Full review of the Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8 lens.
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| Box and contents |
Works on full frame sensors without APS-C size capture on, but clips corners hard between 11-14mm, although not bad at 15-16mm stopped down some.
There is no “distance integration” with this lens, and who cares? The entire focal length isn’t covered by the camera’s pop-up flash, so don’t use the flash with this lens, otherwise you’ll see a bright middle, and dark sides, along with a big shadow at the bottom from the lens at the super wide end. You’ll need to get an accessory flash to cover 16mm, and use a wide angle diffuser for the 11-15mm range. Also, if you absolutely need a little flash, use pre-flash TTL instead of ADI flash in the menu, otherwise the flash won’t work right.
The 11-16mm focal length covers roughly the same area as 16.5-24mm on a 35mm film or full frame digital camera.
Requisite product shots.
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| Side shot showing AF/MF slide ring |
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| Moving front group |
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| Back side, only five contacts |
General information and specifications.
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Lens
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Box contents
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Front cap, rear cap, hood, and users manual.
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Cost
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Approximately $659
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Build quality
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Very good.
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Additional information
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Shorter zoom range than its rivals.
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| Specifications below |
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Optical configuration
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13 elements in 11 groups
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Angle of view
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104˚-82° APS-C
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Aperture
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9 blades, curved
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Full frame and APS-C
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Made for APS-C cameras only, but will work on full frame using APS-C size capture.
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Depth of field and focus scales?
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Focus distance scale in window.
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Minimum focus, image plane to subject
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About 11.5″ (292mm)
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Minimum focus, end of lens barrel to subject
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About 6″ (152mm)
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Hard stop at infinity focus?
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No.
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Length changes when focusing?
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No.
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Focus ring turns in AF?
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No
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Filter size
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77mm.
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Filter ring rotates?
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No
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Distance encoder?
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No
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Max magnification
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1:11.6 or 0.09x
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Min. F/stop
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F/22
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Sony teleconverter compatible?
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No
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Length changes when zooming?
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No
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Dimensions WxL (my measurements)
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3.3″ x 3.6″ 84mm x 91mm, widest at filter ring.
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Maximum extended length (my measurements)
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3.6″ (91mm)
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Weight bare (my scale)
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19.2oz (546g) bare
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| Strong barrel distortion at 11mm |
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| Moderate barrel distortion at 12mm. |
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| Minor barrel distortion at 14mm. |
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| Minor barrel distortion at 16mm. |
There is barrel distortion noticeable at all focal lengths, being strongest at the super-wide end, and quite minimal near 16mm. This barrel distortion has a simple curve, and can be straightened well in post processing.
Bokeh samples.
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11mm F/2.8
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11mm F/4
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16mm F/2.8
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16mm F/4
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Bokeh looks harsh at F/2.8, and somewhat smooth at F/4, 11mm, but still harsh at all apertures as you zoom out. It’s really hard to get any background blur (especially at 11mm!) unless you focus on something very close. Bokeh is out of focus highlight blur, and not simply how far out of focus the background is.
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11mm F/2.8
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11mm F/4
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16mm F/2.8
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16mm F/4
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Light fall-off is not something to worry about with this lens. Adding a regular thick type filter makes the corners just a hair darker at 11mm, F/2.8 only, but not noticeable in real pictures.
Full image light fall-off.
This image of my backyard shows light fall-off at 11mm, F/2.8, which is very minimal. Specs, 11mm, F/2.8, ISO 200, 1/2000sec, +0.30eV.
Flare and ghosting.
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Red arcs and other ghosts 11mm, F/5.6.
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Ring and pink/blue spots near center, 16mm, F/5.6.
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11mm, F/2.8.
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11mm, F/4.
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Let’s check out the macro capabilities of this lens.
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| As close as you can get, F/5.6. No larger image. |
Lateral color fringing.
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| Color fringing crop from far right side, 11mm, F/5.6 |
This crop is from the last 700 pixels on the middle right side. I see some moderate purple and cyan color fringing along the wall openings, but is mostly removable in RAW using CA sliders.
The Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8 lens has some really nice features, like a great build quality and constant fast aperture. It also has some areas that need serious updating.
The Tokina performs superbly at the shorter focal lengths, with sharp centers that nearly match the mid-sections and corners when stopped down. It has some of the sharpest corners of any super wide zoom I’ve ever tested, and that’s saying something! Light fall-off is almost non-existent, even with a wide open aperture! Build quality is first rate, and it uses standard 77mm filters, another plus for this lens.
Unfortunately, this lens has some problems, and one of them is a deal breaker for me. First, the smaller problems; at longer focal lengths like 15-16mm, overall sharpness is only average, not great like at shorter lengths. Ghosting control is below average for a super wide zoom of the twenty first century, so keep strong lighting out of the image if possible. Color fringing is about average for this type of lens, but it is manageable. Next is the focal length, it’s awfully short, and almost too short for interior and real estate photographers, where you need to be around 15-16mm for most shots (see first problem above), any wider and the image just looks wrong. Finally, the deal breaker; Tokina’s AF system on my copy is extremely inaccurate, and easily the worst I’ve ever encountered. It’s not my camera, but it could be Tokina quality control. You could focus manually, but why should you at the price of this lens? Usually, I’ve found that setting the focus to the infinity mark and stopping down to F/5.6-8 gives great results on Sigma super wide zooms, but not the Tokina, it’s not reliable at infinity, sometimes you need to run it to the hard stop past infinity for a sharp shot. Reviewing the image and confirming that it’s sharp after taking the shot is the only way to use this lens in my opinion.
More than likely Tokina isn’t paying a licensing fee to Sony to be able to use its AF protocol, therefore, Tokina has to back-engineer Sony’s AF system. Apparently, they don’t know how. They should probably try to get a Sigma engineer to jump ship and deliver a good working copy of their ass backwards designed AF System for Sony, because it’s much better than Tokina’s!
Check out this comparison test between three super-wide zoom lenses.
Last thoughts; this is a good lens for someone that will use it at the widest focal lengths, (where it performs with unmatched excellence in sharpness), and check their shots for the proper focusing. For all others; forget this lens and get the better Sigma 10-20mm F/3.5 for the same price, or the Sigma 10-20mm F/4-5.6 for substantially less money.
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Sample crops from the centers, mid-sections and corners.
11mm.
Wow! I see a sharp frame at F/2.8, and super sharp frame at F/5.6, that’s excellent performance, and about as good as it gets with a super wide zoom.
14mm.
Things here look very similar to the 11mm crops, and that’s great. As a side note; I’m not sure if the above crops were taken at 14mm or 13mm. There is no 14mm EXIF reading at this focal length, but the data says 13mm, however, I think I took this set at 14mm.
16mm.
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