Tokina 28-80 ATX Pro 2.8 and Tokina 80-200 ATX Pro 2.8 on a D700

<p>Dear all,<br>

I am planning on buying a D700 as a replacement for my trusted F100. I simply cannot justify the cost of film and decent development anymore.<br>

I bought my F100 at the time for its professional specs, fast and precise autofocus and great metering capabilities. I have been waiting for a F100ish FX dslr, and with the D700 I believe the time has come.<br>

At the time I could not afford the pro spec Nikon lenses, but will be saving for a 24-70 in the future.<br>

Currently I have the above mentioned Tokina lenses on my F100 as my main lenses, which produce very nice results. Yes the 28-80 is a bit prone to flare, and af speed is lacking - especially compared to my dad's D300 with 17-55 afs, but my images sure look pretty to me. Alongside I also have a Nikon 50mm 1.8, a Nikon 135mm 2.8 AI, a Tokina 19-35 and a Tamron 500mm 8 mirror.<br>

I have not found too many postings on these Tokina lenses combined with an FX dslr.<br>

Any of you good people have experiences with this glass?<br>

I know the arguments on investing in top glass first and then the body, but at the time of buying the F100 I just got out of university and stopped down to 5,6 the Tokina's give excellent results IMHO. Now I want to step up to digital photography and want an full frame, rather than a DX body.<br>

Any comments on the body and lens combination is warmly welcomed.<br>

Regards,<br>

Arthur</p>

 

<p>The is nothing wrong with the tokina lenses.<br>

As far as I'm conscerned they are just as serious an alternative as the higher spec Sigma's.<br>

With the 19-35 28-80 and 80-200 you have all but the extremest wide covered</p>

 

<p>Erwin,<br>

Thanks for your post. Hartelijk dank voor je commentaar!</p>

<p>Arthur</p>

<p>I know it's not exactly the same lens, but I've used a Tokina AT-X 28-70 f/2.8 on my D700 with good results. In fact at around 50 to 60mm results from the Tokina are almost indistinguishable from a 55mm f/2.8 micro Nikkor, used at "normal" distances of course. The 28mm end lets it down a bit, but it still easily competes with modern lenses from Tamron and (shudder!) Sigma.</p>

<p>Dear Arthur,<br>

I´m lugging around the Tokina 2.6-2.8/28-70 ATX-Pro II and the mentioned 2.8/80-200 ATX-Pro for more than ten years now and I like both lenses very much. The build quality is just excellent and the optical performance is also compelling imho.<br>

Both lenses are a bit soft wide open (especially the 80-200 at the long end), but I think it´s not too bad. Stopped down to f/4 the tokinas show very good results. If you want the best quality out of these lenses, you should not use f/2.8 unless it´s really necessary. I for instance use the 80-200 mainly when shooting concerts with very good results. Whenever the light situation does allow it, i stop the lens down to at least f/3.2. You can have a look at <a href="http://www.archiv-heine.com">www.archiv-heine.com</a> if you like to. Most of the concert-photos were taken with the Tokina 80-200.<br>

Another weakness of both Tokina-lenses: They are prone to CA. But at reasonable "real life" print sizes this isn´t a real problem. About 10 years ago in the "stone age" of (film-)photography I didn´t even noticed the mentioned weaknesses. Ever since "pixel peeping" my Nikon D200- and Fuji S5 Pro-shots at 100% on the computer-screen I realized it.<br>

For me the Tokina lenses real keepers for a reasonable price. I´m working as a photo journalist, so sometimes I´m a little bit harsh with my equipment. The Tokinas never failed in all that years.<br>

I´ve attached some "real life"-testphotos (Nikkor AiS 2.8/180 ED vs. Tokina ATX-Pro 2.8/80-200) to this post. They are not scientific in any way (handheld at 1/125) but show quite well what you can expect from the Tokinas in every-day-use.<br>

Bottom line: Two recommendable lenses.<br>

Hope this helps and all the best<br>

KC. Heine<br>

<strong>Attached Images:</strong><br>

First the test-image (Nikon D200, 400 asa), shot with both the Nikkor AiS 2.8/180 ED and the Tokina ATX-Pro 2.8/80-200 at 180mm, f/2.8 within a few minutes. The weather was rainy, so the light is smooth and without harsh contrast:<br>

<img src="http://www.archiv-heine.com/misc/nik-tok01.jpg" alt="" /><br>

And now some 100%-crops out of it to compare the lenses. All photos are taken at f/2.8. First the Nikkor AiS 2.8/180 ED...<br>

