How do I pick a good third party lens?

[enriquegonzales]

A lot of the talk about buying third party lenses seems to be around

inconsistency of quality for the same model. I'm considering the Tokina 12-24.

If I were to try three samples in a store, which tests are usually applied to

select the best sample? What would I be testing for exactly?

[Ed_Ingold]

There's probably nothing you can do in a store to test a lens, other than to see if parts fall off in your hands. You can get a good third-party lens, but there are a lot more dogs than gems in that market.

 

If you are concerned about quality control, good design and build-quality, keep saving until you can get the Nikon lens you want.

[Rich B NYC]

My primary concern would be closeup performance at a medium or smaller (like f8 to f16) as I'd almost always be shooting under those conditions with a lens like a 12-24.

 

While it may be more common with third party lenses, sample-to-sample variation is a fact of life. I've returned Leica and Nikon lenses for better performing samples so buying an OEM lens is no guarantee.

 

On the other hand, my 12-24mm and 100mm Tokinas are keepers so I've been lucky twice with that brand.

[juanjo_viagran]

my advice is check reviews before buying..

 

that particular Tokina 12-24mm is a GREAT lens..

On built quality is hard to bit the ATX-pro line of Tokina, plus the have awesome CS and great optics..

[trunfio]

Off topic: but my Tokina 12-24, while a great lens, seems to underexpose by a .5 stop. Does

anyone else have that? I compensate, but it's a pain.

[kohanmike]

I recently got the Tokina 12-24 and I think it's a terrific lens. I shot rehearsals of the

California Jr. Philharmonic at the Disney Music Hall and they came out great. I use a D70s in

RAW and printed a few shots at 13x19 on my Canon i9900 on Ilford paper, they are much

better than I expected. (Can't show any of the photos because the music hall made me sign

an agreement not to post any of the photos on the web.)

[alex_lofquist]

Carefully!

[Rich B NYC]

"Off topic: but my Tokina 12-24, while a great lens, seems to underexpose by a .5 stop. Does anyone else have that? I compensate, but it's a pain."

 

Paul,

 

I've had no problems with underexposure. I certainly get some vignetting, but not overall underexposure.

 

What body are you using it on?

 

Rich

 

Rich

[Peter_in_PA]

In most cases, simply go for the lens that says "NIKKOR" on it.

 

In the case of the 12-24, it's a great lens, check the reviews out. Buy one, test it throughly

immediately, test it if it's soft.

[eric_arnold]

<<If you are concerned about quality control, good design and build-quality, keep saving until you can get the Nikon lens you want.>>

 

what, do you work for nikon? tokina 12-24 has better build and arguably better optics than the nikkor 12-24, plus one-touch clutch manual focusing switch. it also follows the same curve as the nikon, i.e. it's much sharper at 18-24 than at 12mm. i wouldnt hesitate to buy this again, there's almost no reason to choose the nikkor over the tokina, unless you want to pay $500 more than you have to.

 

check the photozone review (http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/tokina_1224_4_nikon/index.htm)

for a better idea of what you're looking for. a thorough comparison should determine if you got a keeper or a lemon.

[john_n._wall]

How to pick a good third party lens? As others suggest, buy a Tokina. Do not buy a Sigma. Buy the occasional Tamron, for example the 90 mm macro, but only after careful research on the WWW regarding the specific lens you are interested in.

[mark newcombe www.mcnphoto]

Fair go John, Sigma makes some great lens I think you need to pull your head in with those blanket statements they show ignorance, I guess you don't know any better.

[alex_lofquist]

I have had a couple of Sigma teles which were excellent optically but somewhat fragile. I still use one of them when I need something lighter than my 70-200 f/2.8 VR Nikkor.

[graham_line]

Based on friends' photos and experiences, Tamron SP and Tokina AT-X Pro are about the only 3rd-party glass I'd consider. Aside from the quality of glass and the mount, there have be incompatibility issues on autofocus and exposure systems as manufacturers update or introduce new bodies.

[jonathan_van_matre1]

Wow, look at all the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) in here.

