N-Photo - The Nikon Magazine - USA (2019-07)

REVIEW

Tokina AT-X 11-20mm

f/2.8 Pro DX

£499/$599

Fast and constant, Tokina’s latest wide-angle

zoom for DX format SLRs gets it right in

the majority of the places

okina has a strong tradition

in wide-angle zooms, its

popular 11-16mm lens

for DX format cameras

dating all the way back

to 2008. A Mk II edition

was launched in 2013,

adding an autofocus

motor to enable

autofocus with Nikon D40,

D3xxx and D5xxx series

cameras. This 11-20mm goes

further, quite literally, by extending

the overall zoom range while still

maintaining a constant-aperture design,

delivering f/2.8 at all focal lengths.

One of the things that made the original

11-16mm lens so popular was its

combination of sturdy build quality and

good optical performance at an attractive

selling price. The 11-20mm feels similarly

robust, and features a weather-seal ring on

its mounting plate, as fitted to the Nikon

10-24mm DX lens. The Tokina certainly

has better build quality than Nikon’s newer,

lightweight 10-20mm DX lens, which has a

plastic mounting plate and feels rather

flimsy by comparison. However, the

Tokina lacks the budget Nikon lens’s

optical stabilization.

An up-market optical design includes two

all-glass moulded elements and three SD

(Super-low Dispersion) elements. At 560g,

the Tokina is nearly two and a half times

heavier than the Nikon 10-20mm. This is

partly because of the metal rather than

plastic mounting plate, but also due to the

forward optical elements having a much

larger diameter, to enable the f/2.8

aperture compared with the Nikon’s

f/4.5-5.6 variable rating. As such, the filter

thread is also larger, at 82mm compared

with the Nikon’s 72mm.

Nikon’s 10-24mm lens has a fast and very

quiet ring-type ultrasonic autofocus system

with full-time manual override. The

10-20mm lens has a stepping motor

system, which is also quick and quiet,

and enables override of autofocus with an

electronically coupled ‘fly-by-wire’ focus

ring. By contrast, the Tokina has a more

basic electric motor with the company’s

trademark ‘One-touch Focus Clutch

Mechanism’. This enables you to switch

Specifications

Full-frame compatible No

Effective focal length (DX) 16.5-30mm

Image Stabilizer No

Minimum focus distance 0.28m

Max magnification factor 0.12x

Manual focus override Push-pull

Focus limit switches No

Internal zoom No

Internal focus Ye s

Filter size 82mm

Iris blades 9

Weather seals Sealed mount

Supplied accessories Hood

Dimensions 89x92mm

Weight 560g

Price £499/$599

T

Reasonably affordable

and well built, this

Tokina offers a fast,

constant f/2.8 aperture.

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