The Tokina F/2.8 Wide Angle Lens - are you feeling lucky?

Specs: f/2.8, 11-16mm, aspherical, internal focusing, DX format.
Pros: the only f/2.8 (over the entire focal length range) wide angle lens for DX format. Good autofocus operation. Reasonable price.
Cons: Quality control issues (see below). Slight soft focus over entire f-stop range. Moderate soft focus at f/2.8. Some chromatic aberration.

Can you buy a good f/2.8 11-16mm wide angle lens in the DX format for under $600?

The answer is a qualified "yes," though you may need a little luck on your side.

As a few of the reviewers on Amazon have noted, some of these lenses suffer from focusing issues. In my case, the lens I received consistently back-focused by 50% on a D90 camera body. I was still able to manually focus the lens and pull out a few interior shots at a wedding reception, but I knew I would never be satisfied unless the lens could autofocus reliably. (Note that the lens will only autofocus on cameras with an autofocus motor. For example, the Nikon D60 will not autofocus this lens.)

I emailed THK Photo Products and they assured me the autofocus problem was a known issue that they could fix. I sent the lens in for repair and it came back in about one week with the autofocus problem a thing of the past. So, it appears that there are a few defective units out there. With a little luck (and a possible pass through the repair shop) you can end up with a reliable lens.

Image Captured with Tokina Wide Angle Lens:
Railroad Bridge on Columbia River
1/4000 sec at f/2.8, ISO200, 11mm

In the above image, the wide angle distortion is just noticeable in the bridge's vertical posts. As a good non-fisheye lens should do when held level and aligned, the Tokina wide angle produces images with a satisfying near-natural perspective. Of course, this is a wide angle lens: if you use it to photograph people you will get near body parts disproportionately large relative to distant body parts. For example, a person shot from a high angle will appear to have a big head. Although wide angle lenses are used for specific effects when taking pictures of people, a more typical use of this lens would be to shoot a sweeping view of a building interior or an expansive outdoor setting.

Though not noticeable in the above picture, the lens is somewhat soft when wide open, and it is slightly soft over the full f-stop range. When compared to a Nikkor lens, the softness when wide open is more apparent. Below is an image captured with a Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 DX lens. At this scale, the same scene shot with the Tokina is equivalent.

1/1600 sec at f/2.8, ISO 200, 17mm
(Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 lens)

But, zooming in on the focal point of the images, the softness of the Tokina versus the Nikkor is apparent:

comparison images cropped and enlarged
left image: captured with Nikkor lens at 17mm, f/2.8
right image: captured with Tokina lens at 16mm, f/2.8

My Take on This Lens
I bought this lens with the intention of shooting interiors. To have sufficient depth of field, I usually stop down to f/8 or smaller, so the softness at f/2.8 isn't an issue for me. The slight softness at higher f-stop numbers goes away with minor sharpening. There is some chromatic aberration--annoying but correctable.

The Tokina wide angle has become one of the three lenses I carry with me all the time. Together the trio cover from ultra wide angle (11mm) to moderate zoom (200mm). I'll discuss the other two lenses in future posts.