Tokina 80-200/2.8?

Does anyone know much about this lens? How does it stack up against the Sigma 70-200/2.8? I am in the market for a lense that is about this focal length and f2.8. The Tokina is $100-$150 less than the Sigma which makes it more appealing unless it's not as good. If anyone uses this lens and can give me some feedback or sample pics I would appreciate it!!

Thanks!

Photozone http://www.photozone.d​e/ rates the lenses as follows:

Sigma AF 2.8 70-200mm EX (HSM) 4.02 (5) = very-good
Tokina AF 2.8 80-200mm AT-X Pro 3.36 (4) = good

out of a possible 5.

Whilst these numbers never tell the whole story, they are a useful guide.

I had the 70-200 f2.8 Tokina and can say that in the centre of the image it was very sharp, but at large enlargements the edges were definitely visibly softer. This was the main reason for swapping to the Canon equivalent.

A friend of mine owns the Sigma equivalent and on joint photography trips when we compared similar images you could see that the Sigma was better overall than the Tokina.

Cheers,
Barry

No expereince on the lens you ask about, but I do have a 28-70 2.8. Its built very well and I am impressed with it. The only nit-pick is that the twist zoom is backwards from Canon lenses.

My experience with Sigma was poor quality, and poorer repairs! I superglued my lens back together better than they did!!

-Pete