Tokina adds focus motor to create AT-X 116 Pro DX II wide-angle for APS-C DSLRs: Digital Photography Review

Tokina adds focus motor to create AT-X 116 Pro DX II wide-angle for APS-C DSLRs

Published Jan 27, 2012 | dpreview staff

Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX II Specifications
Focal length	11 ~ 16mm
Brightness	F2.8
Minimum aperture	F22
Lens Construction	13 elements in 11 groups
Coating	Multilayer coating
Angle of view	104 ° to 82 ° (with Nikon)
Minimum focusing distance	0.3m
Macro maximum magnification	1:11.6
Filter Size	77mm
Zoom mode	Rotating zoom
Number of aperture blades	Nine
Greatest dimension	84.0mm
Full-length	89.2mm
Weight	550g
Accessories	Flower-shaped bayonet hood (BH-77A)
Compatible Mount	Nikon digital (APS-C) :4961607-634349 Canon digital (APS-C) :4961607-634356

Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX II Specifications

Focal length

11 ~ 16mm

Brightness

F2.8

Minimum aperture

F22

Lens Construction

13 elements in 11 groups

Coating

Multilayer coating

Angle of view

104 ° to 82 ° (with Nikon)

Minimum focusing distance

0.3m

Macro maximum magnification

1:11.6

Filter Size

77mm

Zoom mode

Rotating zoom

Number of aperture blades

Nine

Greatest dimension

84.0mm

Full-length

89.2mm

Weight

550g

Accessories

Flower-shaped bayonet hood (BH-77A)

Compatible Mount

Nikon digital (APS-C) :4961607-634349
Canon digital (APS-C) :4961607-634356

Comments

All (44)

Most popular (3)

Editors' picks (0)

DPR staff (0)

Oldest first

mizioIT

Hi All,

I'm using a canon 70d and I'm looking for a wide angle lens. I will go for this Tokina but do you think the DX ii version is so much better to justify the price increase? I will use it mostly to take photos not videos...

thank you!

Sep 23, 2014permalink

ulfben

... just noticed I posted the same link twice.

Here's the 14mm one;
http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/4628562353/photos/2273581/ulf_1215_ws

Nov 26, 2012permalink

ulfben

@Frostee; I shot this lens on D600 (full frame) and find vignetting creeps in *below* 14mm.

Here's one example at 14mm:
http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/4628562353/photos/2285284/ulf1977

Here's 13mm;
http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/4628562353/photos/2285284/ulf_1977

LOVE this lens btw. Can't recommend it enough.

(seems impossible to insert images or links nowadays?)

Oct 30, 2012*permalink

Frostee

"I have both the CANON and NIKON versions, and while neither work on a full frame sensor (5D3) they are great lenses designed for APS-C."

This is not completely correct. I too have a Canon 5D # and this lens works on it at about 15mm up. Less than this the vignette is pronounced.

I cetrainly wouldn't be advocating getting this as a dedicated lens for a full frame camera, however if like me you also have a APS-C body, it is worth knowing it can be used on full frame with this limitation.

I've been using this lens for about a year on my 7D and I love it.

Oct 10, 2012permalink

RShuster

I have both the CANON and NIKON versions, and while neither work on a full frame sensor (5D3) they are great lenses designed for APS-C. It's so good, DUCLOS mods this exact lens for PL mount and adds an aperture control. Thing is - what if you don't have the extra $4000 for the Duclos version. What I've done (when using a Pan AF100) is use the stock Canon ATX116 and add a EF/EOS to Micro4/3 adapter with aperture control. Can someone comment on the optical difference between a ATX116/EF->MFT aperture adapter vs. the Duclos version on a AF100 with a PL mount adapter. The Duclos way to go is about $5000 more and curious if there is any difference at all in this comparison. Any at all. Even a little bit.

May 7, 2012permalink

AngshuArun

Waiting for DX II version, hope it'll come down to a reasonable price by the end of this year.

Mar 11, 2012permalink

jaykro

How much?

Feb 10, 2012permalink

thlc

I am saving my money now. I currently have a Nikon D60. The lens motor would be great. But I am also thinking about upgrading to a D7000. How concerned should I be about a lens motor for landscapes?

Feb 4, 2012permalink

Nicolas Alexander Otto

Tokina needs to start to produce their lenses for K-mount as well, I would love getting this lens for startrails and such. :)

Feb 3, 2012permalink

paul13walnut5

Or we could await bench tests. My example has pretty bad extreme border fringing. Not a huge problem for my stills work, can be problematic for my video work.

