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Tokina AF 300mm f/4 AT-X (FX) - Review / Test Report

From www.photozone.de - January 29, 2013 4:11 PM

We usually focus on current lenses here at photozone, or very popular ones among the discontinued ones. However, sometimes we're offered somewhat exotic or rare lenses that out of curiosity we simply can not resist to review. One such lens is the Tokina AF 300mm f/4 AT-X (or, as it was called in the catalog, the AT-X 304AF).

Not much information is available online about this lens (it isn't even mentioned on Tokina's own web site). It was introduced in the 90's and discontinued early in the new century. Despite being very affordable compared to the OEM offerings of the time, it seems the lens was never very popular, which makes it a rare item nowadays.

One property remained, though: if you can actually find one for sale, the price is usually very low. The unit we had available for this review sold for just 200 EUR.

So, let's have a look at how the lens performs on our current FX test camera, the Nikon D3x...

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Kenko-Tokina exhibits mockup of image-stabilised 70-200mm F4 at CP+

From www.dpreview.com - February 3, 2012 4:40 PM

"Kenko-Tokina is exhibiting a mockup of a 70-200mm F4 telephoto zoom that features both a ring-type ultrasonic autofocus motor and optical image stabilization at the CP+ trade show in Japan. The AT-X Pro SD 70-200 F4 (IF) FX will be the company's first stabilized lens, and will likely be especially interesting to Nikon SLR users who currently have no option that's directly comparable to Canon's popular and highly-regarded 70-200mm F4 designs. Further details are limited, but the lens appears to feature both internal zoom and focus mechanisms, and has a usefully-close minimum focus distance of 1m."

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Tamron and Tokina join Micro Four Thirds

From www.dpreview.com - January 30, 2012 8:17 AM

"Tamron and Tokina have joined the Micro Four Thirds group, meaning all three major third-party lens makers are likely to produce optics for the system. No further details of their intentions have been given. The announcement comes just after Sigma announced its first lenses for both Sony's E-mount and Micro Four Thirds - both lenses that we think make more sense on APS-C than the Micro Four Thirds format. It will be interesting to see whether Tamron and Kenko Tokina develop lenses specifically for the smaller format. Meanwhile high-end video manufacturer Astrodesign has also joined the consortium, and released a Micro Four Thirds mount 4K video camera head."'

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Roundup: Third-party Lenses for Enthusiasts

From www.dpreview.com - November 17, 2011 2:07 AM

"Between them, third-party lens manufacturers offer a sizable array of optics, some of which compete squarely with models from major manufacturers while others fill a void of some kind within their ranges. By undercutting their bigger rivals in price while ensuring their products are competitively specified, these manufacturers’ lenses are an attractive option not only for budget-conscious novices, but enthusiasts and professionals, too. And, by occasionally trading away certain functionality for a significant proportion of the asking price, they’ve played a vital part in democratizing access to more exotic optics.

Here, we've examined ten of the most interesting third-party lenses on the market, arranged broadly by type, from wide-angle and standard zooms, through macro and prime lenses and ending with telephoto zooms. This article is not intended to be comprehensive, (we don't cover telephoto primes for example, or extreme telephoto zooms) and nor is it a review, per se. Where a lens has been tested by dpreview, we've included relevant observations and a link to the full review."

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Tokina AF 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro DX (Canon) - Review / Lab Test Report

From www.photozone.de - August 4, 2011 5:11 PM

The AF 12-24mm f/4 AT-X Pro DX was a huge success for Tokina and it remains one of the most attractive lenses from a price/performance perspective. Obviously this wasn't enough for Tokina though - in 2008 they released the Tokina AF 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro DX. The lens does still target the APS-C DSLR market only but it offers a little kick at the wide end plus a full extra f-stop in speed. These two improvements didn't come for free - Tokina had to limit the zoom range to a mere 5mm (1.45x). Some of the readers out there were already joking whether this is a fix-focal or zoom lens. However, when thinking about it the decision is actually quite smart. By avoiding a bigger zoom ratio Tokina seemed to have focused on quality rather than quantity and most users have a standard zoom lenses starting at 17mm or 18mm so there isn't really any pain in limiting the range at 16mm. The covered field-of-view is equivalent to 18-26mm (1.6x crop) on full format cameras so we are obviously talking about an ultra-wide angle zoom lens here. The Tokina AF 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro DX is currently offered for Canon, Nikon and Sony APS-C DSLRs...

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Tokina AT-X 16-28mm f/2.8 Pro SD FX (EOS) - Full Format Review / Lab Test Report - Photozone.de

From www.photozone.de - February 16, 2011 5:08 AM

Tokina is the smallest of the 3 big third-party manufacturers (Tokina, Tamron, Sigma). They offer a couple of fairly unexciting products but they're playing among the very best in one specific segment - ultra-wide angle lenses. Their APS-C format AF 12-24mm f/4 AT-X Pro DX and AF 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro DX received top scores here in the zone but till recently they didn't offer a full format equivalent here. However, they just released the Tokina AF 16-28mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro SD FX for full format DSLRs and that's certainly good news especially for Canon users who were not overly gifted with high performing Canon EF lenses in this range. Prise-wise the Tokina is, of course, competitive - it's roughly a third-less expensive than the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 USM L. The comparatively narrow zoom range may be somewhat disturbing for some but the truth is that this allows a higher performance ... at least on paper ... and most users will not need a longer setting than 28mm because this focal length range is already covered by standard zoom lenses.

