Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 sharpness test and review… and everything you need to know

I love this lens, I use it all the time. I use it for property photos and for landscape photos, I also use it for panoramas and sometimes for parties.

Click me i get bigger!  more photos below

Close up photos and video after when you click below

In this blog post you will find details about its sharpness and also its ability to work on a full frame camera as well as DX.



It is made for the aps-c sized sensor cameras (so anything below pro) and is made for Nikon and Canon, make sure you get the correct mount.

at 11mm it is as wide as you need, the sigma 10-20mm may be wider but this has the best thing and that is an f2.8 constant aperture!!!!!!  which means it is bright and that things don't get darker as you zoom in.
The equivalent is the Tokina 12-24 which is also a brill lens but that is a constant aperture of f4 which is a full stop less bright, meaning a shot taken at 1/100th of a second with the f2.8 will be as slow as 1/50th on the 12-24mm. (its a little but it can mean a lot)
The build quality is rocking good, feels solid and like a brick,
It has no internal focus motor so you need to have a camera body that has its own screw driven focus motor so that rules out the cheapest of the cheap beginner dslrs such as the nikon d3000.

Vingetting on the wider settings is not so great at f2.8 going above one ev stop (ie the edge of the image is the equivalent brightness as a 1/200th of a second while the centre has the brightness of a 1/100th of a second (that last sentence may confuse, so read a couple of times)

Price wise it is possibly a bit more expensive than some of its competitors, however you have to consider that this is one of the best optical wide angle lenses and its also one of a very few that is an f2.8 at this width!

However this is all about sharpness and this lens has it a lot! both central and edge sharpness is great and f2.8 has very little drop in sharpness compared to the best aperture stop of f5.6.
I have used this lens for quite a few portraits including the Haunting image that is the background for the Dombowerphoto youtube channel.

If you are ever buying a wide angle lens I would put this at the top of your list!

Close up shots

16mm f2.8

 16mm f5.6

 16mm f22

  11mm (same crop size as photos above f2.8

11mm f5.6



Video Link





Now to see what the Tokina is like on the Full frame nikon D700

Here is my latest photos

this is the tokina on the nikon d700

Here it is at 16mm on the nikon d700 full image

Now this is a close up of the top left corner, a bit soft as there is no detail in the brick

The top right corner also shows some vignetting

Here is the same lens but at 11mm on the nikon d700 (all shot at f4)

And this is the corner shot of that as well. seems like there is a bit more detail in the brick before it gets taken away by the lens hood

and this is the shot with the nikon 14-24mm f2.8 lens and you can see a lot more detail in the corners when shot at 14mm and f4

Below are some more examples of the Tokina 11-16mm lens, which is designed for DX cropped sensors, on a full frame camera. When it is at 11mm with the lens hood on this is the image you get

then with the lens hood off

and finally when you zoom it in to 16mm you get it filling the whole sensor area.

Link to the actual lens

Digital rev

Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX AF 11-16mm f/2.8 Lens

Camera King Tokina 11-16

Tokina AT-X116PRDXC AT-X PRO DX 11-16mm Ultra-wide Angle Lens for Canon

Best discount I could find at writing this article

Save Over 4% with DigitalRev’s Canon 550D Bundle Kit with a Camera Body, two lenses, and all the DSLR essential you need! Shop Now

My new photography book. click below

Getting There ...

By Dom Bower

Book Preview 

 

Facebook Critique Group

Facebook Fan page

Twitter

www.DomBower.com

Browse other personalized gifts from Zazzle.

The link for UK photographers check out

http://www.zazzle.co.uk/sportinwaves

Point and destroy

For the US buyers click below

http://www.zazzle.com/sportinwaves