which I'm giving it a 1 rather than a zero (oh, wait -- we can't give zero). 2. At f/2.8, the lens is not useable at any focal distance. In fact, the amount of flare/ghosting that appears at wide open makes it difficult to tell you are in focus at all. I did a simple applied test: I shot flowers and blades of grass wide open at mimimum focusing distaince. All had a halo-like ghost/flare effect. If you're looking for an alternative to Canon's 135 f/2.8 soft focus lens, this could be it, and you wouldn't need to buy an additional pro mist filter. 3. There is a moderate sharpness at f 5.6 and above. There is acceptable sharpness at f8 and 11, though it doesn't compare at all to Canon's 2.8 Ls in this range. (I don't care about 16, etc, because I rarely shoot up there.) 4. I don't currently own a non-pro Canon zoom, but I used to, and the pics I took on a 1994 model 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 look sharper than these; though it's a bad comparison being film to digital. I'm guessing this lens would compare poorly to the current EF 24-85mm, and I'd like to see someone put them head to head. I've been renting or borrowing the L series lenses in this range for the last couple years, and when it came time to buy my own new system I thought I'd save a buck, being that I use this range less often than wide and tele. Saving a buck didn't work out. I've since had the Canon lens air shipped to me... If you've had the opportunity to take L qualities for granted, you will be disappointed in the Tokina.

Customer Service

Don't know -- I'm returning it to retailer.

Similar Products Used:

Canon 28-70 2.8L Canon 24-70 2.8L Canon 28-80 3.5-5.6 USM Canon 28-105 3.5-4.5 USM

- Price - Aperture of f/2.8 - Focal lengths, although wishing it started at 24mm. - Focusing speed in AF mode

- Focusing in MF - 77mm round filters are a bit expensive.

Great lens for the price. I wish its focal length would have been 24-70mm, but I'm not complaining, especially when taking the price into account. Sigma has a similar product but is aproximatelly $100 more than a Tokina. This is great lens, although some people complained about the weight, I think all of the lenses in this category feel the same. I've researched Canon's and Sigma's both of them were just as heavy. Another thing that is a huge plus for the tokina is the focusing speed. When set to AF it is capable of focusing very fast, what need improvement is the manual focusing. When in manual focus the ring is very tight, and when I rotated it the camera shakes considerably. I suppose it's because of the gears inside the lens. I hope that by using it more often they'll adjust themselves.

Customer Service

Not needed yet.

Similar Products Used:

Canon 28-70mm f/2.8 L Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX

Build quality Price Sharpness (aperture stepped down)

Soft (wide open) weight

I bought this zoom from Adorama (279 USD), after reading some good reviews. I've been quite well impressed by build quality, and the weight well balances on my camera. Functionalities: the zoom works perfectly with my EOS33 and Speedlite 300EZ. Autofous is fast, not as fast as the USM AF of my L series lens but faster than many other Canon lenses and exposure is reliable. Optical performances; I shot some pictures with the Tokina lens, and the result is "some excellent pictures but also some junk shots". I took some test photos to understand how to master the lens, and this is my guideline: - 2.8 aperture is usable only at 28mm focal lenght, but even in this case do not expect excellence - at 28mm the pracatical best aperture zone is between 5.6 and 8 - at 50mm the pracatical best aperture zone is between 8 and 11 - at 70 the pracatical best aperture zone is between 8 and 16 I didn't notice any significant barrel, flare or vignetting effect, and in the above aperture ranges i got quite good and sharp photos. My conclusions - Optics 8/10 - build quality 9/10 - AF and Zoom 8/10 - compatibility with Canon camera/flash 10/10 Suggestions Buy the lens if: - it fits your budget - you are willing to spend some time in mastering it - you are not willing to use it with the camera in program mode Do not buy the lens if: - you can afford a Canon L series lens - you are expecting prime or Canon L series lens optical performances - you are going to use it mainly with the camera in full program mode

Customer Service

tokina website is almost useless

Similar Products Used:

Canon 28-80 F:3.5-5.6 Canon EF 50mm F:1.8 Canon EF 70-200 F:4L Canon EF 75-300 F:4.0-5.6 USM III

Sharp, sharp, sharp Price Build quality The weight f/2.8

MF/AF clutch - I am not used to it yet Hood - difficult to mount and too small

It is an outstanding product and deserves the good reviews it has received. I like the weight! The price is unbeatable. I bought this lens as a replacement for a Pentax FA 28-70 f/4 AL, which is quite decent. I was mainly looking for wide opening performance and faster aperture. The Pentax above gave excellent performance when stopped down. This lens is very sharp, too sharp sometimes. I have no problem with the color at this time but will keep an eye on since some people thought it was on the cool side. I think I will finally put my fixed 28 and 50 in storage.

