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Tokina AT-X 280 AF PRO 28-80mm F2.8 Review RSS Feed

Tokina AT-X 280 AF PRO 28-80mm F2.8

Sharpness 
 8.5
Aberrations 
 7.5
Bokeh 
 8.0
Handling 
 8.7
Value 
 9.2
Focusing 
 9.0
Reviews Views Date of last review
8 48,890 Fri July 28, 2023
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Recommended By Average Price Average User Rating
88% of reviewers $384.13 8.50
Tokina AT-X 280 AF PRO 28-80mm F2.8
supersize


Description:
- 16 elements in 12 groups
- SD glass: One element
- Aspherical Elements: Two
- Coatings: Multi-layer
- Angle of view: 75° 20’ to 30°20’
- Minimum focus distance: 1.6 ft. (0.5m)
- Reproduction ratio: 1:5
- Focusing system: Internal focusing system
- Zooming system: Rotary type
- Number of diaphragm blades: 9
- Filter size: 77mm
- Maximum outer diameter: 84mm ( 3.3" )
- Overall length: 120mm ( 4.5" )
- Weight: 819g (28.6oz)
Mount Type: Pentax KAF2/KAF (screwdrive AF)
Price History:



Add Review of Tokina AT-X 280 AF PRO 28-80mm F2.8
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Loyal Site Supporter

Registered: December, 2022
Posts: 8
Review Date: July 28, 2023 Recommended | Price: $200.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Build quality, sharpness, cost.
Cons: Heavy, no weather sealing, average wide open.
Sharpness: 8    Aberrations: 6    Bokeh: 8    Handling: 9    Value: 9    Camera Used: K-3    Focusing: 8   

The Tokina 28-80 2.8 is a low-cost option for those wanting a wide to tele range, but more solidly built than kit lenses. This is a film-era lens, so has all the drawbacks (or lack of features, if you prefer) of older lenses.
In particular, a lack of modern lens coatings to reduce flare and reflections. Any strong light source hitting the front element will case flares and severe loss of contrast, so use of the hood is highly recommended.
Also, above 60mm in particular, the 28-80 is very soft with significant abberations wide open, contrast is low as well (the infamous "Tokina Glow"). That is the bad news.

The good news is that stopping down to f4 and above all but eliminates those problems, and sharpness and colours are excellent, especially at f5.6 to f11. Distortions throughout the zoom range are fairly low (on a K-3)
Therefore, I would consider this a great walk-around and landscape lens.

This a big, heavy unit that makes most modern lenses feel downright flimsy. AF is fast and accurate. You can hear it, but it is relatively muted. The zoom and focus rings are well damped with a square knurled finish that is easy to grip.The body of the lens and hood have a black, grainy texture that looks really sharp, IMHO.

The photos (whole image and 100% crops) should give a decent idea of the resolving power of this lens. It should perform even better on something like a K-1.

All in all, if you can deal with the size and weight, and don't need to shoot at f2.8, this is definitely worth your consideration.




   
New Member

Registered: July, 2023
Location: Leicestershire
Posts: 4
Review Date: July 19, 2023 Recommended | Price: $165.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Sharpness, price, speed
Cons: Size, weight, performance at long end wide open
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 5    Bokeh: 8    Handling: 8    Value: 10    Camera Used: K5-iis    Focusing: 10   

This lens I think offers great value for money.

The centre sharpness wide open is very good, only falling down past around 60mm as other reviewers have pointed out. Obviously this is an old lens, so that probably is pushing it a bit, but at that focal range wide open you do get quite a bit of purple fringing and softness. Other than that however, the sharpness is very good, even corner to corner when stopped down.

The size and weight are the main downsides of this lens, as it is quite bulky with the original lens hood attached, and unbalances the camera with its weight. That being said, this is still a brilliant lens. As a biproduct of the heftiness, it's built like a tank. The external materials and the feel of the aperture and focusing ring are all superb. The autofocus I've found to be good on my copy, and overall I'd say this is a very good value proposition for a fast zoom.

