Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX AF 11-16mm f/2.8

Sharpest tool in my camera bag! This lens design and manufacture is very highly rated by the "experts". After using and testing this lens on my own camera body, I feel that the the "experts" did not rate it highly enough. Even at f/2.8 it's corner sharpness is good and it's central sharpness is very good. By f/3.5to f/4 it's superb throughout the frame. F 8 to 9.5 is it's sweet spot but by f/13.5 the inescapable laws physics come into play and edge diffraction starts to soften the image just enough to be seen in test images. By f/22 edge diffraction limits the sharpness to just a "good" rating. At extreme enlargements you can see that there is some color fringing but you have to look hard to see it. I have observed no barrel or pincushion distortion of straight lines in the scenes. The photos are crisp and contrasty throughout the entire tonal range. It's rendition of color is true to life. It's large aperture (f/2.8) allows photography in less light than you might imagine. It's zoom range, 11mm-16mm, seems a pretty small range but since the focal length numbers are so small, the 5mm zoom range is actually a reasonable percentage zoom range. At this short focal length, if you don't like the composition because of a lack of focal length range, just take a step back or forward. An ultra wide angle almost screams for a composition framed by a foreground object so remember to bend your knees to get a low camera angle and include the flowers, rocks, leaves etc that are in the foreground in your mind's eye. It's depth of field is enormous so you can, by using the hyperlocal distance concept, have a sharp foreground 2 ft away and everything can still be sharp all the way to infinity. I had concerns that the autofocusing might be flummoxed by the large depth of field range but the focusing is precise and concise. The lens is physically rather larger than one might think and the large lens hood makes this awkward to store when not on the camera. The hood is necessary to shield the lens front element from light from the side. That being said it's flare control is surprisingly good, better than any of my other (non-wide angle) lenses especially when a light source (such as the sun) is in the field of view. Being an ultra-wide angle , the composition of photos takes some mental adjustments but when you get it right , the resulting photos can be startlingly good. This lens gets in the way of my vision of what I want the photo to be the very least of all my lenses because with this lens , I'm not limited by it's technical quality.

Excellent lens, even wide open. I highly recommend this lens! I've been a professional photographer for 25 years, from 2000 until 2012 I have used Canon L lens extensively. I'd read about the wonders of the Sony A77 and the Tokina 11-16 F2.8 for really wide interiors and video. I took the plunge and tested both camera systems and more importantly the lens (Canon 24-70L and Sigma 14mm F2.8) side by side with this Tokina. It is crystal clear, silent auto focus (important with video) and no vignetting, even wide open and at 11mm. Auto focus is accurate and the colors are excellent. What's not to love!

A great lens but with some small reservations The Tokina 11-16mm is a great leans. The f/2.8 overall is very valuable. The pictures are sharp and clear. There is always a down side and the Tokina is heavy and pricy. I'm a big guy so the heavy doesn't bother me and I purchased this used so the price was reasonable. I spent a lot of time researching the various wide angle lenses and this is the best zoom. However, if Sony had a 14mm prime (Full Frame in case I go in that direction),that was priced under $500, I would have probably gone with that