Review: Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 Apherical AT-X 116 PRO DX

Posted on March 1st, 2008 by KhoKing.
Categories: Photography.

A review coming soon… ;)

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Comparison with AT-X 124 PRO

Here’s some comparison side by side the Tokina AT-X 116 PRO with Tokina AT-X 124 PRO lens.

Left is AT-X 124 PRO - Right is AT-X 116 PRO

Front View

kkk_0807.jpg

Rear View

kkk_0808.jpg

Top View

kkk_0810.jpg

As you can see, these two lenses are so very similar!

Don’t forget that the AT-X 116 PRO is a F2.8 lens, while the AT-X 124 is a F4 lens.

Built Quality / AF MF Switch

The lens feels solid in hand. Tokina AT-X PRO series of lenses are very well designed. Focus ring and zoom ring is large and good texture, making manual focusing or zooming with ease.

The AF/MF switch design of the lens is like all other Tokina AT-X PRO series lenses. Push forward to AF, Pull backward to change to MF. You can engage or disengage the AF/MF at any position! A great design that Tamron is following in some of their lenses now. :)

Specifications

Just in case if are curious and want to read about the specifications of the lens…here they are:

tokina-atx116-specs.gif

As shown above, this lens is ONLY available in Nikon and Canon mount. Only for Nikon DX or Canon APS-C sensor. For Pentax, Sony and Olympus (4/3rd) users…sorry…don’t blame me…you go ask Tokina.

Funs in Closeup! Megumi at 30cm!

The greatest strength in this lens in my opinion is the ability to focus till very very close to your subject!

My baby is touching the lens…oops…her fingers were even on the glass already! She is 8 months old…and the lens is within her reach when I took these photos. :P

kkk_0848.jpg

Megumi:”Lai…lai…touch a little…”

kkk_0853.jpg

“Left hand touch…”

kkk_0881.jpg

“Right hand touch…”

kkk_0884.jpg

“hem! Don’t touch don’t touch loh…!”

kkk_0854.jpg

I shall post some full size resolution sample soon. :)

Distortion?

I have to admit that I did not really pay much time or attention in testing the lens, so here’s some quite sample shots of a wall of posters. I don’t see much pincushion distortion from the lens.

All photos are original none crop version, except curved, sharpen and resized to 1000px for web presentation.

At 11mm, side view of the wall

kkk_0777_11mm.jpg

At 11mm, front view of the wall

kkk_0801_11mm.jpg

At 16mm, front view of the wall

kkk_0802_16mm.jpg

Update: I did another distortion test with more proper target, slide metal curtains:

at 11mm

5603-12-2008.jpg

at 16mm

5403-12-2008.jpg

I can hardly notice any distortion from the lens! Very very good distortion control!

Sharpness?

This lens is sharp. Very very sharp. In order to show the sharpness of this lens…I sacrifice myself and become the test target of it…yeah…my fuzzy hair and mustache should be a nice area for focus testing.

To give a fair view of sharpness testing of the lens, I set my Nikon D200 to sharpness at NORMAL setting. All photos below are none edited except cropping to 100% in Paint Shop Pro. Colour setting is set to Portrait mode, so you don’t see very vibrant colour.

Flash used: Nikon SB-800 with Lambency flash diffuser

Here’s the full view of my mug shot (don’t try it on your wife… :P )

kkk_0787.jpg

Below: 100% crop from the above photo
kkk_0787_c1.jpg

kkk_0787_c2.jpg

kkk_0787_c4.jpg

How’s the bokeh?
kkk_0787_c3.jpg

Full Size Sample (Jpeg Basic from D200)

Here’s some bonus files for you to download…if you want to zoom in and out in your monitor screen. :)

Click the file name to download (around 1MB each)

kkk_0868.jpg
kkk_0868_s.jpg

kkk_0783.jpg
kkk_0783_s.jpg

Flare Test (Added on 31st March 2008)

Since this lens will be used outdoor most of the time, so I think flare is an important issue here.

