Review Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5

According provided by Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5 lens (for Nikon, model AF235) huge thanks to the store www.fotika.com.uawhere you can find a huge number of different used photographic equipment, including similar lenses.

Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5

Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5

In short

The Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5 is a wide-angle zoom lens for Nikon full-frame cameras. On a full frame, 20mm gives a fairly wide angle of view, which is why these lenses are very popular (equivalent to 13mm for cropped Nikon DX series cameras). At one time it was designed as an inexpensive wide-angle for amateurs and professionals. Unlike more advanced superheroes, Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5 does not use expensive aspherical elements, which makes it cheaper to manufacture.

The lens is good for its modest price. In short - good old 'shirik'.

Please note that there is another similar lens - Tokina AF 20-35mm 1: 3.5-4.5 (MK II), with the same optical design, but a different barrel frame. Also, there is a “professional” model of the same focal length range - Tokina AT-X PRO 20-35mm 1: 2.8 235 AF.

Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5 (model I, AF235, such as in this review) became a continuation / addition of an older model - Tokina AF193 19-35 1: 3.5-4.5.

Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5 can serve as a replacement for the old man Nikon ED AF Nikkor 18-35mm 1: 3.5-4.5 D IF Aspherical. Canon version may replace original Canon Zoom Lens EF 20-35mm 1: 3.5-4.5 Ultrasonic.

Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5

Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5

Main technical characteristics of Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5:

Review Instance Name Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5 9407442
Basic properties
  • lens designed for full-length cameras Nikon fx
  • presence of a diaphragm control ring with aperture lock, analog Nikon NON-G lens
  • support for auto focus via the camera motor, analog Nikon AF
  • the lens does not transmit the focusing distance to the camera, analog Nikon NON-D
  • use of glass HLD (High-refraction, Low Dispersion) with a high refractive index and low dispersion
  • Tokina MC (Multi-Coating), multi-lens brightening
  • Hard Infinity Focus Stop - the focusing ring in the extreme position always focuses to infinity
  • high-quality metal case
Front Filter Diameter 72 mm, metal thread for filters
Focal length 20-35 mm EGF for Nikon DX cameras is 30-52.5 mm
Zoom ratio 1.75 x
Designed by for film cameras
Number of aperture blades 6 petals
Tags focusing distance in meters and feet, focal lengths for 20, 24, 28, 35 mm, aperture setting mark (it is also a bayonet mount mark), aperture value, two marks (20 and 35 mm) for working in the infrared spectrum
Diaphragm 20 mm from F / 3.5 to F / 22, 35 mm from F / 4.5 to F / 29. The lens has an aperture ring (Non-G - lens type)
MDF (minimum focusing distance) 0.4 m over the entire range of focal lengths
The weight 500 g
Optical design 13 elements in 11 groups. The scheme includes 1 HLD glass element (High-refraction, Low Dispersion) with a high refractive index and low dispersion. The position of the HLD element in the optical circuit is unknown.Optical design Tokina 20-35The image of the optical circuit is clickable.
Lens hood plastic, marking: Tokina BH-771 JAPAN bayonet type without the possibility of installation in the opposite direction. Uses the same blend Tokina AT-X PRO 20-35mm 1: 2.8 235 AF.
Manufacturer country JAPAN (Japan)
Period Since 1992, it was subsequently replaced by Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5 II
Price Not for sale, used options sell at 100-150 cu

Each time I write reviews of such old people, I come across the fact that companies are too lazy to make a list of their archive models on official sites. Only Canon in this regard is almost flawless with its museum of cameras. To get a picture of the optical circuit, I had to contact Tokina officials.

Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5

Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5

Assembly

The lens has been assembled for centuries. The case is made of metal, including with metal thread for the front filter and a metal aperture ring, and, of course, a metal mount. Zoom and focus rings have a hard rubber coating.

During a change in focal length, the front of the barrel rim lengthens slightly, lengthening occurs in waves (typical of a large number of lenses). When you change the focal length, the front lens does not rotate. Also, while changing the focal length, the rear lens moves.

For some reason, the lens from the review sometimes showed in EXIF 5 mm of focal length instead of 20 mm; at other values ​​of the focal length, such a malfunction was not observed.

Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5

Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5

Focusing

Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5 focusing very fast. While working on camera Nikon D700 (with focus module Multi-CAM 3500FX) I had no complaints about focusing. The lens focuses accurately and tenaciously., the number of refocusings is extremely small.

