Tokina 12-24mm & CA

In "real world" tests how bad is the CA on a Tokina 12-24mm? Also, how well

does Capture NX automatically clean the CA up? Any experiences would be

gratefully received.

Thanks everyone.

Photozone.de gives the lowdown: I don't find the CAs a real problem except under quite adverse conditions. I haven't used Capture NX yet, but believe that DXO (for example) would do a better job since it's optimised for the Tokina - free demo on their website (requires registration). AC

I have it and use it all the time. I don't have any problems with CA at all. From the way people talk about the CA with this lens I think it may be a sample problem, some are good and some are not so good. But from my experience the good is VERY good.

I returned my first Tokina due to soft image, and not CA.

My second Tokina is much better, BUT is a bit softer on the right edge and right corners than on the left side and center. The left side softness is only noticeable when looking at very high magification, but otherwise the lens is good. It is harder to make very wide lens, especially to retain consistent color across entire field of view. CA is not the main problem of the lens. Perhaps there is no better lens in this range and price.

Define "real world" and then maybe I would have an answer. It's not like there is CA in every shot, and even when it does occur it occurs only in high contrast margins. The affected pixels can be as many as 2 wide which is clearly noticeable on crops of 50% or more and on bigger prints. I haven't done any specific tests on this yet, which is why I haven't used Nikon Capture to try and fix it; which brings up a reason this often is not a problem, if you resize for the web the CA disappears.

 

Frank raises another issue, that being corner softness. Compared to my Nikkor 17-35/2.8 at the same focal lengths the Tokina is softer in the corners but surprisingly a little sharper in the center (could be a sample variation issue). BTW, all my Nikkors (I don't own the 12-24) show negligible CA.

My Tokina 12-24 exhibited softness, particularly near the edges. I sent it to Tokina and it

was returned much improved. The turnaround on the west coast was really quick: five days

including shipping time.

 

Sample variation seems common whether you buy a Nikon, Tokina or Sigma wide-angle

zoom. The Tokina is my first non-Nikkor lens in 25 years of photography. I decided that the

Nikkor did not warrant its $1000 price tag.

For G.V.:

 

I would not characterize my son's Tokina 12-24/4 as soft, just a little softer at the edges than my Nikkor 17-35/2.8 at the edges under close scrutiny. Kudos to Tokina for fixing your lens and doing it quickly.

 

Addendum to my previous reply:

 

CA is negligible on all the Nikkors I use, but I gave up on wide angle primes because my 17-35/2.8 was better in almost every way, and CA was a problem with some of those primes.

Anthony,

 

The 17-35 is one of the best Nikkor lenses every made. That's a heckuva standard to reach there :-).

 

I had always read that the Tokina's weakness was flare, not CA or anything else. It's my next purchase. I wish the Nikkor was a tad bit less expensive so I could justify it instead. Sigh.

 

allan

Allen, indeed the Tokina performs very well except for the CA issue. As for flare, that's a problem with all my zoom lenses and I cannot say that any of them don't suffer significantly when the sun hits the front element -- that's the one thing the primes do better on. I think the Tokina actually does better than the Nikkor for flare.

Anthony,

 

Even you are saying that the CA is only bad in extremely high contrast situations. Do you think the CA is a make or break on this lens? I had been looking at it over the other options (Sigma, Tamron, the too-expensive Nikon). I don't use wide angle that much for my wedding work, but I need to have something..

 

allan

Sorry I didn't make myself clear. By real world i mean general photojournalism, documentary photography etc. It's just that a review might say it's bad, but is that only in an extreme test?

 

I use a Sigma 15-30mm f3.5-4.5 DG EX at the moment & reviews say that the CA is extremely bad, yet I haven't noticed it! Whether that's just sample variation or I don't typically shoot in the situations that promote it.

 

It's a very sharp lens, but prone to flare. It's just that it's a fair chunk of lens and a constant apeture would be great.

