Tokina AT-X 124 AF PRO DX 12-24mm f/4

Review Date
June 20, 2009

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.67 of 5, 3 votes

Reviewed by
sfpeter , Intermediate

Price Paid
$400.00 at Online

Photography Experience
6-10 years , Outdoor

Summary
The 12-24mm Tokina is an ultrawide angle lens intended for DX sensor format cameras. It gets the job done, although it's not perfect. (Mine's is for a Nikon.)

The build quality is good, and reliability wise I've had no problems in 3 years of service.

Ultra-wides are a unique class of lenses that tend to be neglected in all the rush to see who's got the biggest zoom. A lot of people also don't know how to best use them, as too commonly someone gets one and the first picture they take is outside in the open, which looks no different than any other lens.

These are best for when you can't get far enough away from a subject with a normal lens, most recently I used it at a car show where I simply couldn't get more than 3-4 feet away from the cars without being stuck in the passing crowd.

These are also used for bringing your viewers right into the picture, such as standing in the doorway of a room and capturing all of it in one shot.

Strengths
at F4 (constant) it's reasonably fast.

Allows pictures to be taken that simply could not be done otherwise.

Nice color rendition, contrast doesn't seem noticeably different from my other DX lenses.

Autofocus is acceptably fast, but see below.

Zoom scale is evenly and widely spaced, this is good compared to some lenses where the scale is crunched up on one end and spread out on the other, and makes controlling your framing easier.

Manual focus is easy to engage and use.

Sturdy metal construction.

Light falloff in the corners does not appear to be an issue.

Weaknesses
As with all ultrawides using the sun hood is required, and it is a very big lens.

Distortion is also an issue, which is common to ultrawides.

The autofocus is a screw drive, so cameras lacking an internal focus motor (D40) are out of luck.

No aperture ring for manual work.

Past about 14mm the lens distorts severely in the corners, how badly this effects your shot depends on the subject, crowds of people at 12mm will have the ones in the corner look like a funhouse.

This is a DX lens, using it on a full frame camera (FX, such as the D700) will result in vignetting past about 18mm, and at 12mm it's like looking down a tube.

Similar Products Used
Upwards of 40 Nikon, Tokina, Tamron, and Russian lenses.

Customer Service
Haven't used.

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Review Date
March 4, 2009

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by
GerardP , Expert

Price Paid
$650.00 at By a friend, somewhe

Photography Experience
21+ years , Outdoor

Summary
If you want wide on a DX, this is *wide*. Vignettes wide open, especially at 12 mm., but stooping down a bit eliminates the problem completely. If you shoot RAW, forget about it, because Photoshop's Camera RAW (and Capture NX) deal quite effectively with it.
Flaring may be a problem, but mostly if you do not use the supplied lens hood, and why wouldn't you?. Sharp, sharp sharp, and when compared to the brand alternative (in my case Nikon) at half the price.

Strengths
Built like a tank - all metal. Not that I have anything against plastic. I own a few plastic lenses too...
Sharp. Good balance on my D200 and surely on my future D*00 bodies too. Clean and defect free at f/5.6, with a sweet spot around f/8. Pro Nikon-like action on the focus ring. Costs 480 US vs. 900 US for the Nikkor at equivalent quality (at time of publishing) .

Weaknesses
Only for DX. This lens cannot be used on FX (full frame) cameras except - maybe - at 1/2 their native resolution. Stiff zoom ring. Prone to flare, vignettes wide open, especially at the short focal range. Heavy.

Similar Products Used
AF-S 17-35 mm. IF-ED Nikkor

Customer Service
Not needed.

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Review Date
March 4, 2009

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
4.50 of 5, 2 votes

Reviewed by
hoasjoe , Intermediate

Price Paid
$1000.00 at Just Camera

Photography Experience
11-20 years , Outdoor

Summary
A relatively light lens with a good zoom range. Instead of getting a wide-angle, on the long end you are getting a high enough zoom around normal perspective that you can still use at home for family photos.