 

Listen, it's very simple...the answer to "How do I pick a good third party lens?" is exactly the same as the answer to "How do I pick a good lens?" To wit...

 

1) Decide first what optical problem you are looking to solve. Do you need a 1:1 macro lens? A super-tele for shooting sports? Fast glass you can use for "available dark" night shooting? Is manual focus OK? Or do you need AF? Do you insist on quiet AF-S/HSM/USM/Silent Wave style focusing? You should know what you need before you start looking for options. Shop by *your* photographic needs - what's right for you may not be right for someone else.

 

e.g. In the wide-angle zoom for DX format category, you might be looking for the best optical quality at any price (which might lead you toward the Nikon 14-24 2.8), or for the widest angle of view you can get (Sigma 10-20), or for the best optical bang for the buck (probably the Tokina 12-24 you're considering). Know what you want to accomplish before you start worrying about which lens is best...otherwise you might end up disappointed with a great $1700 lens that doesn't go as wide as you want it to.

 

2) Now that you know what your priorities are, consider every lens in your category against those criteria. Read multiple reviews of every lens, e.g. from the Sigma 10-20 to the Nikon 17-35 and everything in-between. Make notes of where each one does and does not meet your criteria.

 

3) Once you've got these notes, figure out which lens appears to be best for you. Now it's time to consider build quality...if the vast majority of those multiple reviews you read flagged your lens choice as a dud, look for a second choice. Otherwise, don't worry too much about overall brand/model quality - the majority of modern lens manufacturers are perfectly capable of producing high-quality lenses (including but not limited to Cosina Voigtlander, Zeiss, Tamron, Tokina, and Sigma) However, give a slight extra nudge to Nikon vs. a 3rd-party lens because you *are* less likely to have any compatibility issues on future Nikon cameras. That issue doesn't happen with every 3rd-party lens, not by a longshot, but it does occur sometimes, so that may be worth some extra bucks to you.

 

4) What you SHOULD worry about is sample variation. Nikon is not immune. Not even the venerable Zeiss is immune. Make your purchase from a retailer who will allow you to make returns with ease until you find a quality sample of the lens. That can be accomplished online, or in a local camera shop, but shop carefully and make sure your chosen retailer will work with you to find a good lens.

 

I got a dud the first time I bought the Nikon 50/1.8. You would not believe the crunchy noises coming out of that tiny lens. Hello, Amazon return policy.

 

5) If you buy locally, test it in the store for any immediately obvious flaws. You're not going to see every possible problem, not within a couple of hours in the store, but you should at least make sure the one you get is solidly put together and not making weird noises or severely mis-focused.

 

6) Once you take it home, or get it in the mail, shoot with it. A LOT. If you're really analytical about these things, you can try focus-test and resolution charts that are readily available online, but you can also do just fine shooting subjects you're already interested in. Try every aperture at multiple distances, on the same subject. Review the results, and if you're not satisfied, test again to make sure your technique is not the problem. If you're still not satisfied, test another lens you know you like, to make sure the camera is not the problem. If at this point it's clearly the lens, return it and try another sample of the same lens. Usually one retry is enough, but sometimes you may go through 4 or 5.

 

Some common lens issues to look for:

- AF is front-focused or back-focused

- Focus distances are improperly calibrated

- Lens elements misaligned (often apparent as an uneven softness in one part of the frame, e.g. left side much softer than the right on an equidistant subject)

- Lens not providing data to the camera correctly

- Lens doesn't function on one or more of your cameras (try every compatible camera you have)

 

And that's it! Eventually you should end up with a lens you're happy with. I'd use this approach even if you're buying one of the $5000 super-teles...expensive lenses aren't immune to sample variation either. Any manufactured product will have the occasional lemon, and that's what return policies and warranties are for. Don't assume that expensive is synonymous with perfect, any more than Nikkor is synonymous with perfect.

 

Don't be too afraid of third parties. Nikon makes nothing as wide as Sigma's 10-20, and no one else has anything comparable to Tokina's bizarre fisheye zoom lens. Sometimes that 3rd party lens is exactly what you need. Just have an established routine to vet any lens you buy, and scrutinize every one.