Tokina AT-X 11-20mm f/2.8 Pro DX Review - Review 2022

Third-political party lenses have long been a toll-conscious alternative to name brands, but not every ane is a strong optical performer. The Tokina AT-10 11-20mm f/two.8 Pro DX ($599) doesn't necessarily expect like a modernistic lens from the outside, just it makes up for it in image quality. Its angle of view is solidly in the ultra-wide territory. If you lot shoot with an APS-C Canon or Nikon SLR and are subsequently a bright, wide lens, have a look at the Tokina. It's not the the sleekest zoom on the outside, but its f/2.viii aperture puts it in a class of its own, especially given its relatively depression price point.

Dated Aesthetics

The 11-20mm doesn't wait like a new lens. Its blueprint is straight out of the 90s, rife with odd font choices for labels and chunky rubberized knurling on the focus and zoom rings. Gilt accents are similar to what Nikon does with its recent SLR lenses, but cadet the more recent trend of understated designs with fiddling colour to grab your attention.

The eleven-20mm measures 3.half dozen past 3.5 inches (HD), weighs 1.two pounds, and supports 82mm front filters. It's bachelor for Catechism and Nikon SLRs, and covers an APS-C prototype sensor. In full-frame terms, its range of coverage is most like to a 16.5-30mm zoom. The image above was shot at the widest setting, and the one below zoomed all the way in. Both were captured from the aforementioned vantage point.

A reversible lens hood, along with front end and rear caps, are included. There's no sort of weather protection, which isn't surprising given the asking price and ambitious f/2.8 design. Still, we would take liked to see fluorine protection for the front end element, like you exercise with rival Tamron's budget-minded 10-24mm f/3.v-4.five Di II VC HLD.

There is no image stabilization built in. Nosotros've seen more than recent ultra-wide zooms add the role, as information technology is very helpful for handheld video recording. Nikon has a stabilized lens with a similar angle of view, the AF-P DX Nikkor 10-20mm f/4.5-v.6G VR, and Canon has the stabilized EF-S x-18mm f/4.v-5.vi IS STM. Neither is equally vivid as the Tokina, only both will cyberspace smoother handheld video footage.

The autofocus motor is a little slow, requiring most 0.2-2d to larn and lock focus with the normally speedy Nikon D500. Information technology's besides loud, which is a business for photographers working in environments where silence is central, and puts an additional damper on using the lens for video. If you exercise, stick the camera on a tripod and stick to transmission focus.

You'll use a focus clutch to switch between manual and autofocus. The focus band, which sits toward the front element, pulls straight back to disable autofocus and switch to manual control. It works well in theory, just in practice I plant the machinery a scrap hard to accommodate. Information technology was just as probable to get stuck during movement as it was to work every bit designed.

Focus is bachelor to 11 inches, measured from the camera's image sensor, then roughly five inches from the prototype sensor. Y'all won't typically get macro results from such a wide lens, simply y'all won't feel limited when working close. At its best the 11-20mm magnifies subjects at ane:8.half dozen life-size.

Sharp Optics

I tested the xi-20mm with the 20.9MP Nikon D500 and Imatest software. At 11mm f/ii.8 information technology puts upward strong resolution numbers, notching 2,520 lines in a center-weighted evaluation. Border quality, often a concern in wide zooms, isn't every bit high as the average, but exceeds our ane,800-line minimum easily with a 2,080-line marker.

At f/4 the average score climbs to ii,851 lines, and edges are a sharp 2,538 lines—landscape photographers will find the lens is very feasible here, fifty-fifty for scenes where edge resolution is key. The lens is ameliorate at f/v.6 (three,062 lines) and f/8 (three,084 lines), and at both settings resolution is almost every bit strong at the edges of the frame as it is on average.

There's a slight drop in resolution at f/11 (2,922 lines), a trend that continues at f/16 (ii,553 lines), and the minimum f/22 setting (1,930 lines). Because of this, we don't recommend using the lens at its narrowest apertures, unless yous are trying to go the sunstar effect in your prototype.

Resolution remains stiff at 15mm. At f/ii.8 nosotros run into 2,610 lines on average, with 2,058 lines at the periphery. There'due south a modest uptick at f/four (2,652 lines), but to meet a significant gain y'all'll need to stop downwardly to f/5.6. Here the lens shows 2,870 lines on average, without outer parts of the frame showing an splendid 2,742 lines. Tiptop resolution is at f/viii (three,041 lines) and f/eleven isn't far behind at 2,939 lines. Once again, avoid f/sixteen (two,601 lines) and f/22 (two,022 lines) when you can.

At 20mm the lens shows isn't as sharp at f/2.viii equally at other settings—we encounter 2,473 lines—but it is as sharp at the edges as it is on average. We encounter similar results at f/four (2,611 lines), earlier the expected improvement at f/5.6 (2,827 lines), f/8 (2,979 lines), and f/11 (ii,917 lines). Skip f/sixteen (ii,649 lines) and f/22 (2,093 lines) when yous can.

The lens shows some distortion, but non every bit much as you expect from an ultra-wide zoom, and certainly not as much as you'd imagine seeing from one with an f/two.eight aperture throughout its zoom range. At 11mm there is virtually 4.3 percent barrel distortion—noticeable, but improve controlled than the Nikon AF-P DX 10-20mm (5.v percent) or Tamron x-24mm (v.ix per centum) at their widest settings. Distortion drops equally you lot zoom in—you lot become virtually one.9 per centum at 15mm and a negligible 0.9-percentage at 20mm.

I tested the 10-20mm with the Nikon D500, which supports in-camera peripheral illumination adjustment, even when shooting with a third-political party lens. Enabling it delivers JPG images with brighter corners than y'all get when shooting in Raw or with correction turned off. At 11mm f/2.8 the corners show a -2.2EV drop at f/ii.viii and a -1.3EV deficit at f/iv. At narrower f-stops brightness is within our -1EV tolerance from middle to corner, and the same is truthful at 15mm and 20mm at every aperture.

The vignette is a little flake stronger with correction turned off. At 11mm we come across -ii.6EV at f/2.8, -one.6EV at f/4, and about -1.1EV at narrower apertures. At 15mm the vignette is only worth talking about at f/2.viii, and it's a small-scale -1.4EV in that location. Illumination at 20mm is, for applied purposes, uniform at every f-end.

A Strong 3rd-Party Alternative

There is very little to complain about the Tokina AT-10 xi-20mm f/2.8 Pro DX from an optical perspective. Information technology boasts a bright f/2.8 aperture, delivers detailed, sharp images, and while it does show some distortion, it's meliorate controlled than in competing zooms with narrower apertures. And it gives you lot all of this for around $600, a steal considering the f/two.eight design.

Fit and stop are a bit backside the times, however. There's no sort of weather condition sealing and the focus motor is both loud and a fiddling slow. The 11-20mm has been on the market for a few years, so it's non shocking to see the fluorine coating missing—the water-resistant finish has become more and more mutual in the past few years.

If you're primarily interested in photography, the Tokina 11-20mm is an splendid choice for shots where an ultra-wide lens is fundamental. It will serve you well for landscapes—both epic western vistas and cavernous urban cityscapes. But videographers, especially those who prefer to work handheld, should shop for a lens with stabilization and a quieter focus system instead.

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Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/cameras/29792/tokina-at-x-11-20mm-f28-pro-dx-review

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