Compared with several other lenses. At first looked at Tamron & Sigma which are available in Canada for many years. Then the name Tokina popped up on the Internet with the name of a local camera shop at a reasonable price so decided to go with Tokina.

Have a Sigma 28-70 left over from the days of film cameras. Needed a bit wider angle and decided to get a cheap Nikon 18-55 as a supplementary lens. Soon after (for some strange reason) the plastic started coming apart the shop agreed to trade the lens back for the current Tokina 12-24.

Strengths
Own several Sigma lenses. Their plastic bodies tended to be a bit cheap.

Tested it at the store. Looks surprisingly sharp.

Compared to the closest 11-16 F2.8 you lose 1 stop on your aperture but otherwise you get a bigger range with 12-24 F4. The other wide-angle lens is a fish-eye which is for people who enjoy doing a lot of special-effects.

Weaknesses
Not a lot. Tokina used to make lenses with metal until a few years ago before switching to all plastic. The old lenses although heavier can take a lot more abuse (if you happen to drop the lens for any reason a plastic lens is less likely to survive).

It must be because of the recession. The product is usually not in stock in stores (not in Canada anyway) so not much difference buying mail-order. The company decided to keep only a lens in store for demo purposes. If you want it there is usually a 2-week waiting period.

Similar Products Used
Never bought a lens this wide.

Customer Service
There was 1 Tokina lens (840 ATX) purchased about 5 years ago for some reason kept going back to a camera repair shop for adjustment (including aperture diaphragm and focus).

A few years ago the Tokina distributor in Canada discontinued their service so the lens was bought through US mail-order and shipped to Canada. Repair shops were willing to do the job but the few days in between without the lens was a hassle.

Another distributor for Tokina recently became available in Canada.

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Review Date
August 17, 2008

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by
F100userD200 , Expert

Price Paid
$425.00 at eBay

Photography Experience
21+ years , Other

Summary
This is a very sharp lens. It compares well with the Nikkor version. There are some important considerations, however.
Sharpness is good corner to corner stopping down to f5.6 or more. I can use this on my F100 from ~16-24mm on with little vignetting at F8 on. Corner sharpness is not as good as on the D200. Thats to be expected.
This is the first Tokina I've ever owned. I will definitely consider Tokina when shopping for lenses.

Strengths
Build quality is excellent. I had the opportunity to handle the Nikon version and was impressed with the focus on it, but other than being a bit more noisy, focusing is nearly as fast on either of my cameras. Just more noise.
Color rendition is as good as any lens I've ever owned, and I've owned more than a few. For what I shoot, people and landscapes with this wide a lens, it does very well.

Weaknesses
Flare and ghosting are the weaknesses on this lens. If you are shooting into strong light situations, expect ghosting. From just off the frame, expect sunlight to flare into the frame, this is visible in the viewfinder. CA is not well controlled, but can be corrected in Photoshop if you shoot raw digital. Not much can be done for film however.

Similar Products Used
Nikon 18-35mm, 35-70mm F2.8, 18-200mm VR.

Customer Service
Don't know.

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Review Date
June 29, 2008

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
2.50 of 5, 2 votes

Reviewed by
Frog , Intermediate

Price Paid
$500.00 at ebay

Photography Experience
21+ years , Other

Summary
Started looking for better quality lenses and knew I frequently wanted wider angle in my shooting. After reading reviews, I started shopoing for this lens and finally bit the bullet.
I find ;this lens to be very sharp and the color is fantastic.
The f/4 limit is only occasionally limiting and the f/11-16 f/2.8 wasn't out yet.

Strengths
Very sharp.
Great color rendition.
covers 99% of the wide angle I need.
solid construction
quick focus

Weaknesses
f/4 but you cna't have everything.
A bit heavy

Customer Service
not needed

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