   
New Member

Registered: March, 2017
Location: Trois-Rivières
Posts: 8
Review Date: June 27, 2018 Recommended | Price: $138.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Built like a tank! Opticals move inside the body. Great for video.
Cons: Heavy.
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 9    Bokeh: 8    Handling: 9    Value: 9    Camera Used: Canon EOS 550D and EOS C100   

Not much to write since I did a video about it!
Mostly using it for video work, but still, takes incredible pictures and at f/2.8 it's a nice lens for low-light situations! Here's the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF-A3IoyKs8
   
Pentaxian

Registered: October, 2011
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 377
Review Date: April 2, 2018 Not Recommended | Price: $250.00 | Rating: 7 

 
Pros: Build quality, Internal focusing, Price, 2.8 at anything under 60mm, sharpens up well @f/4
Cons: Very Soft @ 70mm wide open, abberations on highlight edges (Purple) and bokeh(Green/Yellow), haltation, Focus hunting and skittish fine tuning before focus conformation, Flare Resistance, Bokeh Quality, Mf/Af switch, very heavy, Autofocus noise/slap
Sharpness: 7    Aberrations: 7    Bokeh: 7    Handling: 7    Value: 7    Camera Used: K-5, K-1   

For the money, this lens is worth consideration. However, I would recommend getting one or two cheaper primes instead.

There are a number of weaknesses in this lens both optically and physically. For a lens made in the late 1990's it was quite decent, however, 20+ years later I cannot recommend it. There are superior used zoom lenses on the market at similar price points.

What I like:
-The quality of the build is top notch. All metal less the high quality hard rubber focus and zoom rings.
-Internal focusing means that when in use, the lens wont suffer from zoom creep while walking around.
-The price is very low for a constant f/2.8 zoom lens.
-Sharpens up nicely after f/4

What I don't like:
-The quality wide open is very poor past 60mm. The halation that occurs even at moderate focusing distances at 70mm f/2.8 does not lend itself to a pleasing aesthetic on faces. Think soft focus 80's glamour. Some might argue that this is a plus for portrait photography. I disagree.
-Hood use is a must. Luckily, this lens has a very decent bayonet connection tulip hood. Nonetheless, shooting wide in the general direction of the sun without stopping down past f/4 will typically yield low contrast, high aberration images with veiling flare. Not my cup of tea, personally.
-Autofocus isn't very confident, though it performs better on a K-1 than a K-5. When focusing, the lens tends to become skittish and make several small corrections before locking into place. This considerably slows down autofocus speed. To make matters worse, the lens does not behave consistently at f/2.8 sometimes being slightly front focused, sometimes being slightly back focused (this doesn't aid in the lack of sharpness and presence of halation at 70mm).
-Autofocus noise. Yes, its screwdrive. However, when one compares the screwdrive noise of an FA 31mm f/1.8, a DA 35mm f/2.4, a DA 50mm f/1.8, a 77mm f/1.8, or an FA* 85mm f/1.4 it becomes obvious that this Tokina is considerably louder than is typical. This Tokina is very noisy! To make matters worse, the lens creates an audible slap when it reaches the end of its focus range at infinity or its minimum focus distance. Not discreet, quite distracting to living subjects.
-Heavy enough that I don't want to carry this thing around my neck for a walk-about.
-Bokeh is likewise uninspiring. This is not to say that it's awful, it just suffers from purple aberrations, coma, and isn't particularly smooth anywhere under 70mm. Hardly offensive for its era, but it's a few decades behind what I would call 'pleasing' for a zoom.
-The AF/MF switch is activated by pulling the zoom ring forward or backward respectively, then on camera the user must throw the AF/MF switch to the corresponding focus selection. Again, standard of the era, but unfortunately I'm reviewing this lens in 2018.

