| Author: | | Loyal Site Supporter Registered: February, 2014 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 2,710
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 29, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $45.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | IQ, Decent Sharpness at 300mm, Smooth Zoom and Focus | | Cons: | Must remove aperture lever protector ring | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax K-S2
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I’ve owned several Tokina AT-X and AT-X Pro Zoom lenses over the years. All were very well built, high performance for the cost lens. Several years ago I sold all those film era lenses to happy buyers here on this forum.
I’ve been buying some quality film era lenses over the past year and read a few different forum reviews of the Tokina SZ-X 60-300mm, including the three on this page. I found my copy on eBay in like new condition with minor internal dust for $45. The seller was truthful, I don’t think the lens had been on and off a camera more than four or five times. Even the gold JCII oval sticker was mint.
One immediate problem showed itself, the high, aluminum guard protecting the aperture actuating lever would not allow the lens to mount on my K-S2. Easy fix. Remove one JIS Phillips screw and the ring lifts right out of the lens mount. No further modification needed.
Shooting with this one touch zoom is a pleasure. The zoom is fast and smooth. Focusing is equally smooth and quick. I just wish it went in the correct Pentax rotation direction. I’ve already gotten many fine “keeper” images. IQ is excellent between 60 and 250mm or so, and very good at 300mm. Color and sharpness are very good, though my modern 55-300mm DA is better. The “look” of the Tokina images is very pleasing, and different from the modern lens. Close-up Performance is also strong.
Aberrations show up mainly as a slight amount of yellow-green fringing in certain lighting conditions, though it is thin enough to be unobtrusive. CA is also easily lessened in PP. Distortion is very well controlled, as is flare, though the lens does need an accessory lenshood for best results. I bought a metal one for $5.
I find myself using this lens a good bit of the time in place of my 55-300mm. There is just something about good, older manual focus glass and the images it produces. The $45 invested in this lens was money well spent.
| | | | | | | New Member Registered: September, 2012 Location: Binghamton, NY Posts: 23
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 3, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Nice build quality, good IQ for the price, good handling | | Cons: | Not *GREAT* IQ, slow, needs a hood | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-5
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I've had this lens for about 3 or 4 months now. I picked it up on KEH for about $50, which is not bad for a lens of this caliber.
I (like you, probably) use this lens mostly for the 300mm end. I have found it to be quite good at the long end, and closer in when called for, although that is rarely the case. Sharpness is slightly degraded wide open (5.6) at 300mm, but this clears up by 7.1 or 8, and 6.3 is quite usable.
CA / PF is not uncommon in adverse lighting conditions, as you would expect from a lens of this generation. General contrast is much improved by adding a 67mm screw-on rubber lens hood for $8. Shooting into light sources will produce significant flare.
The zoom is pleasantly stiff and feels solid. It takes a bit of force to move the zoom forward and back, but not too much. Focus throw is smooth and short enough for fast handling, but not so short that precision focusing is difficult, most of the time. My K-5 occasionally has trouble tripping the shutter via trap focus (which is my normal way of shooting MF lenses) when shooting at un-contrasty or poorly lit subjects, this might be improved by use of a more recent body with a more advanced AF system.
It got me this shot, through a dirty window no less, so I can't really complain that much.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/60065902@N02/12906499543/sizes/l/ | | | | | New Member Registered: February, 2012 Posts: 17
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 23, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $7.50
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Relatively good at long end, well made, good IQ | | Cons: | Have to remove aperture lever shroud to mount on DSLR, no built-in hood | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 10
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(Administrators, please feel free to move the photo to the lens description).
I bought this from a shop website for £5. It was described as being in poor condition, but it came with a 6 month guarantee, and in truth it is in better condition than many of my e-Bay 'bargains'; focus and one-touch zoom are a bit stiff, but the glass is clear, the aperture is snappy and there is zero zoom creep.
Although it is light, it still feels well made. It has almost all metal construction.
In order to use it, I had to remove a shroud on the mount that protects the aperture lever and which snags on a DSLR, but the lens has an A setting that works.
Wide open it is sharp at all focal lengths. The sharpness is very similar to that of the Tamron SP 60-300mm f4-5.6. At the shorter focal lengths the Tamron may have a slight edge, but at 300mm the advantage may be with the Tokina, though they are close. The Tamron may be more contrasty, but the Tokina shows less fringing. Compared with the Tamron, images with the Tokina have a greenish cast. I like the colours from my Sigma 75-300mm f4.5-5.6 APO and the Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6 DG AF better than either the Tamron or the Tokina.
I find the Tamron a little easier to focus, I think because the focus has a longer throw, but the Tokina isn't difficult.
The Tokina is shorter, lighter and fatter than the Tamron, lighter than the slower Sigma 75-300mm f4.5-5.6 APO, and about the same weight as the Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6 DG AF. And much, much cheaper. Highly recommended if you don't want or need autofocus.
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: March, 2009 Location: Boca Raton, FL Posts: 28
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 6, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $160.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Very good IQ, easy to hold and focus, well built | | Cons: | MF, no built-in hood | |
I found this lens (new, old stock) yesterday morning on the way to shoot my daughters' lacrosse games when I stopped in at a small camera store called Foto International on 5444 W Sample Rd, Margate, FL. I provide the specifics here in case someone on PF wants to go by there I think they have another one of these for a Pentax mount behind the counter. I went in looking for a grey card, but they didn't carry them. Before I left I asked if they had any Pentax lenses in stock. He looked and found this lens and two Kalimars which I will review separately once I have enough experience with those.
I am a big fan of the Tokina AT-X 80-400mm f4.5-5.6 and I have contributed to that review on PF. So when I saw this lens I knew I needed to buy it. I have posted some photos here and you can also look at additional pics at http://girlslax.zenfolio.com.
The Tokina SZ-X 60-300 f4-5.6 is all metal, very well built, and not too heavy. It does not come with a lens hood so I have added a rubber one to it. The mount was a tad tight on my 20D and was a little difficult to remove. The lens functioned perfectly on the 20D in every mode.
The IQ is similar to the AT-X. One obvious drawback is manual focus. I definitely need to buy a new focusing screen to help me focus this as the built-in screen on the 20D does not cut it. That said, I found that the SZ-X caught a large number of shots in focus that the AT-X might have missed because I was not centered on the subject I was trying to focus on.
I will play with this lens some more and post some more photos.
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