Review on Tokina 11 16Mm 2 8 Digital Lens by Cynthia Bennett

Over the last few months, my passion for photography has increasingly found its way into my professional life. As my skills developed, the benefit of using photography to highlight some of my clients' work became a compelling selling point and added another aspect to the list of services I can offer them. However, the transition to indoor photography also brought new challenges due to the current limitations of my equipment. A wide-angle lens is essential for this type of photography. Even though I carry around a five-year-old Canon Rebel XSi camera (and yes, there are some niche categories where such a camera is more than adequate for professional use), the biggest hurdle was the lack of a true wide-angle lens, since the lens in the kit itself wide (18mm) not wide enough when the crop factor kicks in. The barrel distortion that a kit lens produces is terrible at such a long focal length. In truth, this focal length can be thought of as a specialized tool, just as interior photography is a specialized subset of the photographic spectrum. With such a focused approach to meeting these needs, you need something that is a master at the job. Luckily, Tokina has created a wonderful lens that can meet the specific needs of photographers in my circle. Tokina 11-16 is a wonderful lens. It's fast, solidly built and very sharp at certain f-stops. Yes, it has the same issues as this type of lens and some of its flaws are hard to overlook, but overall it's a great lens. Why is he good? It has an aperture of f2.8 throughout the zoom range, meaning that in low light it doesn't sacrifice f-stop reduction when switching to higher focal lengths. An f2.8 aperture with a wide-angle lens might not be necessary, but it's there, and having such a large aperture can be a boon when you want to maintain low ISOs in certain situations. In my case, I mount the lens and camera on a tripod just to keep the horizon level and minimize the need for post-processing. Handheld shots were good in good light, and the nature of the focal length allows me to use fast shutter speeds of less than 1/50th of a count. Would you leave f2.8 for these shots? Depends on your sharpness requirements. I found my copy to be fairly sharp but not too sharp handheld at f2.8 on the 16mm end. Their quality depends on how well you can keep yourself in a stable position and the available light. Although in such conditions you are still asking for trouble. When I use my lens properly and for its intended purpose, I see its capabilities shine. When you mount this suction cup on a tripod in the right light and open the aperture to f5.6 and above for deep focus, the Tokina 11-16 delivers impressive, sharp and detailed results. Images are crisp, lines are straight and details are sharp. It is suitable for a lens for indoor use. However, there are a few caveats. First, there will always be a problem with chromatic aberrations with such wide-angle lenses. As this is a fairly wide-angle lens, I encountered HA, particularly magenta fringing, when working with windows on a bright, sunny day. Look for the pixels, you will find. You can always fix it in a post, but sometimes I find it a bit overkill. As for the subject I shoot, window decorations and curtains, I can't avoid it since I always shoot towards a window in broad daylight. Ideal? Probably not, but I've looked into this enough to know what I should do to fix it in a post. Second, there is the problem of barrel distortion. It's not a huge problem with this lens, but it shows up at 11mm and practically disappears in the 13-16mm range. A small thing, but still there is something to consider. That's not enough to get rid of this lens. And finally, one more little thing is the "zoom” section. At 11-16mm, it doesn't quite match the Canon 10-22 EF-S in terms of zoom range. However, I find this range suits my needs and as I said above, this is a specialty lens. By nature, this is a tank. It's a solid build and a significant weight. The focus and zoom rings have good travel and feel solid. You have to work at it to get what you want and I like that. There are also no moving parts to retract or extend the lens like some other zoom lenses. Tokina is also kind enough to give you a lens hood to avoid flair. Nice gesture. Finally, inherent in this lens is that it only works on cameras with a crop sensor. Some may look down on it, but that is the nature of the animal. If you want to go full frame you will be hampered by the severe vignetting that occurs when using this lens on full frame cameras such as the 6D, 5D and 1DX. It is not recommended to take this puppy with you on the mend. Overall I think this is an acceptable barrier for what you get in return. With its high IQ and build, minimal barrel distortion and wide zoom range, you can't go wrong with the Tokina 11-16. I would recommend it.