I took some worst case scenario by shooting directly into the sun:

Both vertical and horizontal shots I took at different exposure, so that flare or ghost can be seen clearly when under exposed.

kkk_1550.JPG

kkk_1558.JPG

kkk_1556.JPG

kkk_1557.JPG

From the above tests, I can only see one spot of small flare/ghost in the image. In my opinion, the lens is very very flare resistance! Definitely a very well designed lens for a zoom!
Summary

At the price range of around US$720 range, it is a very worth for money lens. Sharpness is superb, minimum focusing distance of 30mm of this lens is amazing! You can create extraordinary portrait shots with this lens, or amazing close-up of wildlife with great nature background!

Built quality is great. The lens feels solid and sturdy in hand. Tokina is known to have great built/design of their AT-X PRO series lenses, which in my opinion is on par if not better than Nikon and Canon similar lenses. Better than Sigma and Tamron build quality for sure.

Try it…you will love it. ;)

You can order the Tokina AT-X 116 lens at:

http://shashinki.com/shop/advanced_search_…

69 comments.

JP Denk

Comment on March 5th, 2008.

Thanks for sharing these photos. The second one is especially fun. I like the expression on your daughter’s face, and the way she is holding out her hands.

I was wondering, did you crop any of these photos? From what I can see, there is no odd distortion/softness at the edges, even at f/2.8. This was a big problem with my Nikon 12-24 mm. Are you pleased with the image quality of this lens? Have you used any of the other lenses in this category (say, the Nikon 12-24 mm or the Sigma 10-20 mm)? Thanks very much. Have a great day!

JP Denk

KhoKing

Comment on March 5th, 2008.

Hi JP Denk,

Thanks for the comments. :)

All the photos above are uncropped version. They are all original from Nikon D200, just resized for web purpose.

I do have some test shots on a wall with posters. I shall post them out later today. :)

I have not tried the Nikon 12-24mm nor Sigma 10-20mm, so I can’t comment on the comparison.

Personally, I must say that I was surprised and shocked by the sharpness of the Tokina AT-X 116 lens! I took some shots of my wife, I can count the hair of her eyebrows! Sorry, can’t post that photo though as she will kill me for posting her funny look with such a wide angle lens. :P

I shall update with some full resolution original files later. :)

Terry Ng

Comment on March 5th, 2008.

Yes, please post more pics!!! :)

JP Denk

Comment on March 5th, 2008.

Hello Again, KhoKing:

Thank you for your return comments. It seems the Tokina 11-16 lens is very sharp. I am pleased to know there is no cropping in your photos. Usually, with my Nikon 12-24, I would have to crop quite a bit from the edges. This area almost always was far too “soft” to use. I will be interested to see any other photos you are able to post. (And I understand about not posting the photo of your wife. My wife also is not eager for her photo to be shown to the world! :) Thank you for your early review of this lens. So far, it is the only useful performance information I have been able to find.

Hope you have a fine day.

JP Denk

KhoKing

Comment on March 6th, 2008.

Hi Terry and JP Denk,

Thanks for revisiting my blog.

I have updated the short review with more photos and some physical comparison with the Tokina AT-X 124 PRO lens.

Hope you guys enjoy reading. :)

JP Denk

Comment on March 6th, 2008.

Thanks again, KhoKing! I appreciate you taking time to share these files and your impressions of the lens. Your input has been extremely helpful. Even pushed at f/2.8 and 11mm settings, this seems to be a very impressive lens. I’m leaning toward purchasing it. Hopefully, it will become available in the US soon. If not, I may purchase it via the Shashinki site. Thanks again for your help. Best wishes to you and your family. And happy photography!

Fendrri

Comment on March 6th, 2008.

I’m thinking of getting myself one. I was almost going to buy the tokina 12-24mm last week when suddenly this lens was available at kakaku.com. The difference is about 10.000 yens, but if it’s a much better lens, I’m going to save some cash for the 11-16. Thanks for the short review Koh!

Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 apherical AT-X116pro - ScubaBoard

Pingback on March 9th, 2008.

