Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 Review

The Tokina 11-66mm f2.8 is one of the most talked about ultra wide zoom lenses out there. It is available in both Canon and Nikon fit and has been specifically designed for use with cropped sensor DSLRs. This lens has two main attractions;

1 – The ultra wide focal range of 11-16mm allows you to take some truly stunning photographs with unusual perspectives that ordinary wide angle lenses simply can’t reproduce.

2 – The ultra fast aperture of f2.8 (available throughout the full focal range) makes this lens great to use in low light light conditions, removing the need for flash.

Usability of the 11-16mm

Ultra wide angle lenses such as this (11-16mm) should not be confused with what are generally termed ‘wide angle lenses’ in photography circles. If you are looking to purchase a landscape lens then this is probably not for you. The field of view is so wide on this lens that it should be definitely considered a special purpose lens.

The first time you look through the viewfinder you’ll be amazed at how far away everything looks. Pointed at the horizon for a run of the mill landscape photograph the results will tend to be pretty poor as everything will appear to be so small in the frame (especially so at 11mm, less so at 16mm).

To get the most from this lens you need to compose your shots with points of interest both in the foreground and background. Doing so will allow the lens to stretch the scene apart, emphasizing the natural perspective and stretching your scene to the verge of distortion without entering fish eye territory.

Naturally this lens will be a big hit with real estate agents the world over with its ability to make the smallest of apartments appear like a penthouse! Whats more is that the large f2.8 aperture allows great indoor shots under low light conditions.

Tokina Build Quality

The build quality of this lenses is obviously good the moment you pick it up. The constructions feels solid and seems to follow the companies trend of making good quality built to last lenses. If you are not familiar with Tokina lenses don’t assume that all third party lens manufacturers build quality standards are lower than those of Canon or Nikon. In fact this lens is built to a much higher standard than many of the cheaper lenses made by the ‘big two’.

The lens barrel is made of metal covered by a water repellent coating and smooth rubber focus and zoom bands.  The zoom and focus rings offer a pleasing amount of resistance while still allowing fine adjustments. This is a lens that feels nice to hold and is built to stay that way for a long time.

One nice feature is the gearing mechanism that lets you switch from auto to manual focus by simply pulling the focus barrel a couple of millimeters. Not sure of your focus? Simply push the barrel a couple of millimeters and you are back on auto (this is easily achieved without taking your eye from the eye piece.

Performance of the Tokina

The Tokina 11-16mm focuses from about 1 foot to infinity in a relatively quick amount of time. The focusing is not only quick but very quite too. All focusing is internal so the front of the lens doesn’t protrude during zooming. The lens comes with a lens hood included in the box unlike many Canon lenses. It is best to always use the lens hood as such wide angle lenses are prone to lens flare (unless of course you want a lens flare like in the sunset picture below!).

Image quality is very good and in our opinion superior to the Canon 10-22mm throughout its range. One minor point is that at f2.8 the center of your images may lose a bit of sharpness however this is not really a big issue and only noticeable if you are looking for it. Stop down to about f4 and the sharpness of this lens will blow you away right the way through to about f16.

The depth of field of this lens is greater than most (due to it’s wideness) so in reality there is very little need to shoot at apertures smaller than about f8. As a result bokeh is kept to a minimum except when shooting wide open or close to it.

One downside highlighted in other reviews is the fringing or chromatic aberration. This does show up however in our test this was not to severe and was quickly and easily fixed during post processing.

The reason why many choose this lens as opposed to those on offer from the like of Canon or Sigma is that is offers a constant f2.8 aperture all the way from 11mm to 16mm. This means that this lens is great for indoor shots where low level light can reduce your exposure times.

Tokina 11-16mm Conclusion

This lens really does produce some great quality images thanks to it’s good optics and f2.8 aperture. Some people may find it too wide compared to the larger focal ranges of its rivals however if you really are after an ultra wide angle lens then this is definitely a good option and in our opinion a better option than the Canon 10-22mm.

One thing worth mentioning is that this lens is in limited supply and can often be very hard to find a store with stock. Beware of buying this lens from smaller stores as the cheaper shops tend to sell grey imports which can cause issues with your guarantee. Instead we’d recommend buying from a well renowned retailer. We’ve consistently seen these lenses in stock over at Amazon for both Cannon Fit  and Nikon Fit so maybe head there to buy this lens.

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Tagged as: Lens, Review