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Tokina AT-X Macro "Bokina" 90mm F2.5 Review RSS Feed

Tokina AT-X Macro "Bokina" 90mm F2.5

Sharpness 
 9.9
Aberrations 
 8.9
Bokeh 
 10.0
Handling 
 9.9
Value 
 9.5
Focusing 
 10.0
Reviews Views Date of last review
11 84,111 Thu February 1, 2024
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Recommended By Average Price Average User Rating
100% of reviewers $232.00 9.82
Tokina AT-X Macro "Bokina" 90mm F2.5

Tokina AT-X Macro "Bokina" 90mm F2.5
supersize
Tokina AT-X Macro "Bokina" 90mm F2.5
supersize
Tokina AT-X Macro "Bokina" 90mm F2.5
supersize

Description:
This lens can be regarded as Tokina's own label successor to the vivitar 90mm f2.5 version of this lens.
Most commonly can be found in PK or M42 mounts, but does exist in PKA too.
Pic 2 shows one with the dedicated 1:1 adapter.

Optical Construction: Main Lens: 8 elements, 7 groups; Macro 1:1 Adapter: 3 elements, 3 groups
Angle of Acceptance: 27 degrees
Aperture Range: f2.5 - f22
Min. Focusing Distance from Firm Plane: 39.2 cm (15.4" ) without adapter; 35.3 cm (13.9" ) with adapter
Maximum Repoduction Ratio: 1:2 without adapter; 1:1 with adapter.
Weight: Main Lens: 654g (23.3 oz); Macro Adapter: 285 g (10.2 oz)
Length: 9.0 cm (3.5" without adapter); 13.9 cm (5.5" with adapter)
Diameter: 70mm (2.75" )
Filter: 58mm

There is a comprehensive discussion of both the tokina and vivitar versions on the Making not Taking blog.

Detailed review by Phillip Reeve.
Mount Type: Pentax K
Price History:



Add Review of Tokina AT-X Macro "Bokina" 90mm F2.5
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Sort Reviews by: Date | Author | Rating | Recommendation | Likes (Descending) Showing Reviews 1-11 of 11
Loyal Site Supporter

Registered: October, 2012
Location: Medina, OH
Posts: 7,224

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: December 6, 2016 Recommended | Price: $270.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Sharpness, color rendering, bokeh
Cons: None yet identified.

I purchased this lens for its celebrated macro capabilities. It is indeed an excellent macro lens, and its 1:2 capability is fine for my use, although I will pick up the extender to bring it to 1:1 if I can find one. What I did not expect is the lens excellent characteristics as a general purpose lens--portraiture, landscape, and general photography where its FL is suitable. This is a substantially built lens, and it handles in a precise manner. Focussing direction is the same as Pentax, turn to right for infinity. I am finding manual focus to be excellent with all the available Pentax focussing aids. Sharpness, color rendering, and bokeh are clearly its strong points.Its FL is more convenient on the K-1 than on the K-3, and I am finding that this lens is really cutting into the K-3's Three Amigo lens time!
   
Veteran Member

Registered: December, 2013
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 932

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: October 28, 2014 Recommended | Price: $205.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Unbeatable bokeh, Very sharp from wide open
Cons: Bokeh fringing at wide open
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 10    Handling: 10    Value: 10    Camera Used: K5ii   

Build and Handling: It has all metal construction. The lens barrel looks awesome and provides markers for exposure compensation and reproduction ratios, which is very useful in macro works. Feel better than my beloved Tamron 90mm 2.8. The focus throw is long when close focus. Therefore it is possible to have fine movement for macro work. But at the 3m-infinity distance, the throw is kind of short and sometimes it is hard to focus precisely.

Sharpness and Image Quality: It is sharp, very sharp across all the aperture. I mainly use wide open for portraiture. It is almost tackle sharp at center and not bad at the corner at this aperture. Comparing to my Tamron 90mm 2.8, I felt the sharpness matched with each other. But my feeling is that Tokina 90mm is slightly sharper (Update: Confirmed by resolution tests). One reason might be that for the Tamron, sometimes I was lazy to use manual focus and then autofocus typically will not deliver tackle sharp pictures. Micro-contrast is also excellent. As long as you do not directly point it to the harsh sun, the flare is well controlled.

