at F4 (constant) it's reasonably fast.

Allows pictures to be taken that simply could not be done otherwise.

Nice color rendition, contrast doesn't seem noticeably different from my other DX lenses.

Autofocus is acceptably fast, but see below.

Zoom scale is evenly and widely spaced, this is good compared to some lenses where the scale is crunched up on one end and spread out on the other, and makes controlling your framing easier.

Manual focus is easy to engage and use.

Sturdy metal construction.

Light falloff in the corners does not appear to be an issue.

As with all ultrawides using the sun hood is required, and it is a very big lens.

Distortion is also an issue, which is common to ultrawides.

The autofocus is a screw drive, so cameras lacking an internal focus motor (D40) are out of luck.

No aperture ring for manual work.

Past about 14mm the lens distorts severely in the corners, how badly this effects your shot depends on the subject, crowds of people at 12mm will have the ones in the corner look like a funhouse.

This is a DX lens, using it on a full frame camera (FX, such as the D700) will result in vignetting past about 18mm, and at 12mm it's like looking down a tube.

The 12-24mm Tokina is an ultrawide angle lens intended for DX sensor format cameras. It gets the job done, although it's not perfect. (Mine's is for a Nikon.)

The build quality is good, and reliability wise I've had no problems in 3 years of service.

Ultra-wides are a unique class of lenses that tend to be neglected in all the rush to see who's got the biggest zoom. A lot of people also don't know how to best use them, as too commonly someone gets one and the first picture they take is outside in the open, which looks no different than any other lens.

These are best for when you can't get far enough away from a subject with a normal lens, most recently I used it at a car show where I simply couldn't get more than 3-4 feet away from the cars without being stuck in the passing crowd.

These are also used for bringing your viewers right into the picture, such as standing in the doorway of a room and capturing all of it in one shot.

Customer Service

Haven't used.

Similar Products Used:

Upwards of 40 Nikon, Tokina, Tamron, and Russian lenses.

Built like a tank - all metal. Not that I have anything against plastic. I own a few plastic lenses too...
Sharp. Good balance on my D200 and surely on my future D*00 bodies too. Clean and defect free at f/5.6, with a sweet spot around f/8. Pro Nikon-like action on the focus ring. Costs 480 US vs. 900 US for the Nikkor at equivalent quality (at time of publishing) .

Only for DX. This lens cannot be used on FX (full frame) cameras except - maybe - at 1/2 their native resolution. Stiff zoom ring. Prone to flare, vignettes wide open, especially at the short focal range. Heavy.

If you want wide on a DX, this is *wide*. Vignettes wide open, especially at 12 mm., but stooping down a bit eliminates the problem completely. If you shoot RAW, forget about it, because Photoshop's Camera RAW (and Capture NX) deal quite effectively with it.
Flaring may be a problem, but mostly if you do not use the supplied lens hood, and why wouldn't you?. Sharp, sharp sharp, and when compared to the brand alternative (in my case Nikon) at half the price.

Customer Service

Not needed.

Similar Products Used:

AF-S 17-35 mm. IF-ED Nikkor

Own several Sigma lenses. Their plastic bodies tended to be a bit cheap.

Tested it at the store. Looks surprisingly sharp.

Compared to the closest 11-16 F2.8 you lose 1 stop on your aperture but otherwise you get a bigger range with 12-24 F4. The other wide-angle lens is a fish-eye which is for people who enjoy doing a lot of special-effects.

Not a lot. Tokina used to make lenses with metal until a few years ago before switching to all plastic. The old lenses although heavier can take a lot more abuse (if you happen to drop the lens for any reason a plastic lens is less likely to survive).

It must be because of the recession. The product is usually not in stock in stores (not in Canada anyway) so not much difference buying mail-order. The company decided to keep only a lens in store for demo purposes. If you want it there is usually a 2-week waiting period.

A relatively light lens with a good zoom range. Instead of getting a wide-angle, on the long end you are getting a high enough zoom around normal perspective that you can still use at home for family photos.

Compared with several other lenses. At first looked at Tamron & Sigma which are available in Canada for many years. Then the name Tokina popped up on the Internet with the name of a local camera shop at a reasonable price so decided to go with Tokina.

