F5.6 at 400mm is nothing to sneeze at.

Solid metal construction, and reasonably compact when everything is screwed back.

Can return contrasty and clear pictures.

Expands over the most popular zoom range (80-200mm) and doubles it.

Mechanical screw drive focus, so D40/D60 owners are again out of luck.

People have reported focusing issues (as below) or excessive softness. My particular example at first returned over-exposed and out of focus pictures until I took it apart. The previous owner had also had it apart and didn't fix the issue, which was a sticking aperture. The mount for the CPU contacts (which does help determine correct focus) was fairly flimsy. Once fixed it returned fantastic photos, and I had no trouble tracking and capturing fast moving aircraft at an airshow.

External focus, so it gets pretty long when it's all maxed out, and stationary filters (such as polarizers) will need to be readjusted often.

Much heavier than similar 300mm range lenses.

The 80-400mm Tokina fills a niche for people wanting a long range zoom with a reasonably fast aperture, and not going broke with one of the f2.8 lenses.

It comes in multiple mounts, and mine is for a Nikon. It's a sturdy, heavily built old school lens. Different versions have a tripod mount, and considering the lens's weight and zoom range if you have a choice go for the built in mount.

In general this is a good quality lens, but there may be issues with the design and/or quality control (see below) so ask for sample photos or test it yourself before purchasing.

Customer Service

Not used, fixed it myself.

Similar Products Used:

28-300mm Tamron
70-210mm Nikon

Build quality, sharp pictures. Excellent zoom range.

Tripod ring sometimes a nuisance when hand held, it can be rotated out of the way. Compatibility issues with digital SLR

Great quality lens, feels good in the hand. Build quality is excellent. The tripod ring can sometimes get in the way when using zoom.
Pictures are sharp all the way through to 380mm. After 380mm best to open up to F8 for a sharper picture. Below 200mm this lens is as good as an Canon 'L' lens. Focus is smooth in manual mode, unfortunately this lens will not autofocus when on my Canon 300D. I have tried all settings and still no autofocus. When it decides to autofocus, the camera will not take picture and displays Error 99. Sometimes when lens has been attached to camera it will display Error 99 even when in manual focus. This is possibly a fault in communicating with the camera. Even after cleaning contacts still had no joy. The Tokina has 7 contacts on the lens, the 300D has 8 contacts on the mount, this may be why I am unable to get autofocus. No information appears to be available on the net, so I'm stuck with manual mode.
Will prove to be an excellent lens if you are prepared to use manual focus, but buyers should try lens on their camera before buying to ensure compatibility. For this reason I can only justify giving 3 stars for the overall rating

Customer Service

Unable to find UK service centre

Similar Products Used:

Canon 70-300 IS
Sigma 70-300 APO