[…] Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 apherical AT-X116pro Anyone try this Lens? I hear a lot about the Tokina 11-17……..but this with F2.8 (Is it even useful for WA with regard to DOF)? Here is a review KOH KHO KING Review: Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 Apherical AT-X 116 PRO DX […]

lkunl

Comment on March 13th, 2008.

Thank you very much for you review and sample pic.
Could you post some outdoor pic sample.

KhoKing

Comment on March 14th, 2008.

Hi lkunl,

I shall get some outdoor shots and some more distortion test samples soon… :)

ene

Comment on March 14th, 2008.

I’m looking too for an Ultra Wide Lens :) Just to know… how bad is the vignetting on a film camera?

KhoKing

Comment on March 14th, 2008.

Hi ene,

Sorry, I have not tried this lens on film camera. As this lens is meant for DSLR with 1.5X or 1.6X cropped sensor, so you will definitely get pretty bag vignetting or round dark corner for full frame or film SLR.

Thanks.

ene

Comment on March 14th, 2008.

I know that the 12-24 can be used from 16-17mm on 35mm with acceptable vignetting… i was hoping to gain a 16 f2.8 for my f100 :) maybe it’s too much…

KhoKing

Comment on March 14th, 2008.

Anybody wanna lend me a D3 for testing?! :D

BK

Comment on March 15th, 2008.

KKK, get D3 from your own stocks for testing… :P

KhoKing

Comment on March 15th, 2008.

BK, my wife asked me to get your phone number…she wants to discuss something with you “seriously”… :D

Nah…with a baby commitment now, I have to use my money wisely…no more luxury… :P

lkunl

Comment on March 15th, 2008.

KhoKing

one more question.
How about color saturation of 11-16 compare to 12-24 Tokina.
I use 12-24 tokina and I think 12-24 tokina is less color saturate compare to Nikon lens.

Thank you very much

lkunl

KhoKing

Comment on March 16th, 2008.

Hi lkunl,

I did not do test comparison of the two lenses, so can’t really comment on that.

Color saturation is very much depends on your DSLR, and it can be easily punched in during computer editing.

Do that note that I did not dial in extra sharpness in my Nikon D200, as I prefer to do it in computer post processing later. In my mug shot above, I can easily unsharp mask and get very sharp final image. So, don’t blame the lens for unsharp images, but do appreciate the details it delivers.

I have just uploaded another TWO distortion test images at 11mm and 16mm. :)

lkunl

Comment on March 16th, 2008.

Distortion also very good controlled like Tokina 12-24.

Thank you for new image sample.

KhoKing

Comment on March 17th, 2008.

For those who are interested in seeing a defective Tokina AT-X 116 PRO lens with bad coating:

http://shashinki.com/blog/2008/03/16/a-defective-tokina-at-x-116-pro-11-16mm-lens/

:)

Paul

Comment on March 18th, 2008.

Here is an interesting link in Japanese giving more examples.　Scroll down below the Japanese text for test images.

http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/lens_review/2008/03/03/8016.html

Alan

Comment on March 22nd, 2008.

Hi there,

I think a lot of people are wondering about how this lens handles flare, since this focal length will be used outdoors a lot. I guess the simplest way to check is just to go outdoors and have the sun just out of frame or in the very corners…

Anyways, thanks for posting what you’ve already gotten up!

Alan

Comment on March 22nd, 2008.

Also, how are chromatic abberations? These are less of a problem for me but I know others have been wanting to see how this lens performs in terms of that.

KhoKing

Comment on March 25th, 2008.

Hi Alan,

I will do some flare resistance test soon… :)

cinman

Comment on March 30th, 2008.

I have just bought from ebay japan store. First impressions : after using canon 10-22 and sigma 10-20 : this lens is different . manuel focus–automatic focus ring is very fine (this is first time for tokina :))
and lens is so silent
lens focus is very good
lens body is very good
sharpness is not bad
I am not pro so I dont know how to revew a lens ::)

Ahandre

Comment on March 30th, 2008.

hi Khoking.

excellent review. I wonder if Normal thickness B+W CPL filter will cause vignetting ? Possible to test on your side ?

