Tokina AT-X 11-20mm
Fast and constant, Tokina’s latest wide-angle zoom for APS-C format DSLRS ticks most of the boxes…
Fast and constant, Tokina’s latest wide-angle zoom…
over recent years, Tokina has become something of a wide-angle zoom specialist. Its popular 11-16mm lens for APS-C format cameras dates back to 2008. A Mk II edition was launched back in 2013 but the Canon-fit version was only a minor refresh, with updated coatings. This 11-20mm goes further, literally, by extending the overall zoom range while still maintaining a constant-aperture design, delivering f/2.8 at all focal lengths. One of the things that made the original 11-16mm lens so popular was its combination of sturdy build and good optical performance at an attractive selling price. The 11-20mm feels similarly robust and features a weather-seal ring on its mounting plate, which is
lacking in both of Canon’s own-brand 10-22mm and 10-18mm wide-angle zooms for APS-C format SLRS. The Tokina has better build quality than the latter, Canon’s 10-18mm lens being lightweight with a plastic mounting plate, and feeling flimsy by comparison. But, the Tokina lacks the budget Canon lens’s image stabilization.
An up-market optical design includes two all-glass moulded elements and three SD (Super-low Dispersion) elements. At 560g, the Tokina is nearly two and a half times heavier than the Canon 10-18mm. This is partly because of the metal rather than plastic mounting plate, but also due to the forward optical elements having a larger diameter, to enable the f/2.8 aperture compared with the Canon’s f/4.55.6 variable rating. As such, the filter thread is also larger, at 82mm compared with the Canon’s 67mm.
Canon’s 10-22mm lens has a fast and very quiet ring-type ultrasonic
The Tokina is impressively sharp, even when shooting wide-open at f/2.8, at the short end of the zoom range
autofocus system with full-time manual override. The 10-18mm lens has a stepping motor system, which is also quick and quiet, and enables override of autofocus with an electronically coupled ‘fly-by-wire’ focus ring. By contrast, the Tokina has a more basic electric motor with the company’s trademark ‘One-touch Focus Clutch Mechanism’. This enables you to switch between autofocus and manual focus by snapping the focus ring forward or backward. Either way, you need to be careful not to nudge the ring accidentally, inadvertently switching between auto and manual focusing. On balance, we prefer the manual override facilities.
Performance
The Tokina is impressively sharp, even when shooting wide-open at f/2.8, at the short end of the zoom range. During our tests, however, sharpness was let down by inconsistent autofocus accuracy. The autofocus system is quick considering it’s based on an electric motor, but is still rather noisier than in the competing Canon, Sigma and Tamron lenses. Levels of colour fringing are typical for this type of lens but distortion is negligible at the long end of the zoom range.