Lens review
Tokina AT-X 124 PRO DX II AF 12-24 mm f/4
11. Summary
Pros:
- very solid, compact barrel,
- very good, momentarily even excellent image quality in the frame centre,
- good image quality at the edge of the frame,
- moderate distortion,
- good work against bright light,
- silent, quick and accurate autofocus.
Cons:
- monstrous chromatic aberration,
- noticeable coma.
Writing the test summary of the previous version of the Tokina 12-24 mm we were very positive, just pointing out high chromatic aberration and significant vignetting at 12 mm. In the case of the new model the summary’s overtone could be even more positive. Although the chromatic aberration didn’t decrease and the coma and the astigmatism even increased slightly, the build quality remains at a very high level, with the sharpness of pictures and the work against bright light improving a bit. Also the distortion and the level of vignetting at the wide angle got lower as well. There are definitely more gains than losses - the new version is better than the previous one, although still very slightly. The fact that currently there are more competitors on the market might cause some problems for the Tokina, though. What’s interesting, one of the most serious rivals might be…a well-done Tokina 11-16 mm f/2.8.
Sample shots
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Camera: Canon 50D Parameters: 12 mm, f/4.0, exp. 1/3200 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 4752×3168 pix, 5.03 MB |
Camera: Canon 50D Parameters: 18 mm, f/4.0, exp. 1/3200 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 4752×3168 pix, 4.92 MB |
Camera: Canon 50D Parameters: 24 mm, f/4.0, exp. 1/3200 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 4752×3168 pix, 4.97 MB |
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Camera: Canon 50D Parameters: 24 mm, f/8.0, exp. 1/400 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 4752×3168 pix, 4.86 MB |
Camera: Canon 50D Parameters: 18 mm, f/5.6, exp. 1/800 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 4752×3168 pix, 5.52 MB |
Camera: Canon 50D Parameters: 12 mm, f/5.6, exp. 1/800 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 4752×3168 pix, 5.36 MB |
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Camera: Canon 50D Parameters: 15 mm, f/4.0, exp. 1/2000 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 4752×3168 pix, 4.37 MB |
Camera: Canon 50D Parameters: 20 mm, f/6.3, exp. 1/640 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 4752×3168 pix, 5.16 MB |
Camera: Canon 50D Parameters: 12 mm, f/4.0, exp. 1/2000 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 4752×3168 pix, 4.6 MB |
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Camera: Canon 50D Parameters: 24 mm, f/4.0, exp. 1/400 s, ISO 200 File: JPEG, 4752×3168 pix, 4.35 MB |
Camera: Canon 50D Parameters: 16 mm, f/4.0, exp. 1/500 s, ISO 200 File: JPEG, 4752×3168 pix, 4.82 MB |
Camera: Canon 50D Parameters: 24 mm, f/4.0, exp. 1/400 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 4752×3168 pix, 4.27 MB |
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Camera: Canon 50D Parameters: 24 mm, f/5.6, exp. 1/160 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 4752×3168 pix, 4.18 MB |
Camera: Canon 50D Parameters: 24 mm, f/5.0, exp. 1/160 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 4752×3168 pix, 4.29 MB |
Camera: Canon 50D Parameters: 22 mm, f/5.0, exp. 1/160 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 4752×3168 pix, 4.38 MB |
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Camera: Canon 50D Parameters: 12 mm, f/4.0, exp. 1/2500 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 4752×3168 pix, 4.9 MB |
Camera: Canon 50D Parameters: 18 mm, f/4.0, exp. 1/1600 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 4752×3168 pix, 4.45 MB |
Camera: Canon 50D Parameters: 24 mm, f/4.0, exp. 1/3200 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 4752×3168 pix, 4.14 MB |
