Tokina ATX 280 f2.8 review - compare with canon 28-135 usm

[flaviodomenicucci]

TOKINA ATX 280 F2.8 REVIEW VS CANON USM 28-135 WITH IMAGE STABILIZER

 

 

When I bought my Canon Camera, the first lens I purchased was the 28-

135 . For several years I took lots of pictures and obtain a good

quality. In order to improve quality and get sharper images I decided

to purchase Tokina ATX 28-80 f2.8 zoom. The reasons were:

 

 Very well constructed

 Inner focusing system, lens does not change it size while zooming

 Better color correction according to Tokina

 The company might include Hoya experience in building their zoom

 Very heavy which should mean that the quality of the lens is better.

 

Test.

 

First I bought a film roll and went out to a park to take pictures.

When I saw the print none of them where in focus. I got really

furious and could not understand what happened.

 

Another day I asked a friend an Eos 300D Rebel to make a test and try

to identify which was the problem.

Test was done under the following conditions.

Camera: Eos 300D

ISO 100

Flash

WB: Flash

No filter in front of the lens was used to avoid any color correction

 

Results

 

a) Depth of field

 

1-Focal length: 28 and 35

F 2.8 and 3.5: The lens has better resolution than canon 28-135 but

the object focused should be under 2.5 mts. For objects or subjects

which are more distant than 3 mts use f 5.6 or smaller. If you don?t

do this you won?t get images on focus. TRUST ME!!

 

2-Focal lenght: 50 and 80

F2.8 and 3.5: The lens does not work in this combination, no object

at any focusing distance is in focus. TRUST ME I HAVE IMAGES TO PROVE.

F8.0 or smaller at 2.5 mts, better color and sharper images than

canon eos 28-135 mm

 

b) Color balance.

 

Tokina has cleaner whites, but it?s more contrasted than Canon, so

you loose detail very easily in highlights. Canon 28-135 has whites

with more cian , but the advantage is that you do not loose detail

in highlights, just make an easy color correction with any editing

software and solve the problem.

 

c) Weight.

Tokina: An f2.8 lens is supposed to be heavier than a f3.5 lens.

There is no doubt about that. But as Tokina does not work at f2.8 ,

weight becomes a trouble because the lens is not stabilized. It is

very difficult to obtain sharp images with Tokina at 1/30.

 

d) Sharpness

Tokina is sharper than Canon, but it?s more contrasted and tends to

loose detail in highlights, so if you do not have any detail,

sharpness is worthless.

 

 

 

Conclusions

 

Tokina works better under very limited conditions. If you want to

achieve good images , you have to remember this rules if you don?t

want to be disappointed with your photos.

Canon 28-135 is more reliable, you won?t get the sharpest image but

you will get it. You can trust the lens and relax because you won?t

have problems.

My advise for those searching f2.8 lenses, is to save more money and

by Canon 24-70 F2.8 zoom lens.

 

In anyone needs sample images, please contact me through email to the

following address flaviodomenicucci@hotmail.com

 

I would like to have somebody else opinion.

Flavio

[wakeforce]

Well, what can I say... Thanks?

[ron c sunshine coast,qld,a]

Thanks flavio!

<BR>We just don't hear enough about tokina or even tamron much

[phyrpowr]

I've used a Canon 28-135 IS for about five years now, and have always been more than happy with my shots, but I thought I might look into an f/2.8 lens, and just today got a Tokina 28-70 AT-X 287 SV Pro for my Canon 10D.

 

SAME RESULTS AS FLAVIO..sorry, got carried away, shot a full card in RAW at f/2.8, all focal lengths, nothing looked in focus, I had a better third party lens in 1975. I won't even test it at narrower aps: I can shoot those with my trusty Canon

 

Strange, because my Tokina 19-35 cheapo is a great lens.

[yaob]

I do have a tokina ATX Pro 280 and have went through more than a couple dozen rolls of films on it. I have not noticed the out of focus problem, even when shooting at 2.8 and at the long end of the

lense. I am using an ElanII. Is the incompatibility with newer

canon bodies?

[barry_kleinberg]

I have the Tokina and so far after nearly a year have had no problems. I use the lens on both film and digital bodies. For the price it is a really nice lens and is built like a tank - hate the push-pull though.

 

Just my tuppance worth.

 

Barry