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What is wrong with this lens?

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Sosua

Sosua

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Hi there,

Just recieved my new Tokina 12-24 lens today (shipped very promptly from B&H in NYC to New Zealand) and put it through its paces on my D300 this afternoon.

I've owned another copy of this lens in the past which was very good and I know about softness issues at the long end until stopped down, but what I found was quite bad.

12mm-18mm its sharp and contrasty - stopping down only improves the farthest corners and DOF - great, as expected, perhaps a little better than expected.

But.... 20mm to 24mm its TERRIBLE wide open and dosnt improve till F8-11 - its got a hazy glow (reminicent of a F1.4 wide open or something) from F4-5.6:

All below samples manual focus using Live view, tripod, cable release, MLU, Raw with only std Capture one sharpening:

20mm F4:



20mm F11:



24mm F4:



24mm F11:



Now, its not quite a deal breaker for me, because I tend to shoot from 12-18mm anyway and usually stopped down to F8-11 anyway, so it IS serviceable for me, but really - this looks a bit beyond just a 'bad copy'?

Any thoughts welcomed.

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WOW I just had a peek to see why from bh .....jeepers, the Aussie $ is at 0.87

but wow ...I though this was just an abberation at the pricy end (some kind of snobbery) ...a zeiss 100/2 in Oz is $3080 from US its 1800 with freight.

I dont know the lens but if its crook, it goes back ...nothing but the best for a kiwi, whats the bh policy on international returns ....maybe try again.

Besides if you ever go to sell it ...

--
..

ɹǝpunɥɔ uǝɯ puɐ sʍoןɟ ɹǝǝq ǝɹǝɥʍ
ɹǝpun-uʍop puɐן ǝɥʇ ɯoɹɟ
..
 
Yes - NZretail on this is about $1300NZ, but I can land it from the states for under $700NZ...

Their return policy is 15 days so I could, although i'd have to courier it back to NYC at my expense then wait for another sample and cross my fingers (and pay GST at NZ customs for the second time LOL).

I might do some 'proper shooting' over the weekend and see how it goes - like I said, i'm usually at F8-11 with an ultrawide anyway so perhaps I can live with it...

--

Working on a new site, until then, enjoy:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?aid=17828&id=766766994

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?aid=67118&id=766766994&op=6
 
no way should you have to live with this. Clearly faulty or just not good to begin with. To have a lens you can't use at f4 if you wanted to is not acceptable.
 
I don't think the lens is performing correctly at F11 either. It appears pretty soft to me. That lens is usually tack sharp. Why would you have to pay customs or a replacement? That isn't even fair. Dave
--
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Sosua said:
All below samples manual focus using Live view, tripod, cable release, MLU, Raw with only std Capture one sharpening:
Click to expand...
Hi,

I have the Tokina 12-24 and it's tack sharp throughout so I was quite surprised when I first read through your post and on first sight, it seems that the lens is faulty. However, the sentence above just makes me question this a little before drawing any conclusions!

Have you actually tried using AF to do the focusing? If so, is it still producing OOF resuts at those focal lengths? If you're using manual focus, do you refer to the 'green' focus confirmation dot? ( I presume the D300 has this feature).

The reason I ask is that I had some fdifficulty when I first got my D200 and using it manually to focus on subjects. It wasn't until I adjusted the eye correction at the eyepiece precisely, that I got accurate focus. It looked in focus through the viewfinder but, when viewed onscreen, the images were just like you are getting.

At shorter focal lengths, your lens even if moderately off-focus will still look much sharper due to the deeper DOF which can be misleading.

Obviously if you have tried the above and it still produces poor results then it is clearly faulty.

On another note, I once bought a brand new, still in the box 35-70 AF D f2.8 - it was an absolute pig particularly at the long end and I had to send it back for a refund so, brand new doesn't always mean it is perfect. If yours is faulty, then the seller should refund any extra tax liability if the supply you with a replacement.
Tony

--
The only thing that gets sharper with use is a woman's tongue!
http://www.le-femme.co.uk
 
I am curious too as to testing wth manual focus, I mean that's about your eyesight (for the most part) not the camera's focus accuracy. Test AF on a tripod as you did and see what you get. I own this lens and it is sharp wide open, that was one of the reasons for getting it.
--
Lora

I've been on Dpreview since June 2006. Unfortunately, some posting history has been lost along the way...

 
They are all right about the import duties ...

An invoice accompanying the replacement lens for $0.00 and marked as warranty replacement should do it.

in Oz (you might know where that is) the threshold is AU$1000 so a lot of sport can be had ...especially if your suppliers provide you with personal service. I use bh for small purchases and specialty suppliers where I can know a person's name ;) ...for everything else.

Even with the postage/insurance you are still ahead.
Hope it all works out for you.
--
..

ɹǝpunɥɔ uǝɯ puɐ sʍoןɟ ɹǝǝq ǝɹǝɥʍ
ɹǝpun-uʍop puɐן ǝɥʇ ɯoɹɟ
..
 
It would pay to talk with NZ customs before returning the lense. I'm sure they will give you some form of credit note so you will not get charged for the replacement lense to come into the country.
 
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