Tokina 100 f2.8 AT-X Macro Lens

PaulieC

just fyi

I was in Rafferty's chemist in Stillorgan earlier today and they have a limited number of these in stock for sale at 349 euros, normally 499.

Nice lens, really solid construction. might get one myself

Borderfox

Tokina are built like tanks, great price for Dublin

Roen

Are they made by dyslexic Nikon engineers? I read somewhere that they are the same parent company as Nikon (so I'm not joking btw).

That lens looks like a steal at that price (for a local outlet). Snap it up I say!

PaulieC

Roen wrote:

Snap it up I say!

kinda wish I hadn't seen it now. I was hoping to get a 70-200 of some description in the summer. Plus, I don't think I could do justice to a macro lens, looking at some of the stuff people post here and on flickr, I feel like I'd just be doing an imitation of what's already been done.

bovril

cambo_gueno wrote:

I feel like I'd just be doing an imitation of what's already been done.

That's sometimes how I fell alright but it's not the attitude to have. Sure even the people who you are saying you'd be imitating are probably in some way imitating someone else and the chain goes on. If you're taking photos as a hobby and you need want to learn why not have a look at other peoples photos and try to take similar. Then down the line you can develop your own style. I hope this will happen with me anyway.

Borderfox

what 70-200 are you getting?

PaulieC

bovril wrote:

That's sometimes how I fell alright but it's not the attitude to have. Sure even the people who you are saying you'd be imitating are probably in some way imitating someone else and the chain goes on. If you're taking photos as a hobby and you need want to learn why not have a look at other peoples photos and try to take similar. Then down the line you can develop your own style. I hope this will happen with me anyway.

Thanks Bovril, but it's not really helping with the trying not to buy the lens that I didn't think I wanted two days ago

Borderfox wrote:

what 70-200 are you getting?

Not sure Keith. I had the 70-300 off you, but I couldn't get a sharp shot with it. I figure I might go fo the Sigma f2.8 for a few reasons:
- it's cheaper than the Canons (except for maybe the f4.0)
- it's black
- I don't need weather protection. If it's raining, then I'm not going out

I might go for the new Sigma 50-150 2.8 and a 2x converter for occasional use. But it's amoot point at the moment as I ain't got the cash for any of them.
Unless you're selling ??

Borderfox

I would reccomend not getting a 2x TC for any lens, quality goes out the window. I got lots of sharp shots out of the Sigma, just needs lots of light and technique too. 50-150 is really compact, I seen one in Blanch. Sigma 70-200 f2.8 is excellent and try for a 2nd hand one if you cant afford new. I am a Sigma junkie, just got a 50-500 last weekend for scaring kids!

PaulieC

Borderfox wrote:

I would reccomend not getting a 2x TC for any lens, quality goes out the window. I got lots of sharp shots out of the Sigma, just needs lots of light and technique too. 50-150 is really compact, I seen one in Blanch. Sigma 70-200 f2.8 is excellent and try for a 2nd hand one if you cant afford new. I am a Sigma junkie, just got a 50-500 last weekend for scaring kids!

you monster!! Yeah I think it will be the Sig 70-200 when I get around to saving for it. The money isn't really a problem, I'm just trying to force myself to save for it instead of just splashing out when I get the urge. I figure I'll enjoy it better that way when I do get it, otherwise I'd have millions of lenses. I've bought two since Christmas. First a 28-135IS, but I wanted faster so I've sold that and got the Sigma 24-70 2.8, which really is lovely. So, at the moment I've got Sigma from 10-20 and 24-70. 70-200 should finish me off nicely...

