LOVE Tokina 17mm More

[drisley]

Finally, after a long winter, I finally was able to get out in some nice, bright sunlight to give the Tokina 17mm ATX Pro a real test.

Check this 100% crop (http://www.mts.net/~lftbrain/20d/IMG_7065.jpg)of a photo I took yesterday.

The sun is directly over her shoulder, and there is no flare, and no loss of contrast. Also, even in this extreme situation, there is no chromatic abberation. This lens performs better (much better) in these respects than any other wide angle I've used.

The image came out of PS CS Raw with NO extra sharpening. This image takes USM very nicely.

[eosster]

How is the built quality like? looks to be very sharp lens.

[rssfhs]

Your 20D also helps! :-)

[Tom Barnett]

Stop by Timmy's before this shot?

[drisley]

Timmy's! Yupper! Rrroll up the rim to win!
Eosster, this is one lens that has almost done the impossible. It's actually built as well as most L lenses.
All aluminum barrels with a chrome-plated, brass mount plate. It's built like a tank.
It also has the smoothest manual focus ring of any lens in the Canon or third party lineup.

[dsze]

I'm with you drisley...I couldn't be happier with my Tokina 17mm. I've used it in a wedding and some portraits, but mostly for fun. Though, I'll use it in another wedding in Sept. Its SHARP, but it also has great color, low distortion and great with flare...and its built like a brick. I like being able to disengage the MF too, though some people find that hard to get used to. I think it has pretty good bokeh too.

-daniel

[Redbird_xo]

Great looking picture knowing where the sun was and it's a 100% crop. When it's time for a need of a wide-angle lens (on a 1.6x sensor dc), I'll sure to take a hard look at this gem. Thanks for sharing.

[drisley]

I can't recommed this lens enough.
Btw, all the pictures in THIS (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?p=490416#post490416) thread were taken with the Tokina, and were probably even better quality than the one above.
There were times I had to double check the EXIF because the images were so sharp I thought they may had been taken with my 50/1.8II (as I used many lenses that day).

[Dante King]

wow! Im sold. Been looking at the 10-22 ef-s to round out my lens line up. Hate the idea of a EF-S lens as I hope to some day upgrade to a D pro body. These pics look SWEET! Where did you get yours. As well, looking at some pics from the 10-22, up close in the 10mm range things get strange looking. This just might be the right lens for my wide needs.

[roanjohn]

Nice and sharp!!! I've seen this lens in Adorama.......built like a tank.....and it focuses very smoothly.

Ro1

[drisley]

Dante,
The 10-22mm is no slouch either. But then again, it costs 2-3x more than the Tokina.
17mm is a nice angle imho. With the 1.6 crop it approximates 28mm which was a fairly common wide angle on film cameras.
I bought at Adorma because it was the cheapest I could find, significantly cheaper than BH even.
DSZE, you mention the bokeh. Well, this lens has a 8 BLADE DIAPHRAM which is unreal! Even the best L lenses usually only have 8 blades. So, if you can manage to get any type of blur (which can be hard with such a wide angle) you are guaranteed to get a nice bokeh.

[Redbird_xo]

drisley, for a moment I thought you work for Tokina...jk

Seriously, the 17mm ATX-Pro is a hard to beat lens in terms of quality / price ratio. It is on sale for about US$300 locally. There were two occasions where I almost pull out the plastic to purchase this lens...

[drisley]

Hehe, yeah, I have a tendency to promote lenses too much dont I? ;)
I just know that when I sold my 300D and kit lens, I had no wide angle.
So, I did lots of research, and I really didnt want to spend the money on a 17-40L because I didn't need a zoom, and at the time I didnt shoot wide angle much.
So, the Tokina was more of a "just in case" lens for the odd time I needed it. However, I've been so impressed, it has encouraged me to shoot wide angle alot more.
After spending the first 6 months with it indoors due to the cold, I finally got to see this lens "shine" during our first warm spring weekend. Shooting at ISO100 and F8 the results are stunning, although even wide open this lens is darn good for a wide angle.
This site (http://194.100.88.243/petteri/pont/Reviews/d_Tokina_AT-X_17mm/a_Tokina_AT-X_17_mm.html) is the one that turned me on to this lens.
Also, Petteri has an article entitled "Fun at 28mm (http://194.100.88.243/petteri/pont/Photography_lessons/i_Lesson_8/a_Fun_at_28_mm.html)" in which all the shots are taken with the Tokina 17mm (as it is 28mm with the crop). It's very inspirational.

[Redbird_xo]

LOL !!! Here you go again...

The 300D kit lens is one of the reason why I still don't own the 17mm ATX-Pro. The other is that I don't wide that much (yet). Nevertheless, I like this lens for its merits.

[drisley]

The kit lens for the 300D is an awesome wide angle lens. I really liked it.
Rumours are that it was as sharp as the 17-40L stopped down.
However, it doesnt have the contrast and CA control of the Tokina.

[DocFrankenstein]

Drisley - did you correct for barrel distortion in any of the shots in THIS (showthread.php?p=490416#post490416) thread?

Damn it! Even if I burn my plastic, I remember the damn numbers by heart! :evil:

[drisley]

That link doesn't work.
But no, I never correct for barrel distortion.
That lens is extremely good in this dept too.