Review statistics for phoenixvision | | Lenses Added | 1 (View Lenses Added) | Reviews Posted | 3 (View Reviews) | User's Lens View Count | 41,652 | Latest Lens Addition | Tokina 20-35mm F3.5-4.5 | Latest Review Posted | Tokina 20-35mm F3.5-4.5 I first discovered this lens when reading a review about the Nikon version, by the highly respected Ken Rockwell. To quote him,
The Tokina 20-35mm f/3.5-4.5 AF is the steal of the decade for an FX ultrawide zoom. Its optics are on par with most of Nikon's best lenses of its era, and this Tokina's mechanics are better than Nikon's similar-speed 18-35mm zoom.
The steal of the decade! He went on to compare it in detail to not only Nikon's best, but the ATX-pro 2.8 Tokina version of this lens.....and guess what t came out on top. In fact his tests showed that optically, it is MUCH better than the 2.8 higher priced version.
My search began. I found one on Ebay out of Japan and couldn't wait to get my hands on it to run some tests myself. And I wasn't disappointed. This lens clearly out performs my sigma 17-70, especially in sharpness, and while I would love for it to be wider than 3.5, the really good news is that this lens performs as well wide open as it does in what one might consider sweeter apertures.
Zooming is the best of any ultrawide zoom: it moves smoothly with a single fingertip.
This is a top notch, hard working lens, built, typically for Tokina, like a tank and with a smart 6-blade design. The weight and feel match up really well with the k3, and of course will stay in my arsenal if Pentax ever goes ff.
Maybe it doesn't have that extra bit of magic that one of the Pentax fa primes have, but if you are looking for professional grade, top level optics in a wid... | |