pete4130

cambo_gueno,

I have one of the Sigma 50-150 2.8 at the end of December (a friend brought it over from NY when she came to visit so I saved a bit of cash on it). I have to say mine is niecly sharp lens, even at 150mm @ 2.8! Sometime I do feel that it is a touch short (its a 225mm equivelant on my D200). I did think about getting the Sigma 70-300 APO for €199 but its another big piece of glass in my already packed camera bag.
I thought about a 2x TC which I could effectively use on most of my lenses (making my Sigma 18-50 2.8 into a nice 36-100 macro!). I know the Sigma APO 2x TC only works with a small selection of lenses (and the 50-150 isn't one of them!).
I went into Berminghams last weekend asking about 2x TC and they had Kenko Teleplus 2x TC (€179) which I was told are one the sharpest TC's you can get as they have 7 elements. I tried it out with my 50-150 and I have to say, there was no notceable difference in sharpness. I'll repost a 100% crop later today when I get home to show you. Granted the autofocus was slower and did hunt a small touch but thats due to the decrease in light and contrast which is unavoidable with a TC. Maybe I just got lucky with a good lens and a good TC but I would have been more than happy with how sharp the 2 worked together.
the only drawback of the 50-150 is its price tag...and then add on another €179 for a TC it certainly adds up. It almost makes sense to spend the extra few bucks on the 50-500 that borderfox bought. There isn't much in it with the speed of the lenses but the 50-500 definitly has the the much bigger focal length!

For the price I think the Sigma 70-300 APO Macro (make sure its the one with the red band around the end of the lens, not gold band...the red band ones are the newer ones!) is a good lens for the price and you get a decent focal length with it too. You can always crop slightly too to make things a bit tighter.

Pete.

PaulieC

Thanks Pete, I was finding it hard to get any sort of reviews for that lens, so good to hear some first hand experience. I actually had the Sigma 70-300 APO Macro, bought it off Borderfox here, but I just couldn't use it. Hands must be too shaky, I couldn't get a sharp image from it, even in bright light. I know that lens wasn't faulty in any way because Borderfox was able to get sharp from it. Anyway, having had that and previously a 28-300 Sigma, I think that 200 is probably long enough for me...

pete4130

Cambo,

Yeah, the reviews on the 50-150 are almost impossible to get. I took a risk getting it and didn't really used it too much during the darker months. I'm not really a long lens shooter but I'm learning. I too used to have a Sigma 28-300 shooting film and found that it had alot of distortion, wasn't very sharp and wasn't very fast either. It couldn't focus very close either so it pretty much got left at home most of the time. I got a sigma 28-135 macro instead and found this to reasonably ok shooting film if not a little short. When I went digital I found the 28-135 was terribly unsharp at longer focal lengths(although it was reasonably sharp when used at 135 switched to macro?).
Anyway, my point being that I though the 28-300 would cover everything I needed. In reality I found its performance lacking as it was simply asking too much of a lens to cover that focal range for the price. I regretted not going for the slightly shorter Sigma 28-200 in hindsight...I'd probably still be using it now?

Pete.

pete4130

Cambo,

Here is the 100% crop and the full image of the shot I took using the Sigma 50-150 with the Kenko 2x TC attached. I didn't do any sharpening to the image in PS, its straight from the camera bar some exposure adjustments in the RAW editor. I think you could agree its still very sharp even with the TC attached.

Pete.

100% crop




Full image

Borderfox

I bought one of the Kenko TC's when I got the Sigma 70-200 f2.8 but it wouldnt work with it, I kept getting errors. I think I had to tape up some of the pins on it to get it to work. I got a Sigma 1.4x TC in the end and was very happy with that result. Great quality on your copy! Cambo I hate saving up for things I just buy it and make work to pay it off

magicbastarder

cambo_gueno wrote:

Plus, I don't think I could do justice to a macro lens, looking at some of the stuff people post here and on flickr, I feel like I'd just be doing an imitation of what's already been done.

that's part of the learning process though, figuring out how to get the most out of something by dipping your toe in what's familiar, so you can see exactly where you're going wrong.

PaulieC

ah c'mon lads, stop encouraging me! I'm trying to be responsible in my purchases!!
Now you're making me think of Irishtown nature reserve in the summer and all the macro potential there. Damn you all!!