So, in sum, I would not recommend this lens for most users. However, if you are a budding photographer and money is tight, this lens may be worth your consideration. It's not awful, its just not great. Similarly, if you work mostly in a studio that is well lit and using the lens stopped down this Tokina is also worth consideration for its reliability and its useful focal range. Past f/4 this lens performs fairly well, but that's not really the point of a fast f/2.8 lens. Look at the images posted by other reviewers. They are in line with the results that I have gotten
   
Site Supporter

Registered: December, 2014
Location: Colorado
Posts: 497

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: October 4, 2017 Recommended | Price: $220.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Sharp, quality of build, contrast and color rendering
Cons: Heavy (but weighs well on K-1)
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 8    Handling: 10    Value: 10    Camera Used: K-1   

This lens is a good performer on K-1. I compared the full-frame performance of this lens to Tamron 28-75/2.8 and Sigma 24-70/2.8 (non-HSM). This lens is noticeably better in terms of sharpness across the frame and color/contrast. I'd rank this lens as 9, Tamron as 8.5, and Sigma as 8. As others have already pointed out, it is built like a tank.
   
Senior Member

Registered: February, 2012
Location: Shrewsbury, NJ
Posts: 108

2 users found this helpful
Review Date: April 21, 2012 Recommended | Price: $400.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Sharpness, Contrast, Build quality, f2.8 fast.
Cons: Autofocus hunt, Noisy, Heavy(For me, more of a positive), Too big to use in camera flash(If anyone uses it.)
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 10    Bokeh: 9    Handling: 9    Value: 10   

I owned the older version of this lens for my sony shooter. It literally made that crappy camera look good. When I upgraded to the Pentax K20D, I missed the lens so much, I bought the newer version for the Pentax. I am glad I did. This is a true go-to lens. If the range were a little wider, it would never leave my camera. I honestly believe this lens keeps pace with the primes and the 'look' of the photos are much nicer. When this baby does lock in focus, it locks quick and sharp.
My only problems with this lens:
  • It happens at least with my copy. if you try to focus on a small item with deep background (like a berry or a leaf hanging from a tree.), when the light is not good(evening vs. day), the lens, 'gets confused' and will run the gamut several times before getting a good focus.
  • Noisy, All metal tends to do that.
  • Hard to get consistent Bokeh ranges from awesome to average (this could be the user.).


What's great about this lens:
  • Sharpness: I'd put it up against the Tammy(had for Sony mount) or Stigma in this range any day.
  • Build: This lens is how 'real men' lenses should be built. All metal, heavy, big. If attacked, this thing would be a weapon.
  • Colors: Tokinas have a contrast all there own.
  • Focus: excepting the problem above and in most light, it is quick and dead on sharp.
I recommend this lens to anyone that does not mind the weight. IMHO, it is one of the best lenses in this range.
   
Senior Member

Registered: April, 2010
Location: in a middle of nowhere
Posts: 165

3 users found this helpful
Review Date: March 22, 2011 Recommended | Price: $1,300.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: great feel, it inspires you and makes you feel you can shoot a real masterpiece
Cons: weight (some prefer light weight, but I like it heavy), this isn't all-purpose lens for everybody

Hi, folks.

I turned to PF when got my copy of AT-X AT280PRO asking whether anybody is interested in a review of this baby but nobody showed any interest so I gave up. Later (actually, a year later) I saw an offer here at marketplace and seller was asked by another dude on why this lens is missing its review here at 3rd part L/R's - and he did it, see the one below. And since I've been using my copy as the primary lens for more then a year I decided that I have something to add here.

Well, if we omit detective story on how I got my copy - it's a really long one - here goes a conclusion based on 1yr experience.

You have to touch this lens. Don't get me wrong, but it's very close to touching Matt Damon or Sandra Bullock - whichever you prefer - at it's best. There're things and gizmos that just do what they're supposed to do and there's things that you enjoy everytime you touch'em or have a look at them. AT280PRO goes for the latter. It's a very nice lens to own and posses.
This baby is a heavy one - 870 gramms with hood and front cap attached - but whatever cam you use (I've been running AT280PRO on ist DS and K-5) it balances very well and its weight helps you making sharp images at long exposures if you forgot your tripod at home.
Personally I don't care much about razor-sharp resolution and other pixel-peeping: if a lens is sharp enough it doesn't make any sense for my how exactly it is sharp. AT280PRO is sharp enough although there're lots of lenses that out-sharp it. What I do care about is the contrast and here we come to some flaws this baby has.