KhoKing

Comment on March 31st, 2008.

Just updated with flare test photos. Well done, Tokina! :)

subra

Comment on April 1st, 2008.

kk, whats the price of the ATX 116 PRO,do you have the stock ? Good review!

KhoKing

Comment on April 1st, 2008.

Hi Subra,

Thanks for the compliments.

You can order the lens at:

http://shashinki.com/shop/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=tokina+at-x+116&x=0&y=0

Cotku

Comment on April 5th, 2008.

Ken Rockwell also did a glowing review of this lens (www.kenrockwell.com/tokina/11-16mm.htm). If it perfoms as well as it appears, I suspect Tokina will have a backorder situation once it hits the U.S

A Smit

Comment on April 19th, 2008.

Excellent review. Helped me make my decision regarding the lens

hanglun

Comment on April 27th, 2008.

Thank your sharing.Can your compare canon 10-22 and tokina 11-16 which one better,this two lens price close.

Kader - mein Foto-Blog » Blog Archive » Tokina 11-16

Pingback on May 3rd, 2008.

[…] denen man sich von der Qualität des 11-16 überzeugen kann: - KennRockwell.com - Impress Watch - Koh Kho King - PBase Cameras - Flickr - Photozone - Photoscala - […]

Gandalf

Comment on May 11th, 2008.

Thank you VERY MUCH for the flare/ghosting check.

I really appreciate that, and I have ordered the lens at E-Bay - it is the only place to get it for the time being, I will not wait untill it arrives in Denmark in a month or so.

Michael

Comment on May 29th, 2008.

Thanks for the review KK. After reading yours and Ken Rockwell’s reviews I almost succumbed to the temptation today while watching a customer at a shop took one out to play with. I’m sure the lens is shaprer than anything in this range but I’m still tossed about whether I’d want to lose the practicality of having 4mm more on the long end of my Sigma 10-20 which has so far, served me very well. Thus far, the arguments for giving up on my 10-20 are — (i) f2.8 makes indoor shots so much easier to handle compared to the very slow f4-5.6 (ii) much better sharpness on the edge compared to the 10-20 according to the reviews (iii) it looks like a smaller and lighter lens compared to the Sigma. In the “against” camp - (i) 11-16 range is in all practicality, a fixed focus lens (ii) CA appear to be a problem (iii) lose 1mm on the wide end which is not a big deal (iv) a lighter wallet (though in HK here, it costs only HK$3,800 (apr. US$500) which is substantially cheaper than the EUR600 asking that I saw posted elsewhere)

Tim

Comment on June 2nd, 2008.

Michael, where in Hong Kong can you find this lens for $3,800 - very few dealers have it and the cheapest qupoted so far is $4,300…? Thanks

Jonathan

Comment on June 3rd, 2008.

hi! i’m just wondering how is the customer support for tokina here in KL. I was informed that each time there is a problem for this lens, they have to all the way send the lens to singapore for repair which is I think would take time and hassle to the customer. I hope you can make this known to us because this is the only reason why i don’t buy tokina lenses

KhoKing

Comment on June 3rd, 2008.

The distributor of Tokina lenses is a Singapore company, they are controlling the Malaysia market, that is why lenses have to be sent to Singapore when warranty is needed.

My stock is not from Singapore though, but directly from Japan. I checked and tested every lenses before sending to my customers, trying to minimize the chance of customer getting a bad copy.

mycke

Comment on June 13th, 2008.

very nice review. i wish i had the green to buy this lens. :D

glen

Comment on June 24th, 2008.

Just bought and returned my Tokina 11-16mm f2.8. Worked fine for a day and then the zoom range wouldnt go past 12-15mm. Odd. Later the focus range also wouldnt commit the full range(only about a third). Both problems were intermitent but persistent. Its gone back.

Donatas

Comment on July 1st, 2008.

Hi,Kho King! I have a question regarding lens distortion.(Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX 11-16mm F2.8)So, as we can see onexemple with metal curtains there is really not much distortion here.But on another exemples with outdoor shoots ,buildings seems to be badly falling inwards.Looks like distortion?Where I am wrong?
And sorry for my english-still can’t learn it properly.
Thank You.

