I have sold my kit's lens and replaced it with Tokina 19-35 f/3.5-4.5. It is the wider zoom in my gear list. I am planning to purchase Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 for faster speed and longer reach to 50, and so far I am undecided on the purchase. I love this lens, but it is not as fast and the focal range is a bit limiting compared to others. Some aquariums pictures to share

Tokina 19-35 f/3.5-4.5 Test Shots - Hin's Tech Corner

#1
A quick snapshot before the photographer vanishes
not careful framing


#2


#3


#4


#5


#6


#7


#8


#9

In short, I love this wide end zoom and it makes it a bit difficult for me to buy the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 as the two lens overlap. The tokina works in both film and digital.

Thanks,
Hin

[KungKrille]

I think the images looks great. Clean and sharp That place looks nice too

[stevebrot]

I bought the Tokina 19-35 for my daughter to use along with her K10D. I tested it out before wrapping it and almost kept it for myself. It has great performance for the price. In my opinion, it is one of the best-kept secrets in the inexpensive lens arena. What I particularly liked was the relatively low distortion at 19mm.

Steve

[darthku]

My favs are #6 and #9.

[hinman]

Thank you all for the kind comments.

[hinman]

I want to post a few more.

And once in the outer bay exhibit of Monterey bay aquarium, the lighting is much darker. I wish for a faster glass as in f/2.8. Though I bring in my FA 50 f/1.4 with a Cosina 1:1 adapter, I find it too long in some case, and the tokina is not too bad in f/3.5 and f/4.5, but I can use some help with faster glass. I use smaller size to hide the blur

#1 recropped


#10
1/4 sec, f/4.5, 35mm, iso 400
hand-hold, blur in motions



#11
hand-hold + panning with tokina
1/13 sec, f/4.5, 35mm, iso 400


#12
1/250 sec, f/4.5, 35mm, iso 400


#13
FA 50 f/1.4 + Cosina 1:1 adapter
1/25 sec, f/2.0, 50mm, iso 400


#14
hand-hold with FA 50 f/1.4 + Cosina 1:1 adapter
1/15 sec, f/2.8, 50mm, iso 400
All blurry due to slow shutter and motion from the seahorse


C&C are welcome especially your choice of lens in going to aquarium.

[stevebrot]

Beautiful pictures as always Hin. You really have the touch.

I remember shooting some of the same subjects a few years ago at the Monterey Aquarium and wishing for faster glass. It is just plain dim in there...

[hinman]

Beautiful pictures as always Hin. You really have the touch.

I remember shooting some of the same subjects a few years ago at the Monterey Aquarium and wishing for faster glass. It is just plain dim in there...

Thank you for the kind words. I am glad that I bought a yearly pass and I will hopefully visit the aquariums better equipped for next visit. For my last visit, I used Tokina 19-35 f/3.5-4.5, my fast FA 50 f/1.4 and Vivitar 24mm f/2.8 with 'A'. And I found that I missed a short tele and in next visit, I will definitely bring in my Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 and hopefully if I manage to get Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 by then, I will have two fast zoom going from 17-75 in f/2.8. And for the darker part of the aquarium, I will rely on my FA 50 f/1.4 and some luck. In my last visit, my FA 50 f/1.4 can't auto focus at all in the darkest part of the aquarium where the bigger sharks, tuna, and bigger fish are placed. And I am stumbled to see the Nikon guy taking the shots at ease, probably a D300. And I totally forgot if I could get focus assist from internal flash, I did not bring AF 540 and tripod in last visit in saving space in travel.

I saw some Canon and Nikon guys shooting with flash, and some use just the internal flash with a diffuser right in front of the aquarium glass. I actually don't quite know which is better to bring -- faster zoom, prime, flash, diffuser, tripod or all of them. If anyone have experience in shooting photos in aquariums, please share the stories.

Hin

[KrisK10D]

Love the red jelly fish. Nice work, I know aquariums are difficult captures at the best of times.