Tokina AT-X 11-20mm f/2.8 PRO DX

Hi guys
Just looking for advice and opinions. I've got enough funds together to buy the tokina 11-16, but I've seen that they have announced a new lens, Tokina AT-X 11-20mm f/2.8 PRO DX.

I assume this is the successor to he 11-16, so do I wait for the new lens or buy now?

There's a few things to consider:
• I'm fairly new to buying gear as money needs to be saved for any gear, so even if I wait will the lens be more expensive than the existing 11-16
• how long before the lens will be released? I could be waiting for a while!
• with the limited information released, are the improvements going to be worth the wait/cost.

I'm a pure amateur photographer and use it in conjunction with my job as a graphic designer, I learning all the time and I'm eager to get my hands on an ultra wide angle lens.

What are you using it for? I'd get the Canon 10-18mm IS if I were in your shoes unless you need stop motion at wide angle

OK nothing but opinion here but, I was very excited to hear about this lens. Then I noticed that they still kept the archaic push pull clutch even though they have developed a USM equivalent which is in their 70-200/4 and my hopes deflated. They released the 11-16 II which offered essentially nothing over the older model unless you owned a basic Nikon that didn't support AF with it. And lets face it, Tokina isn't exactly great when it comes to product delivery. Take the old 16-50/2.8. Dispite pretty good reviews, it was like 2 years of not being available at big retailers like BH and Adorama before Tokina said the heck with it, we aren't going to make it anymore.

Again and this is just my opinion, but the 11-20 will over nothing over even the first 11-16 other than 4mm on the long end at a $100 premium over the 11-16 II and who knows when it will happen: see the 16-50 above. I think the better bet is going with the 10-18 if you want to do stopped down work, or go with the Rokinon 10/2.8 or 16/2 if you want to do wide field astro/night sky work or a combination of both and still be about the same price as the 11-20. Or pick up a $350 used 11-16 I.

also the amount of time between them announcing the 70-200f4 lens, and it actually coming out was ridiculous...and then it wasn't even that good...you could always look to buy used, and if you decide to change to the newer lens once it comes out, you won't be out as much money

DreDaze wrote in post #17289784
also the amount of time between them announcing the 70-200f4 lens, and it actually coming out was ridiculous...and then it wasn't even that good...you could always look to buy used, and if you decide to change to the newer lens once it comes out, you won't be out as much money

Same with the Tokina 16.5-135mm 3.5-5.6

Thanks for the replies.
Im looking at using it for landscape photography, try my hand at astro and urban/city scapes with some timelapse as well.

My current range of lenses are limited, (nifty fifty, 55-250, stock 18-55) so Im careful about my purchases, as whatever I buy I will use a lot before I can get the funds together for my next purchase.

On the purchase of the lens I plan on a few trips to capture: manchester night skyline/timelapse, manchester airport/timelapse, possible trip to lake district for day/night shots and possible night time astro for the Geminid meteors.

I could fail miserablely at all these, but its whats floating my boat at the moment

Hopefully this will be a MASSIVE stepup from my current stock lens

I really, really hope they've done something to fix the horrible flare problem of the 11-16mm so that I can buy the new one and sell both the 10-22 and 11-16.

FEChariot wrote in post #17289720
OK nothing but opinion here but, I was very excited to hear about this lens. Then I noticed that they still kept the archaic push pull clutch even though they have developed a USM equivalent which is in their 70-200/4 and my hopes deflated. They released the 11-16 II which offered essentially nothing over the older model unless you owned a basic Nikon that didn't support AF with it. And lets face it, Tokina isn't exactly great when it comes to product delivery. Take the old 16-50/2.8. Dispite pretty good reviews, it was like 2 years of not being available at big retailers like BH and Adorama before Tokina said the heck with it, we aren't going to make it anymore.

Again and this is just my opinion, but the 11-20 will over nothing over even the first 11-16 other than 4mm on the long end at a $100 premium over the 11-16 II and who knows when it will happen: see the 16-50 above. I think the better bet is going with the 10-18 if you want to do stopped down work, or go with the Rokinon 10/2.8 or 16/2 if you want to do wide field astro/night sky work or a combination of both and still be about the same price as the 11-20. Or pick up a $350 used 11-16 I.

That extra 4mm is 25% more reach, which is the equivalent of going from a 400 to a 500. I have the V1 of the 11-16, and it does flare, though the V2 was supposedly better in that area. If the 11-20 has even better flare control, it would probably be worth the upgrade from the V1, IMO.

archer1960 wrote in post #17290414
That extra 4mm is 25% more reach, which is the equivalent of going from a 400 to a 500. I have the V1 of the 11-16, and it does flare, though the V2 was supposedly better in that area. If the 11-20 has even better flare control, it would probably be worth the upgrade from the V1, IMO.

For those who are using a 24-XX lens it might be a better pair than a 11-16 leaving much less of a gap 21-23 instead of 17-23. Its less of a concern for those with a 17 or 18-xx standard zoom though.

It's just that the 11-16 II did so little to improve flair control over the original that you might as well just call it even. I'm not getting my hopes up there.