Lens review

Tokina AF 193 19-35 mm f/3.5-4.5

3. Build quality

Looking at this lens’s pictures online you don’t get that feeling but when you take the Tokina 19-35 into your hand and move its rings there is a sense of déjà vu about it. Well, at least those who used to shoot with cameras of the Zenit and Practica class and all the types of Helioses. Jupiters, Pentacons or products of Zeiss from Jena will feel it for sure. It simply brings tears to your eyes to think about it. After all, we speak here of a lens smelling of novelty, not a used instrument bought in a second-hand shop or on an Internet auction. The build aesthetics, the colours, the solidity of raw and omnipresent metal, exactly as it used to be…To tell you the truth the situation is even better than it used to be because the lens features an autofocus motor, cooperating with modern Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Sony bodies.

The solidity and certain roughness of the barrel (although it sounds perhaps too negative) didn’t influence the dimensions and the weight of the Tokina. The lens is smaller than its competitors from Canon, Tamron or Sigma, as you can check it yourself in the photo below, positioned near the Tamron 17-35 mm. The weight of the Tokina is comparable to the weight of this class lenses from other producers.

The same can be said about the inner construction. Tokina decided to use 13 elements positioned in 11 groups. The producer indicates that at least one element was made of high-refraction, low-dispersion (HLD) glass

Additionally, the Tokina 19-35 mm is equipped with inner focusing system and aperture change so when you zoom the lens and set its focus the outer dimensions don’t change and the front element doesn’t rotate, allowing you to work comfortably using filters of different kinds.