Tokina AT-X PRO DX for digital SLR 11-20mm f/2.8 Pro DX Lens for Nikon F

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The main reason I decided to purchase this lens was for night landscape photography. I have seen many other photographers use the Tokina 11-16 and was always impressed with the quality of their images. The 11-20 was released right as I was about the buy the 11-16. From other reviews, I found that the 11-20 was suppose to fix several issues the 11-16 had while adding 4mm to the focal range. So, for $100 more, I decided to buy the 11-20. This lens is one of my favorite and most used, I couldnt be more happy with the choice. Great quality and no troubling issues to speak of.

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Firstly, I have also owned the Tokina 11-16 f2.8 (first version without focus motor) and the Tokina 12-28 f4. I found the 11-16 too limiting in zoom range and replaced it with the 12-28. The 11-16 was always extremely sharp at all focal lengths and apertures, but also had a lot of flare. The 12-28 was less sharp and needed to be stopped down to about f5.6 to be as sharp as the 11-16 was wide open. It also exhibited quite a bit of flare. When this lens came out, I felt it was time to part with the 12-28, and get back to a faster and wider lens. It is nice to have the faster aperture and still have a reasonable zoom range. The lens has been very good so far, with some things improved and a couple of things I would consider a little worse. I am shooting with the D7100 currently (and D810 - see below for opinion on use with FX). The lens is very, very sharp, in much the same way that the 11-16 was. Build quality is superb, and the zoom ring feels just right - not too stiff, not too loose. I am neutral to the manual focus clutch operation. It works fine, but is really no better or worse than using a switch. Focus is adequately fast and locks on positively, with no hunting. And lens flare has been reduced by a lot! Neither the 11-16 or the 12-28 handled flare well, but this new lens is night and day better in this regard. Very little visible flare on several shots I have intentionally tried to get it. The added zoom range is a very nice feature and makes the lens more versatile. I did mention there were some negatives compared to its older cousins: There is more fringing with this lens than with either of the other two I previously owned. Even stopped down, the purple and green fringing in high contrast edges is fairly pronounced. I would recommend using Lightroom, or other software to correct chromatic abberation and fringing. Im sure once there is a lens profile in Lightroom, it will be even easier to correct. I can make the shots look just fine with very little effort, even without a profile. The corners look to be a little bit softer further into the image with the 11-20, and stay just a tad soft even stopped down. But were talking the very extreme corners once you get around f5 or so. Wide open, more of the corner area is slightly smeared and soft, and some slight vignetting is noticeable, too. The 11-16 did a little better, but I feel this is an acceptable trade-off since we now have more zoom range to work with. The lens uses 82mm filters, which may be a drawback to some, but is not an issue for me, as I already have another lens that uses them (Tamron 24-70 VC). I wanted to give some information on use of this lens with a full frame camera, since I also own and use one, and actually used my other Tokina lenses on the D810 and my previous D700. The 11-16 would work just fine from 15-16 mm, with the only requirement being to remove the lens hood at 15mm. 16mm was usable even with the hood in place. The 12-28 worked from 20mm to 28mm, with 20-21mm needing the hood removed. The 11-20 is also able to be used on FX, with the usable range being 18-20. Wont go as wide as the old 11-16. And if soft and somewhat vignetted corners are OK, 17mm also works (barely) without the lens hood. Id recommend the lens hood stay off for anything other than 20mm use, and even then, you would do better to leave it off if possible. One thing to note is that no shot taken on a full frame camera will be as sharp in the corners as the DX ones will be. Ive noticed that even though the image circle gets big enough for the FX sensor by 17mm or so, the far corners stay soft and smeared even at 20mm. Stopping down helps very little here. It is still nice that it can be used with both my cameras, though, and I have already taken some really nice looking 36mp shots with the 11-20 on my D810. Im sure that 1.2x crop mode on the D810 will increase the usability and performance since the worst part of the image is cropped off. I plan to test that out as well, I just dont see the point in shooting 25MP with the D810 when I have 24MP already, and full use of the zoom, with my D7100. High ISO shooting is the only scenario I can see any meaningful advantage. Overall, this is a nice lens to own, and I am glad to have it. It improves on the 12-28, and is just as good or better in most regards as the 11-16 was, with few compromises. If you are looking for an ultra-wide lens, this one is definitely recommended. Tokina makes a great lens for the price, and this one is no exception. Would give it 4.5 stars if possible, but cant quite give it 5 since there are some very minor issues. I think anyone with high expectations would be more than satisfied with the results. Edit, June 16, 2015: I have a better understanding of the use of this lens on FX cameras, now that I have done more shooting with the D810 and Tokina 11-20 combination. I would now recommend the focal length be set at 16mm (and no lens hood), even if you dont need it that wide for the shot. After inspecting images at focal lengths from 15-20mm, it looks like the 16mm setting is the best one to use. 16mm is the point where there is just about zero vignetting. Interestingly, the corners are about as soft at 16mm as they are at 20mm. They really get no better as you zoom in, as I mentioned in the initial review. That is why I say shoot at 16mm and crop off whatever is not sharp enough. You will end up with the most usable image this way. You will find that you must crop off a similar amount from a 20mm shot, leaving you with less to work with. I have added 2 images to my review. The canyon shot was taken with the D810 at 16mm (and not cropped) and the river shot is a D7100 shot at 11mm. Pretty impressive sharpness when used on either camera...you just must crop the full frame shot for edge-to-edge sharpness.