I do love this solid little lens and it's UWA and f2.8 make it a great video lens, but for that damn fringing.

If they resolve it, but manage to keep everything else that is good about the mk1 then I'll have my order in.

Feb 1, 2012permalink

eyewundr

If there`s a huge price difference between version 1 and version 2 then I would expect version 1 to continue to sell, at least for a while.
While the coatings on the newer lens may be a little better, version 1 is awfully good and you`ll have to look hard to see the difference.
So if you don`t need the new motor, and the price is much higher for version 2 . . . . .
The fast constant maximum aperture is one of the biggest advantages this lens has.
The narrower zoom range still offers dramatic change in field of view.
At its widest, the depth of field is so deep that an image focused on a foreground subject has a background with so little boket that most viewers don`t notice and usually photographers take a second look to pick it out.
So not a great lens for isolating a subject from the background.

Jan 29, 2012permalink

michael1234

Even for portrait lovers this could be a great addtiion. Great special effects. I used to own the first version. I am still tempted to get it but now this is awesome.

Jan 28, 2012permalink

WoodMaven

I have the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X 116 PRO DX SD which I paid under $600 for. This lens is listed on the Japanese site for 95,500 yen ($1232), putting into the realm of high-end lenses. It's a fine lens but that's an awful lot of money just for a motorized version of a wide-angle lens that probably doesn't benefit much from the motor.

Jan 28, 2012permalink

Youngjun91

I'm wondering if it's cheaper to buy in the U.S. vs. Japan (which sometimes happens). Can you tell us as a comparison how much the DX I costs in yen on that website?

May 2, 2012permalink

StevenE

This is an incredible lens. I have version 1 on a 60D, and it compares very well to my Canon 16-35 2.8 II on my 5DII. The Canon has USM and is less prone to flare. Otherwise the two lenses are both excellent.

As for the usefulness of this zoom range? This is a must have lens for video, and wide angle shots, street and otherwise, offer infinite opportunities for creative shots.

I'll buy the upgrade if the improved coatings reduce lens flare

Jan 28, 2012*permalink

brez

Damn - I just bought the old version last week :S. Apart from the focus motor which I don't need, do you foresee any major improvements? Surface coatings to cut down on glare? I haven't used my new lens enough to know if that's a problem yet

Jan 28, 2012permalink

Edac2

Damn II - I just bought one at the end of December. I waited a three years to buy it, too, hoping they'd come out with a new version or the price would go down. The original is still an amazing lens, but auto focus with my D5100 would be welcome.

Jan 28, 2012permalink

David J Taylor

I bought the Tamron 10-24 mm instead as it /does/ have a focus motor for mu Nikon 5000, as well as a wider, more useful zoom range.

Jan 29, 2012permalink

glanglois

Poor me - love to have this but I shoot Pentax for a variety of other reasons.

I cannot speak for others but this would allow me to shoot interiors of churches/cathedrals/museums stopped down to f/4 for sharpness or left at 2.8 if the interior is very dim. Many of these venues do not welcome tripods but have breathtaking wood carving and/or gilding that would greatly benefit from this.

Sigh ....

Jan 27, 2012*permalink

Jun2

buy a canon or Nikon.

Jan 28, 2012permalink

88SAL

Thats not the point. Pentax efforts of late in APSC cameras have been admirable, especially for the price point. The point is Glanglois shoot pentax, and wants the support it deserves. Pentax was once one of the TWO (with Nikon) great SLR producers, with Canon joining to make a trio through the golden SLR 70's.

Pentax is still a player, and deserves to be supported. CV supports pentax, thats a vote of confidence IMO.

Jan 28, 2012permalink

tkbslc

I don't think Tokina cares who "deserves to be supported". They can't afford to make a production run unless they can turn a profit. There's not that many Pentax shooters out there and how many of them would buy a specialized lens like this? It's a much bigger gamble on Pentax than just about any other mount and apparently not one Tokina is in a position to make.

I guess the Pentax crowd will have to settle for the 14mm f2.8, which honestly is pretty close.

Jan 28, 2012permalink

Joe Barnhart

Actually, Tokina and Pentax co-design many lenses. I think their arrangement may preclude Tokina from offering Pentax mount lenses. But this is speculation on my part from the numerous examples of Tokina/Pentax lenses where Tokina does not market a Pentax mount version. I still hope to see a Pentax DA badged version of this design at some point.

