New Sigma and Tokina lenses

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New Sigma and Tokina lenses

Snopchenko
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p.1 #1 · New Sigma and Tokina lenses

Just a bit for those who haven't yet had their dose of DPReview for today: Sigma has announced the redesigned 30/1.4 DC lens (now a part of A series), and Tokina showed their new stuff: the 12-28/4 DX ultrawide and the 70-200/4 telephoto lens with stabilization and (what looks like) finally a decent ultrasonic motor. I guess the Sigma and the 12-28 aren't of particular interest to you folks since most people here seem to be FF users, but the 70-200 might be interesting. Though the big question is how well it will stack up against the very well regarded 70-200/4 L IS.

Jan 29, 2013 at 04:03 PM

Ian.Dobinson
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p.1 #2 · New Sigma and Tokina lenses

yep saw (and was going to post about it) the sig 30 . should be a good lens. its meant to be a total redesign so unless they mess up it should be better than an already great little lens

Jan 29, 2013 at 04:39 PM

Massimo Foti
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p.1 #3 · New Sigma and Tokina lenses

Tokina's 70-200 will have an hard time competing with Canon. Good news is that they are using IS for the first time, hopefully with this model they will catch up on ultrasonic motor too.

One year ago, when it was first mentioned, that 70-200 was in a good position to fill a gap among Nikon's lenses, but in the meantime Nikon released its 70-200 f/4 VR too.

Jan 29, 2013 at 04:41 PM

Massimo Foti
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p.1 #4 · New Sigma and Tokina lenses

Ian.Dobinson wrote:
yep saw (and was going to post about it) the sig 30 . should be a good lens. its meant to be a total redesign so unless they mess up it should be better than an already great little lens

I guess they also want to have it ready for the USB dock.

Jan 29, 2013 at 04:43 PM

Ian.Dobinson
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p.1 #5 · New Sigma and Tokina lenses

I agree the Tokina 70-200/4 is going to struggle.

there are a few good reasons for choosing 3rd party lenses.
1: price - we dont know what the will price it at but the canon is very good value.

2: niche of its own. (eg Sig 120-300 & 100-300/4) well canon have had this niche to themselves for a long time . if the tokina came out a while back then at least they would have had a market in the Nikon camp.

3: performance. well it would have to be a stunning lens to best the canon (dont know anything about the nikon)

as far as I can see the biggest obsticle in the Tokina's face is the size and weight. the specs put it at 1000g . thats a fair bit heavier than both the canon and nikon versions
its also a bit fatter than the canon (although a tiny bit shorter)

Now if they could use much of that form factor and bring out a APS-C 50-150 type lens then they may well have a winner

Jan 29, 2013 at 04:57 PM

Massimo Foti
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p.1 #6 · New Sigma and Tokina lenses

Now if they could use much of that form factor and bring out a APS-C 50-150 type lens then they may well have a winner

They used to have a 50-135mm f/2.8, but it was discontinued not that long ago (same as for their 16-50 f/2.8:
http://www.tokinalens.com/tokina/products/atxpro/atx535prodx/

It's a range that makes a lot of sense on APS-C, but it has never been popular in the market (Sigma covers it too).

I saw one second-hand last summer, in excellent conditions. But I skipped it because now that I also have FF, an APS-C only lens is harder to justify.

I've read the 16-50 and 50-135 were designed for Pentax. I wonder if discontinuing these lenses is related to the fact that Pentax was sold to Ricoh and how Tokina is shaping its future strategy

Jan 29, 2013 at 05:58 PM

Ian.Dobinson
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p.1 #7 · New Sigma and Tokina lenses

yeah maybea bit of wishful tinking on my part.

and yes im aware that sigma do a 50-150. its just they made one hell of a f**k up when they brought out the OS version. its the same size and weight as the FF 70-200 OS . they basicly used the same barrel by the look of it. maybe that let them use the same OS internals ? but in doing that they took away most of the advantage of an APS-C lens. an f2.8 50-150 should be about the same size as a FF 70-200 2.8 (sigma managed to make the non OS version about that size)
so if using an existing barrel/IS system allows you to make the lens (shared costs in production) then at least Tokina no have a FF f4 (although as I mentioned its not the lightest ) to be able to utilise.

why bother i hear?
well kit then makes a comparable (and cheaper) DSLR/Lens set than a near comprable FF rig.

IE 7D 11-16/2.8 17-55/2.8 50-150/2.8 (and the last 2 would have the benifit of IS) v 5D3 (or 6D) 17-40/4 24-70/4 IS 70-200/4 IS . and in that combo it looks like the 24-70 is not as good as the 17-55 .