Chris

Comment on July 1st, 2008.

Donatas the kind of distortions that you can see at the buildings are very well controled with ps and i dont think that is a problem ,at least we are talking for a 11mm lens !!!Sometimes that kind of distortions giving us a very preety effect…

Latvis

Comment on July 2nd, 2008.

After shooting couple of hours love-hate-relationship begins…
Maybe it is that lens or my Canon D40 but photos seems to be quite soft.
Seems also that my Canon with that lens cannot meter light correct…
Basic skylight / hard contrast makes photos absolutely too dark, sky is burned white, odd colors…
am I missing something? Should I really use only manual settings? or convert to black & white

Some snapshots on a rainy day http://rockdata.org/tokina/

-Latvis

CH

Comment on July 3rd, 2008.

A lot of this baby is available in Hong Kong now.

Mic

Comment on July 8th, 2008.

hi KKK,need ur opinion,is it worth to ” upgrade ” to tokina 11-16 if i oledi got the Canon 10-22mm? The 2.8 and sharpness is very tempting :)

rayt

Comment on July 9th, 2008.

I do not own it yet but itching to get one. My question is — will this auto-focus on my Nikon D80? I would appreciate an answer from anybody.

KhoKing

Comment on July 9th, 2008.

Hi Mic,

IMO, since you already have the Canon 10-22mm, there is no point to get the Tokina lens just for the F2.8 aperture. For wide angle shots, DOF is normally very deep, and if you are shooting landscape, most of the time you will want to stop down as well.

KhoKing

Comment on July 9th, 2008.

Hi rayt,

Yes, you will get AF on your Nikon D80 with this lens.

Johann Beckham

Comment on July 9th, 2008.

KK,

Do u still have stock for this tokina lens now? Im going to Borobudur Jogyakarta on July 18 and I’m thinking of buying this lens. Will this lens be able to deliver within this week?

KhoKing

Comment on July 9th, 2008.

Dear Johann,

Sorry, I sold out the Nikon mount version. New stock will only be available in 2 weeks time.

SriPS

Comment on July 19th, 2008.

Thanks alot for the review and (mail). I am pretty much set now! :) pics really look great! fine by me! :)
thanks,

dibsy

Comment on August 6th, 2008.

Is it worth getting the tokina 11-16mm with the f2.8 over the sigma 10-20mm considering the sigma has been giving great reviews and is slightly cheaper to buy?

KhoKing

Comment on August 6th, 2008.

Hi Dibsy,

I think you need to take note that Tokina ATX116 is for digital cropped sensor, while Sigma 10-20mm is a truly fully frame lens. So it depends on your DSLR used.

Tokina has great built quality and great image quality. While for the Sigma, I am not really sure of the image quality, built is fine though not as good as the Tokina.

DIBSY

Comment on August 6th, 2008.

thanks khoking ,i,,m using the nikon d80 so the tokina was made for this body. just worried abit because there has been some negative posts about the tokina saying that even with the f2.8 the images are soft at the higher f stop.
images are ok from say f8 -f12.Now knowing the sigma is a full frame lens and the rumour is it will take my megapixels down to 5 megapixels i will be buying the tokina for sure.
thank you very much for your time KHOKING.

IBeN

Comment on August 14th, 2008.

hi thanks for the write-up. i’m considering buying a wide angle lens, and this one apparently can be the best choice! Thanks again

Joaquin

Comment on August 16th, 2008.

Thank you for this review. Really good work. Probably I will adquire the lens.

Mik

Comment on August 29th, 2008.

Thanks for the review KhoKing. Very Positive. Having been a Nikon professional shooter exclusively for the past 35 years, for the very first time I’m seriously considering this lens after yours and Ken Rockwell’s reviews. I like the cost and the weight factors as well as the image quality. I’m sick of lugging these bigger and weightier “wide” lenses around, photography starts to become a bit of a chore. Are Tokina lenses, in general , the better of the non camera manufactures lenses of Nikon and Canon. Can you recomend any long distance zoom lenses from these third party lens manufacturers. I shoot Nikon D2Xs. Many thanks again

KhoKing

Comment on August 29th, 2008.

