Review Tokina 20-35mm f/2.8 ATX PRO Lens - A pro lens at a budget price!

[Jonathan F/2]

I recently picked up the Tokina 20-35mm f/2.8 ATX PRO lens for Nikon. The lens is an old school, screw driven lens with an aperture ring, all metal fixed-length barrel, rubber focus rings, and takes 77mm filters. Used copies of this lens can be found from $150 USD and up. It's a decent lens for it's vintage (90s era, designed for film). At f/2.8, it's has a bit of veiled softness, but still useable. At f/4 and up it sharpens up nicely, though it lacks the micro-contrast of modern digital designed lenses. It has well controlled distortion at 20mm, decent corners, good flare control and colors. For the price and build, you won't find many modern lenses that feel as good in hand. Also it has a short focus throw and the f/2.8 aperture helps keep the viewfinder brighter.

Overall I'd say it's a keeper! It's also a nice alternative to the Nikon 17-35mm f/2.8 AF-S which unfortunately suffers from a faulty AF-S motor prone to failure. I actually think the Tokina 20-35mm has better corners than the Nikon 20mm f/1.8 G, though the Nikon 20mm is much sharper and cost more. From f/5.6 and smaller, the Tokina is decent enough to be used for landscape and architectural photography, due to it's lack of distortion.

The Tokina 20-35mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro mounted on the D750:

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Pictures of the Sigma 15-30mm f3.5-4.5 EX DG Lens and the Tokina 20-35mm f2.8 AT-X Pro Lens by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

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Pictures of the Sigma 15-30mm f3.5-4.5 EX DG Lens and the Tokina 20-35mm f2.8 AT-X Pro Lens by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

Brickwall sample at 20mm at f/2.8:

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Sample images with the Tokina 20-35mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro lens for Nikon F-Mount by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

Sample images taken with the D750:

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Sample images with the Tokina 20-35mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro lens for Nikon F-Mount by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

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Sample images with the Tokina 20-35mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro lens for Nikon F-Mount by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

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Sample images with the Tokina 20-35mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro lens for Nikon F-Mount by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

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Sample images with the Tokina 20-35mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro lens for Nikon F-Mount by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

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Sample images with the Tokina 20-35mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro lens for Nikon F-Mount by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

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Sample images with the Tokina 20-35mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro lens for Nikon F-Mount by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

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Sample images with the Tokina 20-35mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro lens for Nikon F-Mount by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

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Sample images with the Tokina 20-35mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro lens for Nikon F-Mount by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

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Sample images with the Tokina 20-35mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro lens for Nikon F-Mount by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

 

[Philinnz]

looks good, images remind me of shots I used to get with a tammy 20-40

 

[Jonathan F/2]

looks good, images remind me of shots I used to get with a tammy 20-40

Output reminds of the Nikon 70-200mm 2.8 VR I. Which was sharp, but minus the nano coated contrast from the latter lenses. The Tokina is still plenty useable for most photography unless you like to pixel peep! Also I find AFS less necessary at these wider focal lengths.