sl attanapola Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 My dad is thinking of a getting a 400mm lens for his Dynax 5. After looking what is available for a decent price what do you think is better - the Tokina 400mm SD AT-X F5.6 or the Sigma AF APO 400mm F/5.6. He is intending to get it secondhand.What are your experiences with these lenses? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan_dzo Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 The Sigma is awful. No experience of the tokina. I picked up a cheap 200mm 2.8 non-G and a Minolta 2x converter which is 100x better than the Sigma, but a bit more expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesdak Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 There are several versions of the Sigma out there. A lot of people claim it's an aweful lens but the one I've been using for about 12 years is not bad at all. I keep meaning to do a test comparision between it and my Minolta 300 f/4 with a 1.4x teleconvertor. When I do I'll post the results. All I know is that my 400 has served me well all these years as my main wildlife lens.<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_albert Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 I have to agree. I keep hearing how bad the Sigma is, but still find mine very good. Sorry no examples handy. Picked mine up second hand and it worked with my XTsi, 7 and now my 7D. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnclinch Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 The good sigma is the 400mm f5.6 apo macro check here http://www.photodo.com/nav/prodindex.html I have one and like it I have read positive opinions from other owners as well It will cost almost as much(or more) for a tripod to suport it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesdak Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 Mine's not macro and is an older model. I bought it sometime very early in the 90's. It does work fine though with my Maxxum 7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesdak Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 Here's the only picture I have of the lens right now, it's on the back far right:<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl attanapola Posted June 10, 2005 Author Share Posted June 10, 2005 I have seen that one in the shops!It is good value.I think there is a green one and a grey version.Are there any differences? Is it possible if you can post some pictures from this lens? :) There is a newer version also(I believe) that has a red circle around the lens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl attanapola Posted June 10, 2005 Author Share Posted June 10, 2005 BTW nice lens collection! How good is the Tokina 80-400mm compared to the Sigma? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesdak Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 Actually it's a Tokina 80-200 f/2.8. To be honest it doesn't get a lot of us right now. It used to be a primary lens for me to shoot my son's soccer games when he was very young and played on a smaller field but now I rely on my 300 and 400. The Tokina is a heavy beast but I'd say it's plenty sharp. From the box new until now it creaks as you move it around but it't never failed to give good images. All that said as I went though all my scanned images prior to answering this I only found 1 flower shot I thought was good enough to scan that was taken with this lens. I just don't use it much which is another reason I still have it. I'd love to swap it out for either a Minolta 80-200 or a Minolta 200 f/2.8 but I don't use it enough to justify the expense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fmueller Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 The Tokina SD 400mm f5.6 in MD mount is a very good lens. If the AF version of the lens has the same optical construction, I reckon it would be a good buy. I own the RMC (in non-APO) version of the manual focus lens, and have enclosed some example shots below.</p> <img src="http://gallery.photo.net/photo/3105033-lg.jpg" alt="name"></p> <img src="http://gallery.photo.net/photo/3104816-lg.jpg" alt="name"> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill_thorlin Posted June 11, 2005 Share Posted June 11, 2005 This has been asked before - by me on 26 January - go check that thread out. Your Dad seems to have been looking for quite a while - are you looking at something special at the moment ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl attanapola Posted June 11, 2005 Author Share Posted June 11, 2005 He is not in a rush! He has an old 300mm/f4.5 for his Nikon F2 but the only autofocus body has is his Dynax 5. Anyway he had some family affairs intervening in the last couple of months. He is basically thinking of taking pictures of birds when he is in Sri Lanka or on holiday elsewhere.Sri Lanka has some nice indigenous birds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl attanapola Posted June 11, 2005 Author Share Posted June 11, 2005 Also I want to make sure that he gets a decent lens! He finds that 300mm at times is not enough.He has a aversion to teleconverters! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonny_cejalvo Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 ive got the tokina 400mm 5.6 SD AT-X. bought it a couple months ago in demo (basically new) condition from ebay. $225. excellent build, all metal construction with built in hood. focuses fairly fast, considering its a 5.6, much faster than my 70-210 f4 on my maxxum 7. However, its not as sharp as the f4 either... but pretty sharp for a $225 400mm lens. take it to 6.7 or f8, and it seems to give better results. close focuses to 8 feet, tri/mono pod essential for ultimate sharpness. ive gotten good results hand held @ 1/350... ive got some samples up at: http://photobucket.com/albums/v389/d0ubledown/400%20millimeters/ hope this helps some.. sonny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl attanapola Posted June 18, 2005 Author Share Posted June 18, 2005 Thanks! I like the picture of the Lynx(?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lens_four Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 Have you considered a used Min 200/2.8 APO (the pre-G model) and a 2x? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl attanapola Posted June 18, 2005 Author Share Posted June 18, 2005 How much does this lens cost secondhand? Also will the teleconverter affect autofocus performance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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