Tokina 11-16 worth it?

L

leibow

Member
This seems to be THE lens to get, and from the footage/photos I've seen I definitely agree. But I hear it's not made for full frame cameras. Do you think that's going to be a problem in the near future when all cameras are full frame?

I want to pick one up but I'm just worried it won't last through the times because of this problem. I'd love to hear anyone's feedback.
 
Shoot today, worry tomorrow!
Its not like they are going to take all the crop cams and junk them.
There will be someone to buy it if you go FF in future. Just take great care of it!!
 
The 11-16 covers FF35 starting somewhere around 15mm depending on vignetting taste.
So, it can be considered at least a 16mm FF35, or slightly wider, which at the price and
quality is still a great deal for FF35!

With Epic 5k or 1D sensors you would get to use it a bit shorter/wider...

[derailing thread]I think the future sensor size of choice will be more along these in-between lines...
though a FF35 sensor with the possibility to quickly switch to this in-between-S35-andFF35 sensor
area will be the real mutha![/derailing thread]
 
Who said all camera are going to be full frame in the future?

I think APS-C cameras have thier place and, no matter how good Full Frame Sensors get, smaller sensors will always be cheaper and faster. (Look at the 7d - 8fps vs the 5dmkii's 3.9fps).

It's more a question of whether YOU personally want to go full frame or not in the future. For me, I'd prefer to stick with APS-C for stills or video, becuase I shoot mostly sports and events where the deeper DOF and longer lenses are beneficial. Plus it's a lot cheaper. If you do choose to go Full Frame in the future, then you should be able to get a decent return on the 11-16 because it is a very popular lens.
 
For $600.00ish I think that lens is going to be a great investment, if I can find one of 'em for sale. I don't think we are going to see the adaptation of FF35 as the sensor size for digital cinema/videography, at the level where I am going to be feeding at any ways, for quite some time.
 
USLatin said:
The 11-16 covers FF35 starting somewhere around 15mm depending on vignetting taste.
]
Click to expand...

That's good to know. I'm looking at getting that lens for the 550D, but also planning to pick up the next generation of 5D when it's released. Is it possible to find a still frame to show the result of the 11-16 on a FF body, and post it.
Thanks
 
I agree that full frame DSLRs are going to continue to get cheaper over the short term. The APS-C sensors are getting so densly packed that full frame gives some room for expansion. It is the next ground Canon and Nikon can battle over. I bet we see T2i priced full frame bodies within 3 years. Keeping all this in mind, I went away from the typical lens choice on this board. Instead of the canon EF-S 16-55 2.8 (or the Tamron/Tokina 2.8 with similar focal range and APS-C only) I went with the 17-40 F4L.

The thing is that even though I am full frame user (have one at work) I STILL bought the tokina 11-16 and I LOVE it! I there are so many shots that I can get with this that would be impossible without it (it is equal to around 18mm on full frame). It also works well at longer focal lengths on full frame AND you can use the cool vignetting it does all the way wide as an effect that works well!
 
deltoidjohn said:
no matter how good Full Frame Sensors get, smaller sensors will always be cheaper and faster. (Look at the 7d - 8fps vs the 5dmkii's 3.9fps).
Click to expand...

What you are saying makes sense, and is a great point, but the read speed only has to do with the processing power of the recording system. Epic can process 1.5 Gigapixels a second... which allows for 125fps at 5k. Once we get up there you are only trading in slow-motion framerates.

deltoidjohn said:
It's more a question of whether YOU personally want to go full frame or not in the future. For me, I'd prefer to stick with APS-C for stills or video, becuase I shoot mostly sports and events where the deeper DOF and longer lenses are beneficial.
Click to expand...

Exactly. That is why Epic (and Scarlet) will the real muthas here, allowing you to shoot nearly any sensor area under the sun that fits within it's largest active sensor area.

ROCKMORE said:
That's good to know. I'm looking at getting that lens for the 550D, but also planning to pick up the next generation of 5D when it's released. Is it possible to find a still frame to show the result of the 11-16 on a FF body, and post it.
Thanks
Click to expand...

I wish I had one. I should have disclaimed that this is based on Rockwell's review and not from personal experience. Most people with 5D's etc gravitate towards the 16-35mm or 14mm prime so I am yet to see one posted. I think you will need a little adapter btw.

