Toki 12-24mm f/4 ordered now need some advise

[dbiggs]

just ordered myself a Toki 12-24mm f/4 because I didn't have anything very wide in my bag and now have relize that when I get it I have no idea how to use. I would like to do some landscapes and was wondering about what f stop to use in a typicle situation like a mountain scape ( I am going to Denver in September ) and how shallow a DOF will this thing have wide open. Why also does it only stop down to F 22 when the reat of my lenses go much higher that that is it to stop venigtting. Anyway I am looking foward to trying this out and was just looking for f stop suggestions for different seens the mountains wide and far away and also for a large building close in like a catherdral.

[Tee Why]

F16 ish would be good for a deep DOF, I'd avoid f22 unless really needed b/c of the softness.
In all honesty, there is no proper f stop to use. You have to decide the DOF you want taking into consideratin that changing f stop changes your shutter speed as well. Changing aperature also can affect your lens sharpness and CA to a degree. It's a matter of balancing all those factors to get what you are looking for.

[dmstraton]

Tee Why is correct.

The lens is pretty sharp at f5.6, and is very good at f8 through f16. It starts to get soft from diffraction after that, but it is not too bad honestly. If the mountains are far away and you have no foreground that you want to use for interest, you can use a wider aperture with no fear.

FYI - The lens show minimal vignetting unless you are at f4. You can see a bit at 5.6 too if you are using a polarizer, but it is not bad...easily correctable in PS.

Here are 3pix with it:
f6.3: http://flickr.com/photos/bustermcgee/183073244/in/set-72057594097360255/
f8: http://flickr.com/photos/bustermcgee/214166775/
f13: http://flickr.com/photos/bustermcgee/115684619/in/set-72057594097360255/
f10: http://flickr.com/photos/bustermcgee/122374347/in/set-72057594097390988/

Hope that helps...I really like the lens, just takes some practice.

You will see some CA in the corners at wider apertures, but it is not bad at all...I correct in PS takes 2 secs.

[4x4rock]

I never used more than f11 on my Tokina. Wide lens have very deep depth of field and even at f5.6 it covers alot of background.