Jan 29, 2012permalink

David Kinston

One of the all-time great lenses! Why no review of it on this site?

Jan 27, 2012permalink

danm_cool

That would make a nice complement to the Nikon 17-55 lens!

Jan 27, 2012permalink

IcyVeins

This is a pretty unintersting lens, f/2.8 is almost never useful at such a wide angle, and the zoom range is very poor. The Sigma 8-16mm is the class of all wide angle lenses.

Jan 27, 2012*permalink

marike6

f2.8 is useful on any lens. Not everyone is a landscape photographer. Large aperture wides are great for low-light, street shooting , video. In fact, this is one of the most popular lenses for HDSLR video shooters, etc.

The Sigma lens is a slow, variable aperture lens. As such, I doubt it's the class of anything.

Jan 27, 2012*permalink

IcyVeins

Yeah, the Sigma only has the best image quality and widest reach of any aps-c wide angle lens on the planet. That's all.

Nobody shoots street photography at 11mm, that's ridiculously wide, not to mention you'd screw up everyone's faces, in which case you might as well use a fisheye.

The Sigma lens is flat out world class, it blows this lame lens out of the water. Wide angle lenses are for still shots, not any kind of action, and god knows why anyone would want narrow dof on a wide angle shot.

Jan 27, 2012permalink

Anton Marcu

I'm glad that you've decided for the rest of us that we shouldn't shoot street photography or action shots or shallow dof on a wide angle, maybe you can provide a list of subjects that you approve of. Sheeesh!!!

Jan 27, 2012permalink

RPJG

Hahaha, nice reply Anton. Clearly, IcyVeins has a very narrow photography world view. Wide angles are never useful for shallow DOF action? Brilliant :-)

Jan 28, 2012permalink

Adventure Image

Icy veins the lens is rectilinear so there is minimal distortion. It is not like a fisheye lens at all . I have had the nikon 10.5 fisheye and i currently have this lens (1st version) and there is no comparison. The lines are straight and the faces look normal! You have to try this lens to understand it is excellent. I will upgrade to this new version.

Jan 28, 2012permalink

eyewundr

I've shot many, many frames on Canon with version 1 of this lens.
f2.8 is VERY useful just before/at dawn and just after sunset.
This lens produces great urban landscape images and great wide shots of festivals, races, or any busy event, especially at slower shutter speeds for a little motion blur.
There is obvious rectilinear distortion at the widest end but easily corrected in DxO, or even Photoshop.
I don't see a good reason to replace v1 with v2 but if you need a wide zoom for APS-C I like this lens better than any competitors in this range.
'Doesn't compete with a $1500 wide zoom on full frame,
Duh.

Jan 28, 2012permalink

tkbslc

You don't know what you are talking about, Icyveins. This is like having a couple wide primes in the bag, and f2.8 is incredibly useful for shooting in low light. The DOF is deep regardless of aperture at angles this wide.

The Sigma 8-16 is a very dim lens. It's not the same thing at all.

Jan 28, 2012permalink

prairiewinters

and in the IcyVeins line of thinking:

a 300mm lens regardless of maker is terrible because it is so bad at wide angle.

a 20mm lens is terrible because it is so bad at telephoto shots

Jan 28, 2012permalink

mdorling

Hey IcyVeins, looking at your "uninteresting" landscapes you could do well by getting off the computer and going out taking photos.

Jan 30, 2012permalink

tkbslc

As with the 12-24, all this does is raise the price for Canon users . The current Canon one already had a motor.

Jan 27, 2012permalink

88SAL

Jan 28, 2012*permalink

EXX

And no Sony version. Bummer...

Jan 27, 2012permalink

NumberOne

The Sony version was discontinued some weeks/month ago... So, as expected, the new version doesn't offer a Sony mount.
A pity, but Tokina explained at that time, that there was not enough demand to justify its production...

Best regards,
Pedro

Feb 4, 2012permalink

A Schamber

Never ever a Pentax version...........

Jan 27, 2012permalink

viking79

At least if Pentax would make their own version, a DA* 11-16mm f/2.8 with weather sealing would be pretty nice.

Jan 27, 2012permalink

tkbslc

Might not happen how that Pentax is not under the Hoya umbrella with Tokina.

Jan 27, 2012permalink

viking79

I believe Tokina and Pentax have had dealings well before Hoya bought Pentax.

Jan 28, 2012permalink

Digitall

Good news! I want to buy this lens and have not yet purchased. I'll wait a little longer.

Jan 27, 2012permalink

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