Hi Mik,

Thank you for dropping by! Glad that you found my “review” useful. :)

The three main third party lens makers are Tokina, Tamron and Sigma. There is no which one is best. It depends on the lens. For example, my opinion is that Tokina makes the best wide angle lens, while Sigma is better in 70-200mm and telephoto range. Tamron is for its lowest price range among them, and is more popular in 17-70mm range (SP 17-50mm and SP 28-70mm).

For telephoto lens, non third party makers have IS/VR in them, so I would recommend you get the original Nikon/Canon 70-200mm range, as IS/VR is very useful in such long focal length.

Sigma does have OS in some of their long range lenses, but still not that popular and not in 70-200mm F2.8 series.

Hope this helps.

Adam

Comment on August 30th, 2008.

Hi,
After reading your review and comments here I bought this lens here in USA. Got it today! I think that it is nice build. Took some photo with it with D300 and love what I see. I think it will supplement nicely my 18-200 Nikkor.
Tomorrow I will go to shoot some more photos of Cincinnati from KY side of the Ohio river. I will try to post them on flickr.

Ferry Junigwan M

Comment on September 17th, 2008.

Very great and useful review khoking.it helps me a lot to choose between 11-16 or 12-24 TOKINA.the only problem is that this lens is for DX only :( .Guess i have to wait another time before jumping to FX cameras no lol.

Please do post more pics since i really need something to truly convince myself before getting this lens.

Regards from Indonesia

Mik

Comment on September 18th, 2008.

Hi Ferry
Another review of this lens by Ken Rockwell reckons you can use this lens on a FX camera. Yes there is vignetting at 11mm but OK at 15mm. You can crop out the vignetting at 11mm if you wish, Food for thought.
Regards
Mik

Branden

Comment on September 30th, 2008.

How does it compare to the Canon EF-S 10-22mm. I read the Ken’s web and he suggest the Ef-S instead of the Tokina!

Tero

Comment on October 4th, 2008.

I really want this lens for my Canon XTi.

Crap. Where can I get one? Out of stock in most places, and I’m planning to go for a trip to Japan quite soon, so this lens would be so nice for all those sceneries. Crap.

Mike

Comment on October 5th, 2008.

Buy it in Japan!

Tero

Comment on October 5th, 2008.

Yea, I’m thinking about that option. Only problem is, I really really want to have the lens there, so what if it’s sold out there? That’s why it would be more safe to get it before the trip. I guess it’s about 55k yen in Akihabara?

mycke

Comment on October 5th, 2008.

It’s a huge possibility that it won’t be sold out in Japan, after all it’s made there. I think it would be sold out first anywhere else, but in Japan it would be available.

KhoKing

Comment on October 5th, 2008.

You should be able to get the lens in big camera shop in Tokyo, but price is not going to be the cheapest.

Stewart

Comment on October 22nd, 2008.

Just received mine yesterday! What a beautiful lens. I highly recommend this one to anyone interested in wide angle photography!!!!

Stewart

Comment on October 31st, 2008.

Had some time to play with my new lens. everything is great! sharpest at F5.6, noting much to complain about…

Pros: Sharp as ever, especially at 5.6, 2.8 for low light conditions, build is great, cheaper than the canon 10-22, faster than the sigma 10-20, cool manual focusing clutch.

Cons: Doesn’t focus as close as the Canon 10-22, doesn’t focus as fast or as quiet as a real USM lens, petal hood wobbles when placed backwards to store on lens, short focal length (not a bad thing…), and honestly, im really trying to find things wrong with this lens.

I’ve used almost all ultra wides available for crop sensor cameras for Canon, sigma, canon and now Tokina, minus the tamron. i must say, the Tokina win’s hands down as you all might have read from all the reviews on the net. As my previous post states, this is a beautiful lens, highly recommended!!!

Stu

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