Have a Sigma 28-70 left over from the days of film cameras. Needed a bit wider angle and decided to get a cheap Nikon 18-55 as a supplementary lens. Soon after (for some strange reason) the plastic started coming apart the shop agreed to trade the lens back for the current Tokina 12-24.

Customer Service

There was 1 Tokina lens (840 ATX) purchased about 5 years ago for some reason kept going back to a camera repair shop for adjustment (including aperture diaphragm and focus).

A few years ago the Tokina distributor in Canada discontinued their service so the lens was bought through US mail-order and shipped to Canada. Repair shops were willing to do the job but the few days in between without the lens was a hassle.

Another distributor for Tokina recently became available in Canada.

Similar Products Used:

Never bought a lens this wide.

Build quality is excellent. I had the opportunity to handle the Nikon version and was impressed with the focus on it, but other than being a bit more noisy, focusing is nearly as fast on either of my cameras. Just more noise.
Color rendition is as good as any lens I've ever owned, and I've owned more than a few. For what I shoot, people and landscapes with this wide a lens, it does very well.

Flare and ghosting are the weaknesses on this lens. If you are shooting into strong light situations, expect ghosting. From just off the frame, expect sunlight to flare into the frame, this is visible in the viewfinder. CA is not well controlled, but can be corrected in Photoshop if you shoot raw digital. Not much can be done for film however.

This is a very sharp lens. It compares well with the Nikkor version. There are some important considerations, however.
Sharpness is good corner to corner stopping down to f5.6 or more. I can use this on my F100 from ~16-24mm on with little vignetting at F8 on. Corner sharpness is not as good as on the D200. Thats to be expected.
This is the first Tokina I've ever owned. I will definitely consider Tokina when shopping for lenses.

Customer Service

Don't know.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 18-35mm, 35-70mm F2.8, 18-200mm VR.

Very sharp.
Great color rendition.
covers 99% of the wide angle I need.
solid construction
quick focus

f/4 but you cna't have everything.
A bit heavy

Started looking for better quality lenses and knew I frequently wanted wider angle in my shooting. After reading reviews, I started shopoing for this lens and finally bit the bullet.
I find ;this lens to be very sharp and the color is fantastic.
The f/4 limit is only occasionally limiting and the f/11-16 f/2.8 wasn't out yet.

Customer Service

not needed

AF Speed
Build quality
Price, considering the quality of the lens

I would have liked it to be a 2.8 lens, but I really haven't put it in any places where I wish I had that one extra stop.

I bought this lens because I wanted a good wide angle for sports as well as some landscapes. I spent a fair amount of time comparing the Nikon 12-24, Tokina 12-24, and the Sigma 10-20. I would have loved to buy the Nikon, but I didn't have the extra $$ available, so I went with the Tokina.

The build quality of this lens is fantastic. It feels like its built like a tank. It is an internal focusing lens, so its easy to use a polarizing filter on it. You can use a standard size filter on it, but when you zoom out to around 16mm or wider you start getting some vignetting in the photo.

The autofocus speed is very quick. I use it for cycling races and the lens is able to keep up with the riders as they zoom buy.

I have noticed when I'm shooting landscapes or other things at 12mm the horizon bends a little bit, and some straight items on the sides of the frame bend as well. Nothing that can't be fixed easily in photoshop.

Customer Service

Haven't had to use it yet.

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 28-70 F2.8, Sigma 35mm 2.8

Cosmetics
Build quality
Quite sharp
Fast focus
If needed it can be used on full frame body.

Chromatic aberration (very noticeable)

Well, here are my first impresions about this lens. After some judging between Canon 10-22mm, Sigma 10-22mm and this Tokina I decided to go with Tokina. Mainly because of the price and constant aperture. Mecanicaly, very fine. No difference between Canon L lens and this AT-X Pro. It is probably because this Tokina has metal zoom mechanism, so focusing and zoomig are silky smooth. Focusing speed is quite fast. Opticaly, nothing to complain except chromatic aberration. On contrasty subjects it is relly noticeable (purple fringing). On my example, the lens hood sits tight after clicking into position. Overall I would recomend this lens. For those who need extra stop, the new model AT-X 11-16mm f2.8 should be taken into consideration.