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Tokina exhibits 70-200mm F4 FX and 12-28mm F4 DX lenses at CP+

From www.dpreview.com - January 29, 2013 3:18 PM

Tokina has announced it will be exhibiting two soon-to-be-released lenses at the CP+ trade show in Japan. The AT-X 70-200 F4 PRO FX VCM-S is a telephoto zoom that's designed for use on both full frame and APS-C SLRs, and features both optical image stabilisation and a ring-type ultrasonic autofocus motor with full-time manual override. Meanwhile the AT-X 12-28 F4 PRO DX is a replacement for the company's existing 12-24mm F4 wideangle zoom for APS-C cameras. But rather than making the lens wider to match its competitors, Tokina has chosen to extend it further into the 'normal' range, to give an 18-42mm equivalent zoom.

The 70-200mm F4 was first shown as a mock-up at CP+ last year (click here for link). It appears that the version on display this year is fully-working, and will be released to the market soon. There's no information yet on pricing and availability, or even which mounts the lenses will be made for (historically Tokina has produced lenses in Canon and Nikon versions, and most recently the 11-16mm F2.8 in Sony fit too).

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Dody P | Mobilink's curator insight, January 30, 2013 8:50 PM

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Kenko-Tokina Reflex 300mm F6.3 compact telephoto for Micro Four Thirds

From www.dpreview.com - February 3, 2012 2:39 PM

"enko-Tokina has added the mirrors back into mirrorless with the launch of an ultra-compact Reflex 300mm F6.3 for Micro Four Thirds. This fixed-aperture, manual focus lens revives the catadioptric lens design that was especially popular in the 1970s and '80s for producing small high-magnification telephoto lenses. With a 55mm filter diameter and weight less than 300g, this is possibly the smallest lens of this type that's ever been made for stills cameras. The spec is rounded-off with a minimum focus of 0.8m and 0.5x maximum magnification, making the lens potentially interesting for chasing insects and the like, just as long as you can hold it steadily enough.

The catadioptric design allows long effective focal lengths in small packages but does give characteristic 'doughnut bokeh' patten of sharp-edged rings in defocused areas."

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New Tokina AT-X 11-16 f/2.8 PRO DX Ⅱ lens announced

From nikonrumors.com - January 26, 2012 4:24 AM

"Tokina just announced a new version of their popular 11-16mm f/2.8 lens. The new lens will have an aspherical element, new coating for improved performance and a SD-M (Silent Drive-Module) autofocus motor (AF-S equivalent). You can now use this lens even with Nikon DSLR cameras that don't have an integrated AF motor (D3100, D5100). The Nikon version is expected to start shipping in March, 2012. The old Tokina 11mm-16mm f/2.8 lens currently has a $40 mail-in rebate."

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Tokina AF 35mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro DX (Nikon) - Review / Test Report

From www.photozone.de - October 31, 2011 3:15 AM

"Until just recently, when Nikon introduced its 40mm DX Micro Nikkor, the Tokina 35mm AT-X was the only dedicated DX macro lens that could also be used as a normal prime.
Just as many other Tokina DX lenses, the AT-X M35 was co-developed with Pentax, which offer it as part of their higher grade Limited lens line-up. The Tokina variant shares the optical formula with its K-mount cousin, but comes with a different exterior design.

In this review we will have a look at how the lens performs on our current DX test camera, the Nikon D7000."

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Tokina AF 16-28mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro FX (FX) - Review / Test Report

From www.photozone.de - May 6, 2011 12:40 PM

Tokina is the smallest of the 3 more widely-known third-party manufacturers. They offer a couple of fairly unexciting products but they're playing among the very best in one specific segment - ultra-wide angle lenses. Their APS-C format AF 12-24mm f/4 AT-X Pro DX and AF 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro DX received top scores here in the zone but till recently they didn't offer a full format equivalent.
However, they obviously felt confident the full frame market is now large enough for ultra wide third party offerings and released the Tokina AF 16-28mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro FX. As the name indicates, the lens is designed for full format (FX) DSLRs. This is a bold move by Tokina since at least Nikon users already have several high end ultra wide Nikkors available to choose from.

Prise-wise the Tokina is, of course, competitive - it's roughly half the price of Nikon's highly regarded AF-S 14-24/2.8. The somewhat narrow zoom range (compared to the AF-S 17-35 and AF-S 16-35 VR) may be a bit disturbing for some but the truth is that this allows a higher performance ... at least on paper ... and most users will not need a longer setting than 28mm because this focal length is often already covered by standard zoom lenses.

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