New Member Registered: November, 2013 Posts: 14 | | Review Date: July 24, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $45.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | very sharp lens | | Cons: | nothing | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 9
Camera Used: k-s1, k200d, k-x, K-5, fuji x-t100 x-e1
Focusing: 9
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the small zoom range of this lens and two achromate glass elements therein will guaranty nice image quality and
++ high sharpness and
++/+ very few CAs
Besides Pentax AF 35-70 one of the better lenses of its class.
Tokina 3,5/35-70 MF is a few better and still a few sharper - nearly free from CA's  80 LP/mm= 160 lines/mm with 24 MP
GOLD AWARD - highly recommended
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Veteran Member Registered: October, 2006 Location: NJ USA Posts: 13,072 | | Review Date: August 7, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $24.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Good sharpness and contrast | | Cons: | soft wide open | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 7
Handling: 8
Value: 9
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I concur pretty much with the first review; I observe the following about my copy:
- overall photo quality is better at the wide end than the long -- though detail is there, I'm thinking the aberrations are there as well on the long end -- when at or close to wide open. In other words, unless you want the soft focus effect, this isn't a speed portrait lens. At normal shooting apertures, the lens has very good color, contrast, and meters very well indeed with the K-x I was using.
- I used this lens and the FA 43 limited on my photo walk the other day. When sorting the 300 photos by jpeg size, there is no pattern, at least not on the large jpeg end. In other words, the Tokina delivers as much detail as the 43. (The 43 is cleaner in other respects, however, and had I been careful instead of in street mode, I think the 43 would squeeze out a bit more detail)
- the bokeh can be rings, and not just rings, but oval ones. And I detect a propensity to spherical aberrations wide open.
- usability wise, it's easy to bump into the Macro range when zooming with enthusiasm
All in all a very nice lens with a useful range -- I still have to compare more carefully vs my Pentax FA28-90; though not quite as nice as its sibling 70-210 4-5.6, which is better at 70mm than this one (this isn't such a surprise)
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Veteran Member Registered: January, 2010 Location: Durham, nc Posts: 953
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 17, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $42.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Build quality, sharpness | | Cons: | Odd bokeh, front element rotates | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 6
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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I picked up this little gem off of eBay, with an immaculate Pentax SF10 body, for $41. I do not believe the lens had ever been used. The zoom ring was EXTREMELY tight, to the point I thought it was stuck, and there wasn't a speck of dust, a fingerprint, nothing. It was in a ziplock bag, and probably had been for years. Since i've been using it, it has loosened up and now feels very good.
As I'm doing this review, I'll be comparing against my Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 and a Pentax-F 35-70mm. Not a completely fair comparison, as the Tamron is a $400 lens and "sharp as a bag of primes" (or so has been said on this forum). But it's the only lens I have in that range to compare with.
This lens is constructed very well, and feels great in your hand. It has a metal bayonet, and it's a full-frame lens. The zoom ring is stiff but not uncomfortably so, and because of that there is no zoom creep. There is not a regular manual focus ring like you expect. Instead, in MF mode you rotate the very leading edge of the lens body, which has a distance range printed on it. It's not textured like a focusing ring, it just feels like you're rotating the front element itself. It's a little awkward but you get the hang of it quickly. 90 degrees from infinity to close. It takes 52mm filters and lens cap. The front element rotates when focusing, and there is a provision for an optional clip-on hood to attach. You can also use any 52mm a metal or rubber round screw-in hood - since the front element rotates while focusing you can't use a petal style hood, and using polarizers is rather annoying. The zoom ring rotates in the pentax direction, as does the focusing "ring". - note, the focusing ring is very similar to the Pentax 35-70mm, just without the texture.
Like the Pentax of the same focal length, this lens sports a macro mode at 70mm. When you rotate the zoom ring to 70mm it hits a stop. You can then rotate it further past 70mm, and the front of the lens extends slightly. In this mode it will focus closer, but will no longer focus to infinity. The minimum focusing distance is 24 inches between 35mm and 70mm, and 12 inches in the 70mm Macro mode. This is really unfortunate, the Pentax 35-70 has a minimum focus distance of 8 inches in macro mode, and the Tamron focuses at 6 inches without a dedicated macro mode. A nice thing though, you focus the Tokina at 70mm and then zoom out, the focus is unchanged. That might be useful to some.
