Tokina 12-24 zoom and AF failure rate

I have read of the aperture sticking problem. I wonder if it would be worth getting a Mack extended warranty with the lens.
Was the repair expensive?

I have been shooting with a V1 since it first came out and I love it. I have not seen posts before about problems with this lens. Most posts say it is built like a tank and I agree.

artyH if you look at my gear you'll see that I'm still using it with a 1D Mark II and a 1Ds that how nice a lens it is an how dependable a lens it also is.

I have had mine for about 1.5 Years with no issues. That is until recently. I am not sure what is wrong, but if I set it on anything between 12-15mm it gives an error code. It says that the contacts are dirty and need to be cleaned(on my 7D). But they are not. It also throws a more generic Err99 on my 30D, and says I have to shut it off, remove the battery, and restart the camera. But it works perfectly from 16mm - 24mm.

Russ-D If you want to use the lens at 12-15mm just set your camera to f4 and you should be ok. What's happening is the aperature ribbon cable is kinking and breaking. I finally had to send mine into Tokina and should get it back next week. Cost me $135 but they had to replace an aperture motor because I tried to repair it myself and melted one of the contacts. Probably cost around $110 to repair without motor. Might take 3 weeks though. I sent mine off and they recieved it on the 16th of June and here's the 5-6th of July will hopefully get it. IF you're carefull, you can take off your "cone" around the back lens, look at the ribbon and add a peace of tape where it kinks and it might work a little longer.

I bought the lens and had to send it in immediately for a replacement...I got a Nikon mount Tokina 12-24f4 in a Canon box. The replacement works fine.
I did get an extended warranty for this one - the Mack warranty was inexpensive and I hope that I never have to use it.
The lens is great. It is sharp and contrasty. I am glad that I got it.

When I get mine back I plan to not move the zoom back and forth out of habit. That should make the ribbon cable last a lot longer. I understand Canon has the same problem with their 17-85.

Sorry to hi-jack this thread but how do you know if you have a mark-I or a mark-II lens. Thanks

TLR wrote in post #12696805
Russ-D If you want to use the lens at 12-15mm just set your camera to f4 and you should be ok. What's happening is the aperature ribbon cable is kinking and breaking. I finally had to send mine into Tokina and should get it back next week. Cost me $135 but they had to replace an aperture motor because I tried to repair it myself and melted one of the contacts. Probably cost around $110 to repair without motor. Might take 3 weeks though. I sent mine off and they recieved it on the 16th of June and here's the 5-6th of July will hopefully get it. IF you're carefull, you can take off your "cone" around the back lens, look at the ribbon and add a peace of tape where it kinks and it might work a little longer.

Mine is still under warranty so I would hope Tokina covers it. I have discovered that it shoots in every foacl range at f:4 and 4.5. And works just fine at any f stop above 16mm. So that confirms my belief that it is the ribbon. Thanks for the info though. Do you know if the replacement cable cures the issue of the kink and break, or just fixxes it with the same cable and problem will contimue in the future. i love this lens and would like to keep it around for a lot of Years.

I don't know if they modified the ribbon or not. I ordered 2 ribbons on ebay to try and repair it myself and they weren't reinforced or anything. If they assemble it correctly by routing the cable so it doesn't get pulled so tight when in the wide angle mode it'll probably last a long time. I really think the trick is to not adjust the focal length just for the heck of it. Keep it at one spot and don't move it unless you can't stand it. The cable will kink right below where the cable is glued to the side of lens. That's why I think that if one added a small length of say gaffer's tape at the radus it'll last awhile yet but if it's under warranty I'd get it fixed asap. Unfortuneately it'll be a few weeks to get it repaired in the busy summer shooting season. I honestly think most Tokina's are built with the same ribbon arrangement, only the length of ribbon might vary from lens to lens.

Vince(Chatham) wrote in post #12696922
Sorry to hi-jack this thread but how do you know if you have a mark-I or a mark-II lens. Thanks

I don't own either version but I would guess the mark II version says DX II.
http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …_24mm_f_4_AT_X_​124AF.html

I'm assuming this is the original:
http://www.amazon.com …TF8&qid=1309807​241&sr=1-6

I'm still trying to decide between this lens and the Sigma 10-20.

Add me to the list of owners with a broken Tokina 12-24

Bought this last Spring, used off eBay ($350). Worked perfectly up until last Monday. Was out and about NYC and I started getting the Err 01. It happened while I was in B&H too

It looks like I also have the aperture ribbon problem. I can only shoot at f/4-5 at 12mm. I have to be above 16mm to use f/5.6-f/22.

I have a Mark I and bought it used off eBay so warranty repair is out. How much is it to get it repaired by THK Photo? I still have to find out how much it'll cost me to send it from NJ to CA.

This has turned me off to buying any more Tokina lenses

Ive had zero problems with my 12-24, I really like to build of tokina lens. I also have the 16-50 2.8 and its very similar build quality.

Have owned the 12-24 ver.2 for about 8 months & have had zero problems

I've only had mine for about 2 months, but I like everything about it.

Obviously if I had a problem with it, it would be the first thing I'd have mentioned - The member who tried to fix his broken aperture ribbon has posted about that countess times, so at first I didn't realize it was one person mentioning the same issue repeatedly and was a bit reluctant to buy the lens. After realizing it was one person, I went ahead and ordered it and am impressed not only with it's sharpness and color, but my version II has quite good flare control considering it is such a wide lens (the new lens coating is really the only difference I'm award of for the Canon version) - the Nikon version 1 would not work (with Af) on the cheaper Nikons with their lack of in-body screw focusing systems.

Even if this lens were to last a few years and need a $100 repair, I'd feel it was a bargain - it's half the price of the Canon, has a better build quality than the Canon, Sigma and Tamron UWA for crop cameras, and performance (and versatility - going to 24mm makes it somewhat usable as a "normal" lens on a crop body) just made it an easy choice after reading every review I could find. And the reviews proved to be right.

The fact that the lens does not have a USM type focus motor was a bit of a concern, but a lens with such a short focal length doesn't need much of a focus range, so focusing is very fast - and as accurate as any of my "L" lenses (at least with acceptable lighting).

Peace,
D.