Aberrations: As a lens produced in non-digital era, purple fringing is notable in the areas of overexposure at wide open sometimes. This effect will vanish when passing F4. I was not bothered by it as most of them can be easily removed in lightroom by two simple clicks. In this area, Tamron 90mm 2.8 is better as a modern lens.

Bokeh: Yes. It is a bokeh lens. The main reason for people believe it is a pixie dust lens attributes to its bokeh. My feeling is that its bokeh is one half stop better than Tamron 90mm 2.8, whose bokeh is already very good. I mean, under the same scene, the F3.5 shot in Bokina will deliver comparable bokeh as F2.8 shot in Tamron.

Overall: It is an excellent macro lens (super sharp) and also good for portraiture as the bokeh is very pleasant. I strongly recommend this lens. If you can find one with reasonable price, pick it and trust me, it is worthy every penny! It is no doubt one of the best macro lenses.

Note: Filter size is 55mm instead of 58mm.
   
New Member

Registered: January, 2024
Posts: 1
Review Date: February 1, 2024 Recommended | Price: $200.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Sharpness
Cons: None
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 10    Bokeh: 10    Handling: 10    Value: 10    Camera Used: Nikon D750    Focusing: 10   

An Exceptionally sharp lens with impeccable build quality.I have recently acquired this lens and the weather and my Time has not allowed me to use this lens Extensively.But after getting a few shots I'm really Amazed by the rendering and waiting to take the lens for a spin.
   
amateur dirt farmer

Registered: December, 2014
Location: probably out in a field somewhere...
Posts: 41,257
Review Date: September 1, 2021 Recommended | Price: $175.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: clarity, bokeh, color rendition, sharpness, build quality
Cons: occasional CA
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 9    Bokeh: 10    Handling: 10    Value: 10    Camera Used: Fuji X-H1    Focusing: 10   

Truly a special lens - the only lens I've found that I'll compare to my Tamron Adaptall-2 SP 72B

Amazing colors, sharpness, clarity - it is all here....

Only the occasional CA in high-contrast spots, but fairly easy to remove in post...

One caveat is the price in Pentax K-mount - my secret was to buy one in Contax/Yashica mount and adapt it to my Fuji bodies... it was half the price of a K-mount!

snail by Pepperberry Farm, on Flickr

chicken house mouse by Pepperberry Farm, on Flickr

bluebells by Pepperberry Farm, on Flickr

sunset by Pepperberry Farm, on Flickr

and the rest of my Flickr album for this lens:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pepperberryfarm/albums/72157718828674878/with/51089361933/
   
New Member

Registered: April, 2011
Location: Dorset , UK
Posts: 6
Review Date: February 5, 2021 Recommended | Price: $170.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: bokeh and sharpness
Cons: 1-2 and size
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 9    Bokeh: 10    Handling: 10    Value: 7    Camera Used: Fuji X-H1    Focusing: 10   

A wonderful lens !!
Bokeh is indeed wonderful and the lens is very sharp !!
It "only" focuses to half life size which is a shame and it is very slightly on the big and heavy side.
Focussing is fantastic, a real joy to use !!
It is generally too expensive though !!

Have a drink and sit comfy and enjoy some photos I took with this lens

https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=182259682%40N03&sort=date-taken-desc&...0mm&view_all=1
   
Site Supporter

Registered: February, 2013
Posts: 456
Review Date: August 18, 2018 Recommended | Price: $300.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: sharp across the field, lovely bokeh, microcontrast
Cons: some CA in harsh light, sawtooth bokeh in the middle range, gone by f4.5
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 9    Bokeh: 10    Handling: 10    Value: 10    Camera Used: K5 iis   

I owned this lens (and still do actually) on my film Olympus. It never left the camera. On full frame, it was a really wonderful portrait lens as well as a macro lens. On aps-c Pentax, the macro is still wonderful but the portrait less so. Nonetheless it is one of my favorite lenses and certainly the best manual focus lens I own. On macro and minimum focus distance there is a razor thin area in focus and the rest is the dreamy bokeh the lens is famous for. Here's two examples

IMGP8843.jpg by David Miley, on Flickr



Woodland sunflower early bloom by David Miley, on Flickr

Stopping down a bit and backing up shows off the sharpness and normal rendering..