<img src="http://www.archiv-heine.com/misc/nik180-01.jpg" alt="" /><br>

... and the corresponding crop, taken with the Tokina 2.8/80-200 ATX-Pro:<br>

<img src="http://www.archiv-heine.com/misc/tok180-01.jpg" alt="" /><br>

A further Nikkor-crop:<br>

<img src="http://www.archiv-heine.com/misc/nik180-02.jpg" alt="" /><br>

And the corresponding Tokina-crop:<br>

<img src="http://www.archiv-heine.com/misc/tok180-02.jpg" alt="" /><br>

Nikkor:<br>

<img src="http://www.archiv-heine.com/misc/nik180-03.jpg" alt="" /><br>

Tokina:<br>

<img src="http://www.archiv-heine.com/misc/tok180-03.jpg" alt="" /><br>

Nikkor:<br>

<img src="http://www.archiv-heine.com/misc/nik180-04.jpg" alt="" /><br>

Tokina:<br>

<img src="http://www.archiv-heine.com/misc/tok180-04.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>Rodeo Joe, Thanks for the reply, I rarely use my lenses at full open so stopping down will probably avoid any trouble.<br>

Kay-Christian, Vielen dank, for the effort of showing the differences between the Nikon prime and the Tokina 80-200. I must say, the Tokina performed better than I expected.<br>

I really worried about whether the D700 would magnify any flaws in my Tokina's but by the looks of it, I believe that both lenses will suit me well. I am not a professional and do not need super enlargements.<br>

Any CA etc I will try to polish away during post processing.<br>

Nice portfolio Kay-Christian!<br>

Thanks again!<br>

Arthur</p>

<p>Arthur,<br>

I have owned both the 28-80 and 80-200 Tokinas. I shoot weddings as a photojournalist (secondary) photographer. I had the latest model 80-200 with petal hood. It was an absolute disaster wide open. The pictures i would take from the back of a church were unuseable. Using a D200 I thought I just needed a tripod. My boss put the lens on his D3 and said it's not you its the lens. Very soft with tons of CA. The 28-80 faired rather well I might add. It flared easily and did the focus hunt thing at receptions but was sharp enough in the center. I currently own two D700s with a Nikon 24-70 f2.8 and the 70-200 f2.8 VR. I can honestly say, NOTHING that I have used rivals the 70-200. It is an absolute tack sharp lens wide open at any focal length. Moving to full fram was the best idea you made. Don't disapoint yourself with third party lenses. I'm not a "measure-bater", nor do I need to spend a ton of money just to say I did. You won't find a better combo on full frame than the 24-70 and 70-200 Nikkors. JM2C.</p>

<p>Well Dan,<br>

If you just send me your two cents, I might just be able to justify the investment. :-).<br>

I made up my mind and decided to buy the Nikon 24-70. Yes it is a major dent in my wallet, but based on current 2nd hand prices for the 28-70 it will hold on to its value. Combined to the high praise it gets and the fact that it covers my favourite range it's a must buy.<br>

Adding the 70-200 is more a future thing, since I can use a 70-300 AFS VR that may not have the same quality, but will probably outperform the Tokina.<br>

Thanks all for the support!!</p>

 

<p>I have D700 and Tokina 2.6-2.8/28-70 latest model and 2.8/80-200, also Tokina, but 15 years old. 28-70 produces really outstanding results while 80-200 can deliver good results only in certain conditions. The lens has big troubles with front/back focus. I calibrated it only for short distances, up to approx 5-6 meters, further away lens shows backfocus. At longer distances it is really bad. At about 20m there is near 2m of backfocus at open aperture at 200mm! If I calibrate it for longer distances, it shows strong front focus when I do portraits. I don't use lens much, only for portraits and concerts where I can get close so I can somehow live with that.<br>

My lens also shows a lot of CA, which is visible on older digital cameras, D700 already eliminates it with firmware.<br>

In the past I worked as a photojournalist and used this lens a lot with film. I had no problems mentined above. Looks like newer AF is made different way than at older cameras.<br>

Maybe latest versions of this lens behave better, so give it a try :)<br>

Best regards,</p>

 

<p>Janez,</p>

<p>Thanks for your reply. What type op 80-200 do you have? The ATX-Pro version?<br>

Regards,</p>

<p>Arthur</p>