Tokina lens lineup ?

ghelary · 01-20-2009, 10:55 AM

Hi,

I've been looking on site of Tokina in order to guess what could be the future lens available from Pentax. And if Pentax could use Tokina for a first lineup of FF lenses.

I've looking here :
Tokina

And I was quite shocked in fact, apart from the AF 11-16 f/2.8, almost all lens have their equivalent on Pentax with the same optical specifications.

So has Tokina become a name for Pentax when playing as a third party lens maker on the other mounts ?

How does the 50-135 and the 16-50 (and the others) peform on Nikon and Canon mounts ?

I don't want to troll around (I won't quit Pentax soon, I love my primes far too much) I'm just curious about Tokina (which is not distributed in France)

Regards,
Guillaume

*Blue* · 01-20-2009, 12:50 PM

So has Tokina become a name for Pentax when playing as a third party lens maker on the other mounts ?

Sort of but not exactly. Pentax has licensed some designs from Tokina over the years.

How does the 50-135 and the 16-50 (and the others) peform on Nikon and Canon mounts ?

The trouble here is the coatings that Pentax uses compared to the coatings Tokina uses. What is better, the latest SMC or the Tokina coating? For example, when Pentax uses a Tokina design, they use the SMC coatings and incorporate a few other Pentax features into the lens. If Tokina were to use a Pentax design, it would have the Tokina coatings.

Edit: If you will notice, Tokina has fewer lenses with Pentax mount than they have in the past.

Miserere · 01-20-2009, 12:52 PM

Hoya owns Tokina as well as Pentax. Tokina and Pentax have admitted to collaborating on some lenses (can't remember which). Tokina and Pentax deny that Tokina lenses are simply rebranded Pentax lenses, or vice versa.

Do I believe what they say in view of most recent Tokina lenses a) having the same specifications as their Pentax counterparts and b) not being available in P/KAF mount?

Nope.

I'm waiting for the Pentax DA* 11-16mm f/2.8. It has to be in the pipe-line, it just has to.

*Blue* · 01-20-2009, 12:57 PM

I bet the difference in the currnet SMC and Tokina coating is negligible. That is excluding Pentax's Aero Bright coating. I'm curious about how well the Tokina 100mm marcro does in comparison to the D FA 100mm macro on the Nikon bodies.

Arjay Bee · 01-20-2009, 03:47 PM

Latest Tokina AT-X 80-400 in Pentax mount - not even rebranded - would greatly please me!

NicholasN · 01-20-2009, 04:01 PM

Latest Tokina AT-X 80-400 in Pentax mount - not even rebranded - would greatly please me

AMENNNNNNN to that my friend!!!!

*Blue* · 01-20-2009, 05:10 PM

Originally Posted by Miserere

Hoya owns Tokina as well as Pentax. Tokina and Pentax have admitted to collaborating on some lenses (can't remember which). Tokina and Pentax deny that Tokina lenses are simply rebranded Pentax lenses, or vice versa.

Do I believe what they say in view of most recent Tokina lenses a) having the same specifications as their Pentax counterparts and b) not being available in P/KAF mount?

Nope.

I'm waiting for the Pentax DA* 11-16mm f/2.8. It has to be in the pipe-line, it just has to.

However, Tokina is a privately owned company. I used to think this to, but definitive proof is lacking. So at best, someone at Hoya or Pentax owns Tokina but Hoya does not specifically own them.

dazman · 01-21-2009, 02:41 AM

Originally Posted by Arjay Bee

Latest Tokina AT-X 80-400 in Pentax mount - not even rebranded - would greatly please me!

Originally Posted by NicholasN

AMENNNNNNN to that my friend!!!!

add me to that list...

ghelary · 01-21-2009, 03:09 AM

Anybody who was turning from Nikon (or Canon) and moved to Pentax, or the way round, and has tested the Tokina 16-50 as well as the Pentax 16-50 (or similar case) ?

I'm very curious about it.

Maybe the coating is different and makes some difference (as pointed out Blue)
Maybe it is really the same lenses and the only difference comes from different cameras.

Regards,
Guillaume

egordon99 · 01-21-2009, 08:42 AM

Over on the Canon forum, the 50-135 gets mentioned once in awhile. Folks LOVE the image quality and build quality, but it is NOT stabilized, and it uses a slow and noisy micromotor to autofocus. Folks tend to either buy one of the Canon 70-200mm f/4s or the Sigma 50-150mm which has HSM.

I don't really recall seeing much talk about the Tokina 16-50 though.

EDIT - Found these two threads: Tokina 50-135/2.8 - Canon Digital Photography Forums

Tokina 16-50 f/2.8 - Canon Digital Photography Forums

*Blue* · 01-21-2009, 08:44 AM

Originally Posted by ghelary

Anybody who was turning from Nikon (or Canon) and moved to Pentax, or the way round, and has tested the Tokina 16-50 as well as the Pentax 16-50 (or similar case) ?

I'm very curious about it.

Maybe the coating is different and makes some difference (as pointed out Blue)
Maybe it is really the same lenses and the only difference comes from different cameras.

Regards,
Guillaume

Another thing is that most of the new/current Tokina lenses are aps-c only. The 100mm macro is the only exception.

ghelary · 01-21-2009, 10:08 AM

Ok I've the Canon thread, followed the link to Photozone and found the following (I know I shall have checked there before...) :

Verdict
The Tokina AF 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro DX is currently the best ultra-wide angle zoom lens for Canon EOS APS-C DSLRs. The resolution is impressively high throughout the zoom range (albeit a short one) and across the image field. Vignetting is really only a problem at 11mm @ f/2.8 but otherwise the issue is very well controlled. The level of distortions is comparatively low. Typical for most Tokina lenses it has one weakness: lateral CAs which are very high at all settings. The build quality is on a very high level and its a joy to handle the lens out there. All-in-all a very sound package especially when considering the quite affordable price (around 600EUR/US$).

The link

this is the only lens in Tokina "pro" lineup that hasn't its little brother in Pentax.

"Dear Pentax,

Can you please collaborate once more with Tokina and release a Pentax version of their AF 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro DX With one or 2 low dispersion elementts to counter CA please"

Regards,
Guillaume

kibipod · 01-23-2009, 06:44 PM

Tokina 11-16 /f2.8 for Pentax ? I will buy one.

Rick_S · 01-26-2009, 05:34 PM

The statements about Tokina being independent confuse me. To look at the Hoya filters online, you go to the Tokina website; Tokina. I have also never seen a DSLR Tokina advertisement for a Pentax mount. I have used Tokina lenses since the 1980s, so I look for them. Tie that in with the fact that the specs for the Pentax brand lenses are the same as Tokina, and I have to wonder. The only difference that I can tell is that Pentax lenses are more expensive, which doesn't help Pentax's growth.

*Blue* · 01-26-2009, 05:46 PM

Originally Posted by Rick_S

The statements about Tokina being independent confuse me. To look at the Hoya filters online, you go to the Tokina website; Tokina. I have also never seen a DSLR Tokina advertisement for a Pentax mount. I have used Tokina lenses since the 1980s, so I look for them. Tie that in with the fact that the specs for the Pentax brand lenses are the same as Tokina, and I have to wonder. The only difference that I can tell is that Pentax lenses are more expensive, which doesn't help Pentax's growth.

Hoya is a "Public" corporation where as Tokina is not. There are some AF lens out there that were in recent production that had Pentax mounts. Its the most current lineup that has the Pentax mount missing.