The Tokina is 2 3/4 inches long, or 3 1/4 inches fully extended at 35mm. It's 2 1/2 inches in diameter, and it weighs 11.6oz. (the Tamron f2.8 is 3.5 inches long or 5 inches fully extended at 75mm, is 2 3/4 inches in diameter and weighs 1lb 2oz)
The lens hunts in low light, especially at 70mm, and the viewfinder is noticably dimmer than the Tamron f2.8 (which is to be expected)
Autofocus is blazingly fast, but if you're too close to your subject, or try to focus to infinity while in macro mode, the lens will hit the stops quite loudly. The tamron seems to softly hit the stops, while this Tokina almost bounces off of them. It feels like the Tokina focuses faster than the Tamron, but I haven't run any real tests.
Now, for what you care about: Sharpness. This little lens is a solid performer. Tests on a static target indicate it's sharper at 70mm than at 35mm, and very slightly sharper in the 70mm macro mode. It's not quite as sharp as the Tamron at any aperture. Every single time the Tamron beats it... but once you hit f5.6, not by much. In real world tests, I actually get a ton of in-focus sharp as hell images with this lens, even wide open. Images just pop, with good color and contrast, and it's easy to get good images out of this lens. It seems sometimes I have to work for good in-focus, sharp shots from my Tamron. Here's an example from the Tokina:
ISO 200, f5.6 @ 70mm:
This lens has one strange quirk. Bokeh. Under certian conditions you'll get ring-shaped specular highlights, just like a mirror lens. The bokeh isn't particularly pleasing either, it's rather harsh and at times has a doubled effect, which is also not unlike a mirror lens' bokeh. For example, in the following photo you can see the tree in the upper right hand side has odd specular highlights, and the tent on the left shows the double ghost effect.
ISO 100 f5.6 @ 60mm: (note the hairs on his ear and the fuzz on his shirt!)
As I was writing this review, I received a Pentax 35-70mm f3.5-4.5 in the mail. It too has a metal bayonet, but the zoom ring is loose and sloppy and sticks a little as it moves. The focusing ring is similar to the Tokina, but textured, and is also 90 degrees from stop to stop. It also has a front element that rotates as the lens focuses, and unlike the Tokina no provision at all for a bayonet or clip-on style hood. It is smaller and lighter than the Tokina, but from build quality and feel alone I much prefer the Tokina. The Pentax lens is slightly sharper wide open, and can focus closer. It also has more pleasing bokeh than the Tokina.
Overall, I really like this Tokina lens. It's a solid performer, it's a pleasure to shoot with, and I dunno, I just like it. It's much easier lens to walk around with than the Tamron, because it's considerably smaller (especially at 70mm), and it's nearly half a pound lighter. It's sharp and easy to use and feels good in the hand, unlike the Pentax 35-70. And it was dirt cheap on eBay... the only caveat is it appears to be a relatively rare lens. I've not seen any others on eBay, at least not for Pentax. Overall, I highly recommend this lens.
Here's a chart comparing the lenses I have:
Tokina AF 35-70mm f3.5-4.6 Macro- Length: 2.75"
- Extended Length: 3.25"
- Diameter: 2.5"
- Weight: 11.6 oz
- Min focus (reg): 24"
- Min focus (macro): 12"
- Focus ring throw 90 deg
- Front Element Rotates: yes
- Aperture blades: 6
- Filter: 52mm
Tamron 28-75mm f2.8- Length: 3.5"
- Extended Length: 5"
- Diameter: 2.75"
- Weight: 1lb 2oz
- Min focus (reg): 6"
- Min focus (macro): n/a
- Focus ring throw 70 deg
- Front Element Rotates: NO
- Aperture blades: 7
Pentax SMC-F 35-70mm f3.5-4.5- Length: 2"
- Extended Length: 3"
- Diameter: 2.5"
- Weight: 8.2 oz
- Min focus (reg): 24"
- Min focus (macro): 8"
- Focus ring throw 90 deg
- Front Element Rotates: yes
- Aperture blades: 6
Tokina AF 28-70mm f2.8-4.5 Macro- Length: 2.75"
- Extended Length: 3.25"
- Diameter: 2.75"
- Weight: 11.6 oz
- Min focus (reg): 20.5"
- Min focus (macro): 10"
- Focus ring throw: 85 deg
- Front element rotates: Yes
- Aperture blades: 6
- Filter: 52mm
Physical size comparison:
So, I gave this lens an overall 8. If the front element didn't rotate, or the highlights weren't ring-shaped, or it focused closer, or it was faster, it would get a 9. It's a pleasure to use this lens, I really do like it. It's my new walkaround lens for daylight. The Tamron is a great lens, but it's just so damn big and heavy. The Pentax 35-70 is probably the better lens - slightly (and I mean *slightly*) sharper wide open, nicer bokeh, and focuses closer... but it doesn't feel as nice in my hand, and it costs almost double what I paid for the Tokina... so I find myself using the Tokina 35-70 a lot more than the Pentax.
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