Tokina 12-24 f/4 questions !!

[mauricio_orozco]

According to what I have reviewed, this lens is excellent to take landscape pictures but my question is, will be good

also for indoor shooting or under low light conditions ? Seems to me that being a f/4 lens, it is not that fast or I am

wrong thinking this ? What is your opinion ? Thanks for all your help and advises. By the way, have a D300, so

increasing the ISO is not an issue, but I also don't like to count only on the high ISO capabilities but the fast glass I

should be able to put in my camera to take indoor or low light photos.

[Hector Javkin]

To see what an f/4 super wide angle can do indoors in low light, set your 11-16mm Tokina lens to f/4 and shoot

photographs with it indoors in low light. You had the 11-16mm Tokina f/2.8 recently, according to a response you

posted on June 30 of this year.

[bwcombs]

Mauricio, I use this lens quite a bit for interior and architectural shots, and it is a very good lens, and I recommend it. You are right in thinking it is not that fast for low light shooting. The new Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 would be a better choice. Costlier, yes, but a better choice indeed. (It is on my list of acquisitions to come.)

 

Low light conditions for me with the Tokina are on a tripod, with ambient light and strobes, and ISO at 100 or so.

[eric_arnold]

mauricio, in general f/4 is not a low-light f-stop. you're correct that this is mitigated a bit by the D300's high ISO capabilities, which gives you more leeway. but if this is a major issue for you, just get the tokina 11-16 or the nikor 14-24 and you'll gain a stop.

 

the thing about wide-angle lenses is that they have huge, bulbous front elements which let in more light than smaller lenses. so low-light shooting is possible with slower shutter speeds. often, you use a tripod so you can stop down to f/8 or f/11 when shooting at night. but if you're willing to work with the lens you can shoot wide open handheld under certain conditions.

 

with good handholding technique i've gotten away with 1/5 shooting the tokina wide open indoors at ISO 1600 on a D80 (which is roughly 2500 or 3200 ISO on a D300). if you're shooting that slow, though, any people in the shot will be blurred, which you can use to your benefit if you're taking interior shots of say, a restaurant. that way you emphasize the busyness of the place. you just want to keep the blurred people to the sides or as a background element.<div></div>

[eric_arnold]

just for comparison's sake, shooting that same lens handheld outdoors in twilight on a d300, i was able to use 1/60 and f/5.6 at iso 1800<div></div>

[craig_gillette]

I've used mine under lower light conditions but at smaller apertures to increase depth of field, so I used a tripod.

 

So yes, it's slower than an f2.8 lens but it really depends on the application as to how important that is to you.

[Sanford]

Here is the 12-24 mm Tokina at ISO 1600 at F4 on a Nikon D700.<div></div>

[Sanford]

I should have said D300, I guess I thinking of my next camera!