Spiders and Shrooms (with a small review on the Tokina 35mm macro)

Hey all,

I bought a used Tokina 35mm macro last week, and today I finally had the chance to take it outdoors during my lunchbreak.
Some of my first thoughts about it:

• It focuses very easily around macro distances (with help of the focus limiter switch). Almost no noticeable hunting and AF kept working while I was really close to my subjects.
  
• The focus limit switch works in two ways. If you set it while in macro focus range, it limits between like 1:1 and 1:5 or so. If you set it while focused further, it works in the normal way,
  
• There's a complete absence of flare and CA, which surprised me and seems very uncharacteristic for the Tokina AT-X pro series (I've tried the 50-135 and own the 11-16 - in both of which flare and CA are the only Achilles' heel).
  
• Bokeh is amazing (yes, I do realize it's subjective). Much better than my Tamron 17-50 at 35mm. In some situations - because the background is much wider, I really like the effect of specular highlights compared to the Canon 100mm macro.
  
• 1:1 macro at 35mm is ridiculous, and it seems much more of a technical limit than a practical limit. Insects are out of the questions, except for spiders that are in a web. Even then you have to be careful not to disturb the web with the lens hood.
  
• This lens looks like it's great for flowers, but unfortunately, that season is just about completely over around here (Netherlands).
  
• Indoor / low light focus is pretty decent. Haven't done any proper scientific tests, but it feels faster (and only slightly quieter) than my Tamron 17-50. IQ and focus seem slightly better, especially wide open.
  
• Natural light shots are great with this lens. Seems to behave much better than a 100mm macro in that respect. Of course, with the 1/focal length rule, it's over 1 stop faster than the 100mm macro in acceptable shutter speeds, though that theory goes kaboom in 1:1 macro...

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …stoop/404996979​4/sizes/o/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …stoop/404996874​8/sizes/o/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …stoop/404922086​7/sizes/o/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …stoop/404921951​9/sizes/o/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …stoop/404921801​3/sizes/o/

Great shots, particularly like 1 and 3. Looks like a good lens.

Looks good- nice shots
brian v.

Thanks for the comments
And yeah, I'm pretty excited about the lens. In fact, it hasn't left my camera since I got it ^_^