smaldc99's reviews

Tokina 16-50mm f/2.8 AT-X 165 AF PRO DX SD

I am a big fan of Tokina lenses in general. This is a company that offers construction quality that consistently exceeds the price point of their products.

There are MANY lenses to choose from in this range. Therefore, choosing the best one can be tricky. For those of you asking yourselves why you might buy this lens, I will outline my personal reasons for owning this over other similar products.

1) Top quality, METAL construction.
2) Price for 2.8 aperature lens is exellent
3) Better in almost all respects than any "kit" lens in this range.
4) SHARP (at least my copy is very sharp)
5) Something not talked about with this lens is that it actually has decent macro capability and close focusing distance....a nice bonus I feel.

A few notable cons are...
1) Purple fringing. This is pronounced in certain lighting situations, although it is easily correctable with some quick post-processing
2) No USM. Tokina should work to develop this, as other lens makers have. That said, focus certainly is not slow, albeit a bit noisy.
3) Image stabilization would be useful at longer focal lengths.


In conslusion,
while this lens is not feature laden with the newest tech, it remains one of the best built lenses out there in this price range that has a larger aperture. I would love to see Tokina develop their products, as I do have a great respect for the quality of the items that I have owned.