Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-06-28)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 22 June 2019 41

LENS TEST Testbench

Resolution

Atitswidestfocallength,thelensappearstobe

sharpestin thef/4-5.6region,althoughcorners

lagbehindthecentre.Consistencyimprovesat

mid-rangeapertures,althoughattheexpenseof

overallresolution.Thisis mirroredatthe28mm

endalthoughoverallconstancyis betterhere,with

the lens working best around the f/5.6-11 range.

16mmcentre

20mmcentre

28mm centre

16mmcorner

20mmcorner

28mm corner

To k i n a O p e r a

16-28mm F2.8 FF

Curvilinear distortion

Barreldistortionatthewiderendofthelensis very

slight,andthisimprovesasyoubegintozoomin.

A smallerlevelofdistortioncanbemeasured

atthe28mmend,butthisreallyisn’ta problem.

Overall,it’simpressivetosee a wideangle zoom

corrected to this level.

Shading

Vignettingis visibleatthe16mmendofthelens,

butthisis onlymildandsoongetsbetterasyou

stopdowntheaperture.It doesseemtobea little

morestubborntowardsmiddleapertures,however.

Thingsarebetteratthe28mmendwideopen,with

vignetting disappearing when you stop down to f/4.

16mm f/2.8 28mm f/2.8

24mm 35mm

SMIA TV = -2.3% SMIA TV = 1.1%

Lensessuchastheseareclearlyintended

forlandscapes,interiorsandothertripod-

basedapplications,buttheirwideconstant

aperturesopenthemuptootherhandheld

work.Tryingtocaterforsucha widevariety

of usesis challenging,butthislenscertainly

hasa numberof thingsgoingrightforit.

Whilelabtestingshowsit tobelesssharp

wideopen,Tokinahasbeenclearthatit’s

optimisedforaperturesof f/4onwards.The

wayit managestocorrectforaberrationsin

generalis greattosee,particularlydistortion

andvignetting.

Atsucha highlycompetitiveprice,it’s

unreasonabletoexpectweather-sealingor

perfectlysilentautofocusperformanceas

wehaveelsewhere,butthesearethingsthe

averageusercanlivewithout. When you

considerwhatthislens

allowsyoutodoand

howwellit manages

todeliverit forsucha

reasonablesum,you

realiseit’sa goodbuy.It

getsfourstarsandour

Recommended Award.

Ve r d i c t

Distortionisn’tprominentenoughtobevisiblein real-world imagesCanon EOS 5DS R, 1/50sec at f/4.5, ISO 3200

Price£699

FilterdiameterN/A

Lenselements 15

Groups 13

Apertureblades 9

Aperturef/2.8-22

Minimumfocus

distance28cm

Dimensions

89x133.5mm

Weight950g

LensmountsCanon

EF,NikonF

Includedaccessories

Front and rear lens caps

Data file

outdoorapplications,althoughthisis easyto
forgivewhenyouconsiderhowkeenly the
lensis pricedagainstits rivals.

Imagequality
Asidefromthegeneralissueof justhowwell
thelenscanresolvedetailsoverall,themain
concernswithanopticsuchasthisarehow
wellit cancontrolcurvilineardistortionand
vignetting.Automaticcorrectionsfortheseare
notsupportedbycompatibleCanoncameras
(atleastnotrightnow),andmanualcorrections
overvignettinganddistortionwouldneedtobe
appliedbyNikonbodies,althoughlensprofiles
thatallowforone-clickcorrectionswillno
doubtappearbeforelongin AdobeCamera
Raw,Lightroomandothersoftwareprograms.
Fortunately,suchcorrectionsdon’thavetoo
muchtodoasthelensappearstobegenerally
wellcorrectedforthemostkeyaberrations.A
mildlevelof distortionis visiblein shotstaken
at 16mmalthoughthisdisappearsquicklyas
youstarttozoomin.Vignetting,whilevisible
in generalimages,is generallylowthroughout
andeasilycorrectedin software.
Sharpnessacrosstheframeis more
consistentasyoustopdown,butthis
inconsistencybetweencentralandperipheral
areasis perhapsthelens’sweakestpointof
performance.Thishasbeenonlymademore
difficultbytheneedtofocusquitecriticallyat
thewideangleendtoensurethatdepthof field
is maintainedforallsubjectsin theframe.
Lateralchromaticaberrationis visiblein
imagestakenat bothendsof thelens,butit’s
moreproblematicat thewideangleend.This
appearsasdefinedgreenandmagentafringes
overedgesof details,althoughmostof thiscan
becleanedupquitequicklywithsoftware(and
what’sleftdoesn’ttakemuchefforttosort
out).Interestingly,theprofile forTokina’solder
AT-X16-28mmF2.8PROFXseemstoapply
anappropriatelevelof correctionforthese
aberrationsandcanbeusedsuccessfully
until the new dedicated lens profi le arrives.

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