Tokina 12-24 F4 AT-X Pro DX Lens question

Has anyone used this lens with a film camera? I have both a D70 and an F3; if

the lens is very good at its long end it could make an excellent 18-24 on the

F3 (it stops vignetting at about 18mm). I am most interested in the 24 mm

length. Anyone compare it with the Nikkor 24 mm 2.8 prime?

 

If I were to go with the Tokina: I have read on previous posts about

significant differences in quality between individual lenses. What should I

look for when evaluating a single example?

 

Thanks for your responses.

How do you control the aperture on that lens from an F3? It is like a Nikon G lens, without an aperture ring:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=Search&A=details&Q=&sku=360350&is=REG&addedTroughType=search

Allen, I have the lens and I use it a lot on my D80. I think it is a little weak on the wide end but it is excellent in the 18-24 range. I see occasional quirks with the lens, especially at 12mm, but not nearly enough that I would dump it.

 

If all you want is 24mm, I would stick with the Nikkor prime but if you want range, either Tokina or Nikon is excellent.

Thanks, Shun - You're right of course. I'm trying to get an additional wide-angle to the 18-70 DX, and since I still like to shoot film (with an assortment of manual focus Nikkor primes - my widest is the 20 mm 3.5) I'd like to avoid duplication of lenses if possible, and the 20 mm becomes only at 30 mm on the D70. I do have the Nikkor 24 2.8 but that won't help on the D70.

 

Any other suggestions?

If you want a super wide on the D70 or any DX sensor Nikon/Fuji DSLR, some sort of 12-24 G DX (or 10-22) is inevitable. You just have to accept the fact that your lenses are not 100% interchangeable between two different formats, just like my Nikon lenses are not compatible to my 645 body.

 

It sounds like you already have the right lenses for you film body.

Maybe the 15-30mm sigma 3.5-4.5. Around $300

I got first Tokina 12-24 and was not very sharp. I returned that and got another copy of the same Tokina, and the second lens is much better than the first one. Tested on D70 working great.

 

THEN I got D200, and tested OK, but at high magnification 100 % or 200 % I could see abit of less sharp on right edge or in right corners, while left and center side of pictures is much sharper. Iguess it is harder to make very wide lenses.

So possibility exists that there could be even better sample of the same lens out there. By the way, in normal to large size prints this is not a problem.

Interesting post: I shot 300 images today with this new lens while taking relatives on a tour of Boston. I brought only this lens today as I really wanted to try it out since I bought it 2 months ago and haven't used it except for a couple test shots. I've never used a lens this wide before. My widest lens prior to this was a 24mm/2.8 prime Hexanon film lens for my 35mm Konicas. 12 is equiv to 18 in 35mm, and I just found that I was always zooming to 18-24 and even that was often too wide. I kept seeing compositions that I wanted to shoot at a normal focal length or tele. I got a couple of keepers but overall I was disappointed with my shooting today. I'm just not used to composing images that wide. Quality of the lens: great. Images were sharp, focused real quick. I don't like the clutch AF/MF mechanism and it got stuck a couple times. For a "pro" lens, that felt very "un-pro". Why the clutch? Why not just a switch? I don't get it.