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***Update*** After using this lens for almost a year now, its still my fave. Its wide, with a bit of zoom, and captures clear images (when focused properly). Please disregard the negative reviews. Ive never had any issue with my 11-20mm Tokina. No offense to the negative reviewers, but I have to question their skillset and patience... Dont just take my word. See the other amazing pics posted for this product! (Im just an average photographer, still learning and trying to become better. Not a paid reviewer. I just stand by products that are good as advertised*** The Tokina 11-20mm just might do (sarcastically). It has become my favorite lens to use, allowing me to capture a wide array of landscapes, via Nikon D7200. The most impressive part is the f/2.8 aperture. Ive not yet had a real opportunity to use/enjoy this feature, but the photos I have captured are indeed in impressive to me!!!

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I am not a professional, just a hobby photographer. I do take thousands of pictures a year with my Nikons. I have rented the Nikon 14-28 many times for vacations, but its just too pricey for me to justify purchase. Enter the Tokina. I watched some YouTube reviews and checked out sample photos, seemed like it was worth a try. This is my first non-Nikkor lens and I am pleasently surprised by the quality. To be frank, I was expecting less. I love this lens its much smaller and lighter than the the Nikon. I shoot mostly with a Nikon D7200 operating out of the hard bags on my motorcycle. So far the lens travels well, no issues. Pros: Image sharpness is stunning. No color aberration that I could detect at any stop or zoom. Smaller, lighter, and cheaper than the big Nikon. Low light performance is good. Cons: More prone to lens flare than the Nikon, the hood is smaller, aggravating the flare issue. When under flare conditions or shooting into direct sunlight, the auto-focus may be tricky. More distortion toward the edges than the Nikon, but this lens is wider. At the time of writing Adobe Lightroom (my tool of choice) doesnt have the Lens Correction filter for this Tokina yet, but does for the Nikon, so may not be a fair comparison. Pros here FAR outweigh the cons, in my opinion. Ive used both, Ive lugged that big Nikon all over the country, and am glad to have this lighter cousin in my kit. I would buy this lens again in a heartbeat. I have attached some photos Ive taken with this lens. All samples have been post processed with Lightroom, but it will give you get the idea of the cameras capabilities and sharpness.