 

Allan; "Even you are saying that the CA is only bad in extremely high contrast situations. Do you think the CA is a make or break on this lens?" That's exactly my point!

 

Normally I stick to Nikkors, but if the CA (& maybe sample variation) is a problem I'll shell out for the Nikkor.

 

Thanks everyone

Also, i use Capture NX and the CA reduction is always on so maybe that is correcting the CA on my Sigma. Or is it an overated symptom anyway?

 

The bulbous lens on the Sigma is really prone to flare too!

Hello Ross,

 

in my experience the issue with the Tokina is a huge amount of flare-once the sun is in or just outside the image the lens will produce a row of ugly flare spots, some of them very noticeable with a bright greenish-blue hue. Much worse than the 17-35mm lens which is great.

 

Except for that I like and use the Tokina a lot. With my sample sharpness is excellent once closed down one stop with no appreciable unevenness.

For me CA is no large problem, though there is quite a trace of it in the corners.

 

PS. yesterday I went out shooting with an old 80-200 f4,5 MF zoom: there was ugly CA for you (though sharpness was excellent)!

 

Greetings

 

Karl

Taken with Tokina 12-24 Pro DX

http://www.photo.net/general-comments/image-attachment?comment_id=4858269

Ken Rockwell has images on his Web site comparing flare when using the Sigma, Nikon and

Tokina wide-angle DX zooms. Frankly, all the images looked pretty bad when the sun was

near or in the frame. I cannot imagine using any of the zooms in this manner. If a person is

determined to create an image with the sun in it then a prime lens is the obvious choice.

I agree with G.V. about shooting in the sun using a zoom. Here are a couple of shots with the Tokina 12-24/4 and the Nikkor 17-35/2.8 (all the rest of the shots in this reply will be one of these two lenses).

 

First, the Nikkor:

 

http://photos.imageevent.com/tonybeach/mypicturesfolder/sharing/websize/_AB56137.jpg

 

Second, the Tokina:

 

http://photos.imageevent.com/tonybeach/mypicturesfolder/sharing/websize/_AB56135.jpg

 

Flare is greater with the Tokina, but ghosting is more pronounced with the Nikkor.

 

What's more disturbing and often overlooked is the T-stop difference between the lenses; there is a 2/3 stop difference, and this was consistent at all apertures. Take note of the selected apertures in the two shots and consider that this has real world implications if you want to use the Tokina to capture moving subjects as it will either require that you open up the aperture more, use a longer exposure, or use a higher ISO to get the same EV as the Nikkor lens I tested.

 

Here was an extreme test that provoked uncorrectable CA all over the shots I took with my Nikkor and with my son's Tokina:

 

http://photos.imageevent.com/tonybeach/mypicturesfolder/sharing/Tokina%20Nikkor%2017mm%20CA%20comparison.jpg

 

The CA was so severe that Nikon Capture's Color Aberration Control had no noticeable effect. Generally though, this represents a "not real world" situation as the overexposure was very severe and the shot should have been handled differently.

 

Here's a "real world" shot taken with the Tokina by my son and converted using Capture One LE:

 

http://photos.imageevent.com/tonybeach/mypicturesfolder/sharing/_AWB4917.jpg

 

Looking a little closer some CA is detectable:

 

http://photos.imageevent.com/tonybeach/mypicturesfolder/sharing/_AWB4917_Crop-1.jpg

 

Using Nikon Capture, the CA cleans up nicely:

 

http://photos.imageevent.com/tonybeach/mypicturesfolder/sharing/CA_AWB4917.jpg

 

I couldn't detect CA in any of these "real world" shots that I took with the Tokina:

 

http://photos.imageevent.com/tonybeach/recentfavorites/huge/_AWB7531.jpg

 

http://photos.imageevent.com/tonybeach/recentfavorites/huge/_AWB9060.jpg

 

http://photos.imageevent.com/tonybeach/recentfavorites/huge/_AWB4629.jpg

Thanks for that Tony, I really appreciate the time you've taken to answer my question.