Similar Products Used:

Pentax FA 28-70 F/4 AL Pentax SMC-M 28 f/2.8 Pentax SMC-M 50 f/1.7

Truly sharp at large apertures! Constant f/2.8 aperture. Good contrast for a zoom. Good range (45-112mm equivalent to 35mm) on Canon digital SLR. Robust build, with excellent finish and appearance. Very high value to low price ratio! Quality of product was superior to 20-35 AT-X Pro 235 f/2.8, a lens costing more than twice as much.

Only minor nits: a bit heavy at 27 oz, due to strong build quality, but only slightly more so than Canon or Tamron equivalents. Uses 77mm filters, which are a bit more expensive than 72mm or 67mm. Takes up more space in the camera bag, and lens changing is a two-handed affair. Close focus minimum of 27" is slightly long.

I bought this lens with great trepidation after reading highly contradictory reviews. Finally, I decided to try it after noticing Photozone ranked it 3rd among standard zooms, and only a hair lower than than two Canon "L" lenses in this range. Image quality is superb at f/4 and smaller, and very good at f/2.8. Photos looked very sharp with good contrast coming from a Digital Rebel set at "parameter 1" (softer setting, similar to EOS 10D). (Viewed before editing in Photoshop on a 21" monitor.) Unedited images were comparable in sharpness and contrast to those from my Canon 24mm f/2.8 and 50mm f/1.8. Of course, build quality is great, as with most Tokina AT-X Pro lenses. I have not noticed any significant distortion or flare. Autofocus was fast enough for me to shoot 2 young dogs playing, and compared favorably with any Canon lens I have, including my 70-200 f/4 "L." I am very impressed with this lens, and doubly so at its very affordable price. I normally shy away from 3rd party lens makers' products, after having been disappointed more than several times in the past. However, this lens is a real delight and will certainly see a lot of use. I recommend it most highly!

Customer Service

None needed

Similar Products Used:

Canon 28-105 3.5-4.5 (a very good lens) Tamron 28-75 2.8 Di (an excellent lens)

Sharpness Btight Rugged construction (Pro feeling) Price /w hood

slow focusing a bit noisy Fake 'no barrel elongates' Bulky

After I read contradicting reviews that can be categorized two -- ( just mediocre and very good ), I made up my mind to try this lens because my ef 28-105mm usm has certainly limits in terms of resolution and 'speed'. I compared one with my 28-105mm side by side and my conclusion is: This lens is certainly excellent lens. I looked at digital shots and I found out that resolution is nothing to be desired from f/2.8 to f/16(I didn't test smaller aperture) throughout the zoom range. My USM lens is just bad compared to this one. Of course, this lens is not a masterpiece because it is slowerand more noisy(than USM of couse). It also has wierd AF/MF switching mechanism (I think Canon does better job on this with non-USM lens) which might confuse beginners. However, considering its price ($229 after rebate now), nobody would complain. Legendary ef 28-70mm lens is great; no barrel lenghens, fast quiet focus, high resolution,etc. Nevertherless price is beyond reckoning for the most of amature photographer.

Customer Service

none

Similar Products Used:

canon 28-105mm canon 28-70mm

GREAT, and I mean WONDERFUL build quality. Better than most of Canon's lenses.

Absolutely lousy picture quality. $300 or not, this thing is soft and shows WAY too much chromatic aberration.

Ugh. After mounting it to my camera, I wanted it to be good...I honestly did. The thing feels WONDERFUL. Manual focus is buttery smooth, zoom ring is substantial. It has nice heft. Then I took some pictures with it. They're ultra-soft at 2.8. Even at 8 they're soft and show SERIOUS chromatic aberration. I compared this to a Sigma 24-70 EX and they're not even in the same ballpark.

Customer Service

Who knows.

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 24-70/2.8 EX Sigma 28-70/2.8 EX Canon 24-70L

.build .sharpness .f 2.8

glare

300 $ and a pro lens, sure it dont go !! But taking the, build ,f.2.8 ,sharpness,colour,contrast,i would say its better than most of the canon usm & so on series ,other than the L series . i found it to be a great lens NOT to its low price, but its better performance

Customer Service

not yet

Similar Products Used:

canon:135mm f/2.0 L ,70-200 f/2.8 L , 75-300 f/4-5.6 is,usm. 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 is usm , 24mm f/3.5 L "tilt shift"