Customer Service

Not needed

Similar Products Used:

Canon 28mm f2.8
Canon 17-85mm IS USM
Canon 200mm f2.8 L USM II
Tamron SP AF 90mm f2.8 Macro

Compact, very well build, sharp edge to edge from full aperture

Not a fast lens

I was going to buy the 12-24 Nikon when Tokina announced their version, from my previous experience with other Tokina optics, I thought it would be a good idea to try both lenses out. Thanks to my friend who runs a camera store, provided me the Nikon and I ordered the Tokina directly from the UK importer (I can buy direct as I'm in the trade). To my surprise, at first I thought I had a bad example of the Nikon, so I asked my friend to supply me another, in total I have test 4 brand new Nikon 12-24 against the Tokina 12-24mm (which I'm still own and use regularly). The result was the same, the Tokina was sharper both centre and edge at f4 (full aperture) than the Nikon was at f8, image on the Nikon was also badly distorted, I have returned all the Nikon's and kept the Tokina.

There are no guarantee that a marque brand can make every lens a winner, what I do know is when I hear noises from reviews and blogs, there must be certain amount of truth in it, as there is would be no smoke without a fire.

This I consider a true must have classic for DX size chip cameras.

Sharp optics
Constant f/4 aperture
Price compared to the Canon
A very useful zoom range
Build quality
Uses 77mm filters
MF clutch is easy to use
Works nicely on a 35mm body if zoomed out to around 16mm or more

Focus could be faster
Lens hood feels cheap
Would like a closer minimum focusing distance

This is a very nice ultra wide angle lens for a very reasonable price. The build quality is very good and the lens feels solid. Optics are sharp, and the constant f/4 aperture is nice. This is my first Tokina lens, and I'm very pleased with it. I was considering the Canon version, but I didn't think the extra 2mm and the veriable aperture were worth the extra $200. At the time I ordered this lens, I didn't know that Sigma had a 10-22mm for the same price as the Tokina. Had I know that, I may have gone with the Sigma, but I would have had a veriable aperture lens. Not a big deal, but sometimes I wonder what I'm missing without that extra 2mm.

I like the manual focusing clutch. It's much easier to switch from AF to MF without taking the camera away from my eye. The AF is a little slower than I was expecting, but still acceptable. This could be a result of the camera as well. I'm using this on the first generation DRebel (300D). It could be faster on a newer body.

The minimum focusing distance of 11.8" is nice for filling the foreground of the frame, as long as the FG objects is big. I would like a closer minimum focusing distance for placing a much smaller object in the FG.

The lens hood works fine, but is made of plastic and feels cheap. Also, it doesn't feel real secure when attached to the lens. I have never had it fall off, but I make sure I keep an eye on it.

The zoom range is backwards compared to Canon lenses. Not a big deal, but makes you wonder why they don't keep them the same.

This lens is designed for digital bodies with the 1.6x crop factor, but I have also used it on my 35mm EOS body. You will get vignetting zoomed, but zoomed out to about 16mm or so it goes away.

Customer Service

Never had to deal with them

Similar Products Used:

Nothing this wide

built like the proverbial tank,
standard pro-diameter 77mm filter - don't need to buy new filters,
reasonably good lens hood, compared with the flower-petal nikon 12-24 which takes up a lot of real estate in a camera bag,
pretty quiet and fast AF motor
reasonably sharp even at f4, better once you hit f8.

tendency to flare, once shooting into the sun or other bright light, even with the lens hood on.
distortion at 12mm significantly more than the nikon 12-24, but correctable in photoshop.
CA is there, especially with brightly-lit subjects.
need to use thin filters, else will cause vignetting at 12mm.

for its price, nothing really much to complain about. almost half the price of the Nikon 12-24, but performance is comparable. even nikonians.org rate it slightly better than the nikon 12-24.

i was comparing this with the sigma 10-20 and the tamron 11-17. while sigma is really wide, i never really trust sigma's lens QC... not to mention the peeling problem of the sigma coating. tamron 11-17 is virtually useless in anything less than bright sunlight. hence, the tokina.

it is built like the proverbial tank, as with all tokina lenses. however, i encountered an unsharp copy at the shop before. hence, i would advice people to test it before buying. the focus is reasonably fast and acceptably quiet (compared the the other tokina lenses, where the AF is mechanically driven). the weight is surprising light, considering that it has a metal lens body. the matte-black, slightly rough finishing of the lens body is meant for abuse, unlike the sigma.

overall, pretty happy with the lens which i use on my s5pro.

Customer Service

not needed.