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Review Date
June 20, 2009
Overall Rating
 5 of 5
Value Rating
 5 of 5
Used product for
More than 1 year
Visitors rate this review
4.50 of 5, 2 votes
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Reviewed by
sfpeter
, Expert
Price Paid
$110.00
at Ebay
Photography Experience
6-10 years
, Outdoor
Summary
There's a little secret to this lens I'll let you in on if you own a Nikon. If you're using this on a DX format camera (small sensor) it's no different than the standard DX lenses. Pictures on my D50 looked identical to those with the kit 18-55mm lens, just with a shorter zoom range.
But......lean closer and I'll whisper.....on a full frame camera (FX) like the D700, this is a super wide angle. That's right, it does the same job a DX format lens like the 12-24mm does for only about a hundred dollars and with less distortion. The coverage in my D90 at 12mm and this lens on my D700 at 19mm are practically identical.
And it's cheap!
Strengths
Solid construction, if using a lot of plastic.
Much less distortion than other wide angle lenses, good contrast and rendition.
Full manual controls, aperture and zoom ring.
It's a super wide angle on a full frame camera. Remember wide for film was 24mm, and this is goes down to 19mm. To get wider on full frame gets much more expensive very quickly.
Autofocus is acceptably fast.
Weaknesses
Screw type autofocus so cameras without an internal motor (d40) are out of luck.
Plastic filter mount can break, and did on my first example.
That's about it.
Similar Products Used
Upwards of 40 Nikon, Tamron, Tokina, and Russian lenses.
Customer Service
I had to have the filter ring replaced on my first example as it split. Service was fast (under a week) and the price was reasonable.
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Review Date
March 15, 2009
Overall Rating
 4 of 5
Value Rating
5 of 5
Used product for
3 Months to 1 year
Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5, 1 votes
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Reviewed by
nullzwoelf
, Expert
Price Paid
$55.00
at ebay
Photography Experience
21+ years
, Other
Summary
I got this on ebay because I just couldn't say 'NO' for 55€. And what a surpise when the lens arrived. It performs great on my D700. Even wide open it's not useless. At f5.6 the borders are also pretty fine. What a great value lens.
Strengths
- Sharp
- Contrasty
- Nice Build (even though it's plastic)
- best value
Weaknesses
- lens hood is kind of hard to put on
everything else I accept for the price I paid
Similar Products Used
Sigma 12-24
Tokina 12-24
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Review Date
February 24, 2006
Overall Rating
4 of 5
Value Rating
5 of 5
Used product for
1 to 3 months
Visitors rate this review
3.67 of 5, 3 votes
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Reviewed by
wtfgary
, Casual
Price Paid
$85.00
at HK second hand
Photography Experience
2-5 years
, Outdoor
Summary
I would like to get a "value for money" wide angle + well built lens to replace my EF-S 18-55. Yes, the range is not as good as EF-S 18-55 and F stop doesn't have much different but I decided to go ahead since I bought my second hand version by around $85.
Strengths
- Built. I am amazed to get such a relatively well built lens for such a price.
- Hood is included
- No lens extension when zooming.
- Relatively sharp.
- It doesn't look bad to go with my EOS-20D.
Weaknesses
- AF is hunting in low light.
- A bit noisy.
Similar Products Used
EF-S 18-50, EF 50 1.8, EF 28-105 3.5-4.5
Customer Service
No need
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Review Date
January 12, 2006
Overall Rating
4 of 5
Value Rating
5 of 5
Used product for
3 Months to 1 year
Visitors rate this review
4.67 of 5, 3 votes
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Reviewed by
gnevets88
, Expert
Price Paid
$200.00
at Central Camera, Chic
Photography Experience
2-5 years
, People
Summary
Before purchasiing this lens, one must keep one thing in mind - you get what you pay for especially when buying photographic equipment. That said, this is a good lens, for the price. The sharpness is ok stopped down and just fine for newspaper publication wide open. If you're obsessed with sharpness, you will probably be dissatisfied with the Tokina 19-35mm and you should probably not even be considering lenses in its price range.
My number one complaint with this lens is the ABOMINABLE LOW LIGHT AF. The AF is slow even in bright, outdoor light, but at least it's accurate in bright light. Indoors in low light, you can pretty much forget about AF for critical shots. I discovered this on a recent assignment in which I had to shoot an interview in a dimly lit office. After a few shots, I realized that the AF was almost 100% inaccurate, so I had to switch to manual focus. Thankfully, the Tokina 135 has FANTASTIC MANUAL FOCUSING.
Taken the pros and cons together, the Tokina is a pretty well-rounded lens for the price. I recommend it.
Strengths
Price
Good Sharpness for the price
OK outdoor AF for the price
Fantastic manual focus ring
Max aperture is pretty standard for the price
Weaknesses
Low light AF is wretched
Customer Service
None needed
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Review Date
July 9, 2005
Overall Rating
4 of 5
Value Rating
5 of 5
Used product for
More than 1 year
Visitors rate this review
3.33 of 5, 3 votes
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Reviewed by
Lagaffe
, Intermediate
Price Paid
$120.00
at Ebay (New)
Photography Experience
2-5 years
, Outdoor
Summary
I bought this lens as I needed a wide angle zoom to take landscape pictures. It hasn't failed me yet, after about 2 years of use, and still takes really nice pictures, especially when stopped down to f5.6 and higher.
Strengths
Color saturation is quite amazing.
Light.
Autofocusses quickly (on a Minolta Maxxum 5).
Cheap.
Versatile: 19-35mm is a nice range to work with.
Weaknesses
Could be faster: f3.5 is not that great but you get what you pay for ;)
Built cheaply: sometimes feels like it is about to fall apart... But it has not happened yet.
Flare baby, flare! The hood that came with it is almost useless. Good thing it is nice since you'll use your left hand quite often when shooting in the sun!
Similar Products Used
None
Customer Service
Not needed yet... But I won't use if it breaks down since I got it for so little money!
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