Tokina AT-X PRO M 100mm F2, Almost perfect

December 30, 2019

Tokina AT-X PRO M 100mm F2, Almost perfect

This medium priced lens is of outstanding quality.

I have had this lens a couple of years now, purchased through amazon for use with my canon 40d. This, taken from a review by ken rockwell, says it all really: ‘this tokina 100mm f/2. 8 macro is a fantastic lens. It’s optical performance is as good or better than the best from nikon and canon, and this tokina’s ergonomics, due to its unique focus clutch, is also better than any of nikon’s or canon’s 100mm or 105mm macro lenses. All this, and this tokina is less than half the price, just as well built, and smaller and lighter than any other 100mm or 105mm af macro.

There’s plenty of professional reviews online so i’ll cut it short to my personal experiences with this lens. The pros:* very sharp* great both for macro and portraiture* sturdy constructionthe cons:* poor focus performance (frequent focus hunting)* really loud* strong vignetting at wide apertures (for full frame)the other:* quite heavy* lack of any image stabilisation makes shooting macro near-impossible without a tripod.

Love this lens for macro work. The only very slightly bad thing i can say is that i’d prefer if it had internal zooming. Otherwise, perfect macro lens.

When this lens arrived i was a bit confused as it did not have an aperture ring; i do not need an aperture ring but all the photos that i had seen all showed it with an aperture ring so i was not sure if i actually had the genuine article. I visited the tokina website and all their photos show an aperture ring and there was no mention of a version without an aperture ring. However after much searching on the internet i have now found out that the nikon version has an aperture ring but the canon version does not. Apparently from what i have read: the nikon version also does not have a focusing motor but please check this out. Constructionthe lens feels very solidly built and is reasonably heavy for its size. Some people prefer a steel constructed lens however, i prefer plastic as it makes lens lighter so i am more likely to take it with me. The focus barel rotates about three quarters of a turn to focus from 1:1 to infinity which is fine and the rotation is smooth. The lens hood fits back to front over the lens for transport. I have no problem with the pull clutch to engage manual focus. It stays in manual focus anyway.

The macro quality and definition is excellent. So glad i chose the tokina over the canon equivalent.

I only have one other prime lens in this focal length range that can beat it for sharpness and image quality but that lens is completely manual and costs three times as muchso, if you want a lens that can autofocus quite quickly, is razor sharp and well corrected, is a great portrait lens and means you have a macro lens in your kit bag then you should get a hold of this lens. It really is a no brainer, i have a lot of high end lenses and none of them match this lens when it comes to sheer value for money.

Comments from buyers

”

Real nice

Razor sharp

Superb value for the money

“

Absolutely in love with these lens.

Excellent made verry sharpe pictuers.

Great lenses pleased with the images i have taken, excellent detail and colour saturation.

Great lens, i use it for food photography. It is a bit heavy but i guess macro lenses are always a bit heavy. Autofocus is ok, could be faster but ok. The big plus is the quality of image it provides.

Purchased this lens on the back of the ken rockwell review and it is worth every penny. The image quality is sharp and very good. It captures fine details and produces a wonderful bokeh on every shot. I originally wanted to buy the canon 100 mm macro lens but the price put me off. This is certainly not a second best in my opinion.

I can’t understand why people would go for any other third party lens never mind own-brand products rather than this tokina. The build quality is first rate and the optics are as good as anything else available. One of the best lenses i own.