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I bought this lens after reading many good reviews about it, the sad thing is, I got a bad copy of it. at f2.8 the image quality is terrible. No focus in manual mode or AF. I am so disappointed right now... Update: After hours of tweaking settings on my camera (Nikon D7200) I finally came to a solution for the terrible AF problem on my camera. I had to access Settings on my camera>AF Fine Tune> drop it down to -6 and now its clear, I can focus and the clarity is there at f2.8. Though I find it quite odd why a brand new lens Id need to adjust such a setting to get it to work as it should. Nevertheless I am just happy it works. Everyday Since I got this lens its been a new lesson to learn whether it be AF or ISO etc. I have no regret with this lens though. Tokina 11-20mm is a beauty of a lens and the pictures at f2.8 is just breathtakingly beautiful.. I gave 3 stars because of the headache it caused me trying to solve this problem Edit: its still not clear and I need to drop it down to - 18 and still it is out of focus on the edges at 11mm. I am getting a new lens from the seller. Will update whats happening when I get it Final Edit: May 9th 2017, I got my replacement lens from the company I bought it from and I shipped back the old lens. Now this is perfect, it focuses like a boss of a lens and details are crisp and sharp at f/2.8 with all pictures! I am really impressed with the clarity of this lens! Truly a masterpiece of a lens by tokina! Ive attached two pictures I just snapped with the new lens... exif: f/2.8 18mm iso 2000 ss: 1/40

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Oh man. This lens is PHENOMENAL. Ive had it for a couple months now, and its my mainstay lens at this point. Its great for a ton of different wide-angle uses - architectural (interior & exterior), panorama shots, landscapes, and astral photography. Photo quality is top notch. I cannot say enough about this lens. Its perfect for the hobby photographer, and wont break the bank. I love everything about it. This lens allows you to get extremely close to your subject and still capture it in its entirety without sacrificing quality, distortion, or virtually any bending at the corners. Its super wide angle without looking like a fish-eye lens. Unfortunately, I dont have my camera here to upload the full resolution pictures to share, so please excuse the lo-res versions that Im attaching for reference - they are primarily to show the versatility of this lens. The quality of the shots is FAR better than these lo-res versions will let on. The shot of the Brazen Head in particular gives you a great idea of the ability of this lens - I was standing on the sidewalk approximately 6 feet from the front of the building and am still able to capture it completely.

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A very nice alternative to the other ultra wide angle lenses in the DX market, and certainly better than the Nikon offering. Its quite well built but not too heavy, with a quality feel. The optics are also very good and used correctly you will not have any problems. The range of the lens is also more practical than that of the earlier 11-16 model, and the f2.8 aperture a nice bonus. Cons: There are some issues with the AF. You should play with it properly before use to understand. For example, I found that using the outer AF points would result in focus errors. The solution is to use the center point and re compose. No errors then. The 82mm filter size is also a pain but really, you wont be using too many filters with this lens, so just get the cheap (but perfect) amazon basics clear filter for protection and forget about it. You need to use the lens to understand the characteristics of an ultra wide but that comes with a bit of experience. Really thats about it. The only other issue I have is that there doesnt seem to be a dedicated lens case for this!!!

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I have been looking for a wide angle lens that is not too expensive and just fit in my budget. I have tried the Sigma 10-20mm but my photos turned to be not so good so I returned it. I was hesitant to buy this one at first but I did give it a try. The photos are crisp and clear and I was surprised. I always bring this on my trips especially if I do nature photography. I am not a pro but just a mere hobbyist and loving this together with a CPL filter so I can get dramatic shots. Its a good steal and the lens itself doesnt look nor feel like a cheap one when you hold it. I highly recommend this for photography enthusiasts.

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LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this lens. f2.8 is perfect for low light or night photography. But also perfect for landscapes/architecture photography. It is worth every penny and great perfect photos. This goes EVERYWHERE I go!

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I love this lens. I rented it and took it on a trip to Ireland a few months ago. I just bought it to take on a trip to the Redwoods. Im super excited about it. I usually only buy Nikon branded camera accessories for quality reasons but I read the reviews and got a recommendation from a friend and it really impressed me. Its a really wide frame but theres not much distortion or blur. I was also really impressed with the F-stop. Even at the limit its clear and shoots well. Itll be my main lens on all of my hiking trips in the future.

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