Jan 29, 2013 at 06:35 PM

Pixel Perfect
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p.1 #8 · New Sigma and Tokina lenses

Tokina 70-200 f/4

The good: Finally Tokina have entered the late 20th century and now have VC and USM motors, well done. Excellent max magnification of 0.28x @ 1m, add a 1.4x TC and you are almost at 0.4x, so should be excellent close-up lens.

The bad: Ugly and heavy. Ugly you can live with if it's optically excellent, but being 1080g puts it over 300g heavier than competitors and with TC it's f/2.8 heavy.

Jan 29, 2013 at 09:32 PM

cputeq
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p.1 #9 · New Sigma and Tokina lenses

I can't help but think the Tokina 70-200 is dead in the water unless it's cheap, especially for Canon mount. The optically badass Canon version with IS is right at $1100, and I doubt Tokina can match the IQ or AF speed for much cheaper than that.
One wonders how cheap they can afford to go - if it's just a couple of hundred $$ cheaper, than I can see most people just saving a bit more for the Canon variant.

Maybe Nikon mount will get more takers, as their lens retails for right at $1400 still.

Maybe I'm totally wrong and it'll kick ass.

Jan 30, 2013 at 02:25 AM

RobDickinson
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p.1 #10 · New Sigma and Tokina lenses

If they launched the 70-200f4 years before nikon it would do OK there. it has to be cheap, the canon Is one isnt such so, so long as it competes with the f4L it'll do OK.

I dont understand the 12-28f4. Not sure on crop i would ever choose that.

Jan 30, 2013 at 03:04 AM

Snopchenko
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p.1 #11 · New Sigma and Tokina lenses

Massimo Foti wrote:
Ian.Dobinson wrote:
yep saw (and was going to post about it) the sig 30 . should be a good lens. its meant to be a total redesign so unless they mess up it should be better than an already great little lens

I guess they also want to have it ready for the USB dock.

It is mentioned as compatible, yes.

Ian.Dobinson wrote:
yep saw (and was going to post about it) the sig 30 . should be a good lens. its meant to be a total redesign so unless they mess up it should be better than an already great little lens

Hopefully APS-H compatible, right Ian?

I didnt see the Tok UWA though. I like my 12-24 quite a bit. but I cant help thinking theyve extended the range the wrong way . 10-24 (or anything in the 20's) F4 would have been a really good option.

Yeah, that's what most people are probably thinking. But since both this lens and the FF offering - the 16-28 - end at 28mm, it probably hints at a 28-something f/2.8 lens being in the pipeline.

or even really push the boat and go for a 8-16 type f4
oooh, that'd be tough since the only 8-16 - the Sigma is f/4.5-5.6 and already with bulbous front element.

Tokina is weird BTW - they had a lot of promising and/or unique lenses that have been phased out (17/3.5, 100-300/4 - similar to the Sigma but without USM, etc.) but are in no hurry to update and reissue them. Their troubles with obtaining silent motor tech is also pretty well documented.

Jan 30, 2013 at 03:11 PM

Massimo Foti
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p.1 #12 · New Sigma and Tokina lenses

Snopchenko wrote:
Tokina is weird BTW - they had a lot of promising and/or unique lenses that have been phased out (17/3.5, 100-300/4 - similar to the Sigma but without USM, etc.) but are in no hurry to update and reissue them. Their troubles with obtaining silent motor tech is also pretty well documented.

I guess they have limited R&D resources. They seems to, more or less, be able release only one lens a year.
Hope at least this new 70-200 is a signal they want to go back into tele-photo territory, they have been doing very well with their UWA zooms, but it's nice to see them releasing something longer once again.

Jan 30, 2013 at 04:02 PM

Snopchenko
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p.1 #13 · New Sigma and Tokina lenses

Massimo Foti wrote:
Snopchenko wrote:
Tokina is weird BTW - they had a lot of promising and/or unique lenses that have been phased out (17/3.5, 100-300/4 - similar to the Sigma but without USM, etc.) but are in no hurry to update and reissue them. Their troubles with obtaining silent motor tech is also pretty well documented.

I guess they have limited R&D resources. They seems to, more or less, be able release only one lens a year.
Hope at least this new 70-200 is a signal they want to go back into tele-photo territory, they have been doing very well with their UWA zooms, but it's nice to see them releasing something longer once again.

Right. They had a 80-200/2.8 zoom on offer some time ago, and their 80-400/4.5-5.6 is probably still being sold, but they didn't seem particularly good performers. However, I imagine that updating more old lenses (the 100-300/4, the 300/2.8 or even the 300/4 that has been recently - and unexpectedly - reviewed at Photozone) with proper motors (and probably stabilizers) isn't as difficult as inventing a new design from scratch?

Jan 31, 2013 at 09:19 AM

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