Speaking about flaws - this lens was designed in film area when the light sensor (film) didn't not reflect that much light back into the lens and when it (light sensor = film) didn't care at what angle light rays hit it. I haven't used AT280PRO on any film body so I can not confirm or bust many old-from-the-film-era reviews saying this lens is damn good on film. Tokina clearly says that they do not take any copy of old lens for service to get it fixed if the complain is about performance on a digital body. On a digital body it does suffer from glare from a bright light source in the frame. And it doesn't like very bright scenes at all. The main flaw is that it significantly decreases contrast if a strong light source hits the front element at oblique angle - and I think this flaw goes for both film and digital bodies. Hood is a must for this lens until you're using built-in flash (in latter case hood is better to be removed to aviod vignetting in the lower part of the frame).

And here we come to a very peculiar thing: this zoom lens isn't just an ordinary zoom lens. It's a combination of a zoom and a couple of primes.
28-50mm zoom range: just a high-quality all-purpose zoom (but see above re light hitting the front element). There happens a bit of distortion but it doesn't ruin your photo.
50-80mm zoom range: just consider it as a set of two portrait primes: 50 or 55 and 70 or 80 mm - there starts happening purple fringing. It makes beautiful portraits but I can not recommend it using at this zoom range as an all-purpose-zoom. It's like FA* 85/1.4 vs FA 85/2.8 vs (D)FA 100/2.8 macro: you pick up macro lens for macro work and a star or a softy for portrait work.

Portrait (sorry, not classic one but nevertheless):


PF-ing:


at pixel-level:


Does it ruin this photo? Well, not really, the photo itself isn't any good even without PF issue. Moreover, I must say that I haven't shot any photo that was ruined by PF-ing of AT280PRO at 50 or 80mm.

The same light level, the same focal distance (and the same aperture) - there must be the same level of PF. Probably, there it is but it doesn't ruin this photo any single bit:


Oblique light contrast issue (actually, that was Tokina AT-X AF270 with no hood, but it's about the same in general):


Flare (the left-top corner). Also there's a bit of oblique light contrast issue, corrected with post-processing since I always shoot in raw:



Bottom line:
- it's IF and IZ lens. This makes it being very handy and the most environment-resistant from all non-WR lenses
- it looks and feels great. Many users say it's built like a tank and that is indeed so
- it renders very nice bokeh; and sweet bokeh isn't limited to wide-open F2.8 aperture only, you get good blur (at of DOF) when stopped down even to F8, there're no hex nuts or bolts in the shot (but aperture blades are not of rounded type)
- focus and zoom ring throw (travel) is handy: 90 degrees - much better then 30-45-60 degrees on most other AF (non-SDM/SWD/USM) modern lenses; focus ring is of clutch-type and you can switch from AF to MF and vice versa at any ring position (Tokina AT-X AF270PRO allows to go between AF and MF only at a certain ring position)
- hood must be on this lens always, period.
- it plays in a league of its own: not Tamron-Sigma although not FA* 28-70 or 24-70/2.8 Nikkor either (haven't used personally any of them but read a lot)
- it's very hard to rate this lens. Actually, it's the lens that rates you: skilled photographer will be very pleased with this lens while green-mode shooter will give up and sell it the next week

Do I recommend this lens? Yes, but not to everyone: if you're pixelpeeper scoring for ultra-mega-high resolution or greenmode-shooter - then better stick with Sigma. Or Tamron whichever you prefer. If you're ready to study new techniques and go further then buy it if you're lucky enough to find an offer. Nowadays ('11) I find a fair price for a used copy (new lenses are NLA since '07 or '06) to be about $400-600, my copy that has been serviced in Japan by Tokina, will not go for less then $1K. If I decide to trade it then only for FA* 28-70/2.8

Zig

P.S.
Most of s/w will decode it as Sigma AF 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC lens.
   
Forum Member

Registered: December, 2009
Location: Sherbrooke, QC
Posts: 89

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: March 3, 2011 Recommended | Price: $400.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Image quality, range
Cons: Weight

This lens is a very good product from Tokina. It has a very useful range for portrait and as a walkaround lens. Optical quality is very good from f/4 and up. At f/2.8 it is less sharp but still very usable.

The biggest drawback to this lens is it's weight.

I took a lot of superb photos with this lens in my homemade studio.

Recommended product.
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