[ivoire]

Staff note: This post may contain affiliate links, which means Pentax Forums may earn a small commission if a visitor clicks through and makes a purchase. If you would like to support the forum directly, you may also make a donation here.

---

Tokina 80-200mm f2.8 AT-X 828 AF PRO Auto Focus Zoom - does anyone have any experience with this lens? ie how is the quality of the images produced with it? I found one for $1100, but have no idea wether it is worth pursuing. any assistance is greatly appreciated. mike

[Wethphotography]

Mike,
I only know what I have read over the last 5 months while seeking a decent 70-200 f2.8 lens...still searching.
"Conventional Wisdom" would appear to put this lens slightly below the Sigma 70-200 f2.8 which is considered slightly less good than the Pentax FA *70-200. Given how hard it is to find a 70-200 autofocus 2.8 for Pentax, I would be tempted. However, $1100 seems expensive for a used (?) tamron. But prices for used fast Pentax telephoto lens have been increasing in the last year. Hopefully Sigma will be out with a brand new Sigma 70-200 f2.8 in August according to other threads. The current cost for Sigmas in N/C mounts is 889$, assume the Pentax mount would be priced similary. A used Sigma 70-200 f2.8 without front lens cap and tripod mount just went for $660 on ebay yesterday. If you haven't yet a google search will turn up some discussion threads and reviews. HOpe this helps, a little.

[Skorzen]

They don't seem to be that common. I have seen some images from them that looked very good but never used one do take that with a grain of salt. The price seems pretty high to me.

[ivoire]

thanks... i just found one new for 609 in nyc. seems reasonable, but i'm concerned about image quality. so your wait a couple of months for sigma is a good idea.

[Wethphotography]

Of course, Sigma keeps delaying the release. In january I was told by a Customer service rep it would be March, then early summer, and now someone else was told August.
Here is a link to a site with some good reviews of the Tokina: Tokina AT-X 828 AF Pro 80-200mm f/2.8 SD Reviews at PhotographyReview.com
and one more: FM Reviews - AT-X 828 AF PRO 80-200mm f/2.8
The $600.00 one might be worth a try....

P.S. Be careful of LaBelle Camera...do a search for customer reviews for them before you order; they have quite a few negatives. I personally wouldn't order from them.

[larrycook99]

I have the aforementioned Tokina 80-200/2.8 ATX Pro and think that it is a fine lens. Unfortunately I have not used it a lot because I bought it for shooting my son's soccer games and found that I preferred using manual focus instead of auto focus in that situation and because I preferred the one touch zoom of its MF predecessor. I paid about $600 for mine in early 2006, so I think $1100 is too much. If I was willing to spend that much on an 80-200 I would shop for the Pentax FA*which has recently gone for just over $1200 on eBay but usually fetches about $1700.

Here are some shots of my youngest son that I took last year with the AT-X Pro. I was very pleased with the results.

[ivoire]

Followed your very good advice. the lens looks good, la belle doesn't. the search continues

[ivoire]

keep seeing fa's going for 1700 and up. must have missed that last one

[FotoPete]

How do you know Sigma's is better than the Tokina AT-X? (Smelling something familiar about the AT-X 80-200/2.8 and the FA*80-200/2.8)

Anyhow, I agree that $1100 is quite pricey for the lens. Keep searching but the reviews seem pretty good about this one.

[larrycook99]

It was on May 5 and it went for $1243.21. The seller was "mousehill" a frequent contributor here, I believe, and on dpreview.

[Wethphotography]

How do you know Sigma's is better than the Tokina AT-X? (Smelling something familiar about the AT-X 80-200/2.8 and the FA*80-200/2.8)

Anyhow, I agree that $1100 is quite pricey for the lens. Keep searching but the reviews seem pretty good about this one.

One should always cite one's sources, especially when dealing with a subjective topic like this.
Here is the quote from which I got my info..
"About a year ago, I was exhibiting the same LBA symptoms -- wanting a fast 70-200ish lens for candids. The choices that were presented at the time were:

Pentax FA*80-200/2.8 @ $1200+ USD used only -- obviously the best

Sigma APO 70-200/2.8 EX DG -- @ $800 new, $600 used -- very good, but not as good as the Pentax

Tokina 80-200 AT-X Pro AF II -- @ $400 used -- a good lens, but noticeably not as good as the Sigma or Pentax

I ended up settling for the Tokina -- It's good enough for my purpose, and the degree of softness doesn't really detract significantly for candids, mostly head shots of people who somehow don't appreciate brutal sharpness as much as I do . It's also the lightest of the three, but not by much -- it's still a handful to carry around and use (and pretty intimidating to human subjects). This is also a good FL range for zoos, but I'd like more sharpness than the Tok can deliver for this purpose -- especially for use with a TC.

If I had to do it over again, I'd probably get the Sigma, and if I planned on more significant use for this FL range, bite the bullet and search out a Pentax, but with the DA*50-135 coming soon, I'll be able to have a smaller, lighter, faster focusing, less intimidating lens to use for candids, so I'm pretty sure that I'll just stand pat with the Tokina. . . at least until a "deal that I can't refuse" comes along on a Sigma or Pentax. . .

Of course YMMV -- but that's part of the fun of LBA."
It comes from this discussion: http://forums.steves-digicams.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=121098&forum_id=94&jump_to=749716

Sadly, as I stated, I do not have direct experience with any of these. I have only been reading and longing.....

[tranq78]

It was on May 5 and it went for $1243.21. The seller was "mousehill" a frequent contributor here, I believe, and on dpreview.

The seller disclosed that particular lens had water damage, so this price is actually the lower end of what the lens would sell for. A clean & undamaged copy will sell for much, much more. Hint: check out that big auction house in cyberspace.

I remember the threads at DPR when the unfortunate incident happened to Mousehill. He subsequently bought another undamaged 80-200.

[tranq78]

I wasn't going to bid on this auction, but I was following it. I couldn't help myself. The bidding just kept going higher and higher and I just had to keep watching.

Although the price is the highest I've seen, on the other hand, the high quality equivalents in Canon/Nikon would probably cost as much or more. Pentax users have been graced with decent prices for high quality lenses. If anything this just makes me appreciate the good deals that we've had.

eBay: SMC Pentax FA* Zoom 80-200mm f/2.8 ED (IF) Lens NIB! (item 160121019584 end time May-31-07 23:10:07 PDT)

[egordon99]

OK, that's crazy! For $2750, you can buy a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS (~$1600) and a 30D body (~$1K), so NO, the Canon equivalent would actually be ALOT less (unless you want the camera to be included).

Then spend the other $150 to buy a bag that could hold the new Canon setup AND your Pentax setup. Keep a 28-75mm (or 16/18-45/50mm) on the Pentax and you're good to go with both bodies.
(Nikon has a similarly priced 70-200mm f/2.8 with VR. )

Whoever bought that FA*80-200 has WAY more money than sense....

[SupremeMoFo]

Here's another one... 2 bids and $1,800 already.
eBay: Pentax Zoom Telephoto SMCP-FA* 80-200mm f/2.8 ED IF ... (item 120127554079 end time Jun-08-07 10:04:05 PDT)