Sane, could you please post the same image (locked tripod) through the zoom range? No need to post them big either, little 12.5% re-sized versions attached to the post is all we need. That would be supercalifragilistic of you.
 
USLatin said:
Sane, could you please post the same image (locked tripod) through the zoom range? No need to post them big either, little 12.5% re-sized versions attached to the post is all we need. That would be supercalifragilistic of you.
Click to expand...

I am not sure what you are asking for. You want me to throw the t2i with the 11-16 on a tripod and shoot a still at 11,12,13,14,15 & 16? What aperature are you looking for? Give me specific parameters and I will try to do this for you. We are super slammed right now, but if the sun comes out tomorrow I can possibly do it. Oh ya, do you mean the 11-16 on a 5Dii?
 
Here is a re-post of some of my 11-16 shots::


I just went out yesterday for around 3 hours shooting stills with the 11-16 and it is nothing short of amazing. You can download some of my selects here (watch out, 66MB). These are all shots of the Ballard neighborhood in Seattle WA (all shots with the T2i and Tokina 11-16).

http://www.saneproductions.com/Tokina_11-16.zip



Here are a few samples::

sage.jpg

staple_pole_2.jpg

tanks.jpg

train_hitch_3.jpg

warped_sign_stop.jpg

 
I like your first and fourth shots.

Yea, I do mean on your full frame camera. The best would be a white wall, evenly lit, hopefully from behind the camera. A vignetting at FF35 test. Then if you feel adventurous, you could shoot a few real world application of the length where vignetting starts to creep in but doesn't really kill the usability, then the same shot at a length that should be acceptable for everyone.
 
mmm, I think Ken Rockwell's review covers that pretty well.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tokina/11-16mm.htm

Since I have to go to work and get the 5Dii to do that, I may hold off until I need to use the 5Dii for a shoot and try to do these shots at the same time. Sorry man, I don't think I really want to do that right now when I could get some cheese fries with gravy instead :)
 
saneproductions said:
mmm, I think Ken Rockwell's review covers that pretty well.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tokina/11-16mm.htm

Since I have to go to work and get the 5Dii to do that, I may hold off until I need to use the 5Dii for a shoot and try to do these shots at the same time. Sorry man, I don't think I really want to do that right now when I could get some cheese fries with gravy instead :)
Click to expand...

Ken does say it works and says the corners are soft wide open, but doesn't show any examples. It would be interesting to see some tests of the 11-16 on a 5D at 16mm view at a few different fstops. If that will work as a FF 16mm it would be hard to resist.
 
Yeah... I have this friend who is so concerned about future proofing all his equipment. He's like: "When everything is RAW and Full Frame, that's when I'm going to purchase."

But hell, that could be a few years from now, and in the mean time, I'm just going to guy my equipment and just shoot and make stuff. There is no future proof with technology. Just buy now and cry later. In reality, a few thousand dollars in camera equipment is a pretty minor investment when it comes to equipment. I have to buy a new Macintosh every few years and that's like 4 grand every time. Just the cost of business and art.

As for APS-C, seeing how the 7D and the T2i are probably two of the biggest sellers in Canon history, I don't think it's going anywhere. It certainly out sold the 5D by a huge margin.

Plus, I like APS-C because I shoot Surfing. Plus, you can get APS-C lenses that are optically just as good as any lens for quite a bit cheaper. APS-C is also nice because it's the exact same crop as 35mm motion picture cameras which makes the same crop as people have been shooting with for decades and decades.

So in short, just get it now and make some art as opposed to worrying about whether it will work in a few years and not be making anything. There will always be something better.

As for the Tokina 11-16, it is a really good lens. Great for stills. For video, I find that it moires quite a bit more than a regular zoom because it's so wide and there is so much DOF. But it's more than useable, but yeah... you have to watch out what you shoot because of the Moire. Sometimes, you have to shoot at a softer focus because of that issue.
 
Yeah, I would just like to see someone else post stuff to corroborate rockwell's findings. And a white wall would help notice the vignetting, which would be interesting to see at ~15 and 16. Plus there is always this for a reason: http://www.kenrockwell.com/gallery.htm

Gene, tell your friend about Epic 645.
 
no no, I am ok. Just busy at work right now. I didn't make it over to get the camera, but I did get in some lounging around, drinking espresso, playing video games and watching tv.
 
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