IMGP7053-Edit.jpg by David Miley, on Flickr



IMGP5505.jpg by David Miley, on Flickr

This lens will not fit everyone's style, but it fits mine. I'd love to try it on a K1, but that may take awhile.
   
New Member

Registered: March, 2018
Posts: 8
Review Date: April 22, 2018 Recommended | Price: $200.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Sharpness, smooth bokeh, portrait usability, sharpness at infinity
Cons: Sawtooth bokeh from 4-4.8, purple fringing, flare resistance
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 9    Bokeh: 10    Handling: 10    Value: 10    Camera Used: Sony a7   

Legendary lens! Performs great on a modern full frame camera
   
New Member

Registered: July, 2016
Posts: 4
Review Date: November 17, 2016 Recommended | Price: $200.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: sharpness, bokeh, contrast, build quality
Cons: flare resistance, CA
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 10    Handling: 9    Value: 9    Camera Used: Sony A7s, a6000   

Great lens with excellent sharpness and amazing bokeh. It's not true 1:1, though. Doubles up nicely as a portrait and landscape lens. CA and flare can be a problem, but otherwise it's a great performer on modern digital sensors.

You can see my review with many image samples at http://www.theweekendlens.com/tokina-at-x-90-f25-macro.html
   
New Member

Registered: July, 2015
Posts: 1
Review Date: June 26, 2016 Recommended | Price: $250.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: everything
Cons: tiny amount of chroma wide open
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 9    Bokeh: 10    Handling: 10    Value: 10    Camera Used: NEX-5t   

There's no controversy surrounding this lens. I got one for about $250 without the 1:1 extender. It's not much of a problem b/c 2:1 is good enough for me. If I used the 1:1 I'd have to use a tripod, which I don't want to do. The lens is great, no doubt about it. It's really the anchor of my whole collection. If I broke it, I'd get another right away. Both shots below are wide open, first as a macro, and second as a portrait lens (not a great shot, but you can see how sharp it is wide open as a portrait lens).



100% crop





100% crop

   
Veteran Member

Registered: September, 2007
Location: La Crescenta, CA
Posts: 7,450
Review Date: April 6, 2010 Recommended | Price: $350.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Possibly the sharpest/best lens I own, relatively compact w/o adapter, not tooooo heavy, very solid build
Cons: needs adapter to get to 1:1, my copy isn't the "A" version, some CA wide open

An amazing lens, pure and simple. Exceedingly sharp from wide open, with or without the adapter. Without the adapter it's an amazing portrait lens with wonderful close focus capabilities. With the adapter it's a dreamlike 1:1 macro lens--virtually untouchable in its class. Buy one if you can find it.
   
Veteran Member

Registered: June, 2008
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 2,165
Review Date: January 9, 2009 Recommended | Price: None indicated | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Sharp, fast, lovely bokeh, compact, "A" setting, solidly built
Cons: NONE

Such a great lens. Wonderful portraits and candids, even in fairly low light; and of course great macro shots. 1:2 on its own, I do not have an adapter but use a Tamron 2X TC that passes the "A" setting along and allows 1:1; image quality with a TC seems much better preserved for macro than with long lenses for distance shooting. Solidly made but not that heavy and not that large, with handy markings on the barrel of magnification and exposure compensation. I had a Tamron SP 90mm macro lens that I also loved, but felt the image quality with this Tokina was maybe just a little better. Cold be wishful thinking or the influence of its great reviews elsewhere, but I have been 100% happy with this lens. It is manual focus, but that doesn't bother me.
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