Tokina AT-X 17mm f/3.5 user reviews

I purchased this lens after careful review to replace (yes replace) my Nikon 14-24mm on D700. It was nice seeing that many of the reviews online were published in the film era. It was my first Tokina - and build quality is superb. IQ is quite soft at 3.5 - I almost always stop to f5 or further. People gripe about the af/mf clutch mechanism on Tokinas - it is pretty lame. Leave it in AF - it's very fast and accurate - even in low light (on D700). This lens loses its appeal on aps-c cameras - but I believe it is the best bang for buck full format ultrawide. It's compact, accepts filters (no huge bulbous front element), and a rare blessing in the $100-$200 range. I paid $150 shipped - and it had never been mounted on a camera...

Pros:

Excellent Build/weight/size/cost

17mm is very wide and usable on FF

Sharp sharp sharp early at 5.6

77mm filters

*Acceptable flare

Decent corner performance

Very close focusing < 10"

Great 14 point sunstars

Acceptable distortion (1.7, 3.3 on FF)- less than Nikkor 20mm

Fantastic absence of vignetting - a key reason to get over Nikkor 20mm

Acceptable CA - much better than Nikkor 20mm - D700 fixes most of it in body w/ jpeg


Cons:

Kinda soft wide open

*Flare can get goofy (I have no hood - not sure if it is effective)


Colin Wadsworth
OpticPursuit.com

I got this lens 2nd hand as I wanted a wide-angle lens of better quality than the standard canon 17-55 kit lens.

First impressions were good, its well made and handled well on the front of my canon 300D and later my 350D.

The AF to MF change mechanism took some getting use too. You have to turn the ring to infinity then push / pull it to change, then move the side switch to complete the operation. After a time however this becomes automatic.

Optically it seems good although it can be prone to flare as the incident light comes in from about 30 degrees from the front.

Where I find it excels is taking internal shots of buildings (churches, house, exchibition halls etc) and it is suprising good at taking close ups of tall plants and flowers.

I've also had some good results with portraits BUT don't get to close unless you want a caricature as close distortion is very apparent (not suprising I guesss with this focal length).

I have got excellent results using it for its intended purpose, landscape, so long as I pay attention to the dirction of the incident light (the petal hood is not much use but I guess that is common for any wide-angle lens?)

AF is suprisingly fast and accurate and whilst not silent it is not intrusive.

Overall its a lens I like to use both for its engineering feel and optical qualities