During focusing, the front one moves forward / backward and rotates. The use of special filters will be difficult.

Focus ring rotates 90 degrees. During autofocus, the focusing ring rotates and must not be touched during this time. The lens has a hard-stop function - by turning the ring all the way, you can accurately focus to infinity at any focal length value.

Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5 has a window with a focusing distance scale in meters and feet. The minimum focusing distance is 0.4 meters and the maximum zoom ratio is 1: 8.

For a 20 mm focal length, an MDF of 40 cm is very, very much. I noticed an unusual ratio, according to which, for comfortable work at close focusing distances, the number of minimum focusing distances, expressed in centimeters, must be equal to or less than the number of focal lengths in millimeters. For example, for 50 mm (fifty dollars) MDF is usually 45-50 cm, for 200 mm MDF it is approximately equal to 110-200 cm, and so on. This ratio allows you to maintain a sufficiently high magnification ratio for shooting small objects.

It's important: auto focus with this lens is available only when using him on cameras with built-in motor focusing.

Exact list Nikon DSLR cameras with a built-in focus motor, on which this lens will focus automatically:

Exact list Nikon DSLR cameras without a built-in focus motor, on which this lens will not focus automatically:

Only auto focus and sound confirmation of focus will not work with these cameras, all other important functions, such as automatic exposure metering and automatic iris control, will work well.

You will find a lot of useful information on the types of cameras and lenses Nikon here.

There is no focus mode switch on the lens, the transition to manual focus and vice versa is carried out using the switch on the camera, which is located near the camera mount. On cameras without a focus motor, there is no such switch, and on them the lens always works only with manual focus.

Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5

Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5

Diaphragm

Diaphragm lens consists of 6 non-rounded petals... It is easy to get 6-ray stars from bright light sources, and 'nuts' may appear in the out-of-focus area.

There are marks with a focal length on the zoom ring, the following is a list with the minimum numbers F available for these marks:

  • 20 mm - F / 3.5
  • 24 mm - F / 3.8
  • 28 mm - F / 4.0
  • 35 mm - F / 4.5

The lens has a manual aperture ring. To be able to control the value aperture from camera or for automatic installation aperture on modern central control valves, you need to turn the control ring to the F / 22 value, and fix it with the locking lever with a green mark, which is located to the right of the marks aperture. The F / 22 value and the latch mark are highlighted in green to match them. If this is not done, then on a number of cameras, the display will display an error - 'fEE' (ring is not installed aperture) Some cameras having diaphragm rheostatallow you to control the aperture using the ring aperturebut only in metering modes exposure 'M' and 'A'. You can read more about this issue in the section on Non-G Lenses. Ring aperture rotates with clicks, the values ​​F / 3.5, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, 22 are plotted on it; setting an intermediate value between pairs of numbers using the aperture ring is not possible. Intermediate values ​​can only be set using the camera menu.

Please note that Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5 does not transmit focus distance values into the camera, which may give errors in exposure, especially when shooting with the flash in TTL auto modes.

Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5

Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5

Image quality

Despite its age, Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5 is quite a working lens with a predictable picture. It is sharp in the center of the frame at any focal length and open aperture. It is a pity that the edges at 20 mm and F / 3.5 remain very weak. But it doesn’t matter if you cover the aperture to F / 8, then the edges and corners of the image are normalized. At 35 mm and covered apertures, sharpness is aligned across the entire image field. To put it bluntly, then on covered apertures this lens is very good in terms of resolution.

Unfortunately, Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5 very much suffers from a distortion of 20 mm, and the nature of the distortion is heterogeneous, it is difficult to eliminate it through simple manipulations in graphic editors. As the focal length increases, the distortion level decreases.

An unpleasant moment is the strong vignetting at F / 3.5 and 20 mm focal length. Aperture slightly eliminates the 20 mm vignette (this can be considered a feature of ultra-wide-angle lenses).

Personally, I was most upset by the weak resistance of the lens to backlight. When shooting with strong side or backlight, the lens can lose contrast very much and catch some glare.

RAW source files ('.NEF') can be download from this link (28 files, 350 MB). Source files in '.JPEG' format can download from this link (30 photos, 190 MB).

Nikon AF Nikkor 28-200mm 1: 3.5-5.6D and Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5

Nikon AF Nikkor 28-200mm 1: 3.5-5.6D and Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5

My experience

Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5 - super budget 'shirik'. If nothing else is at hand, then he will not let you down. In combat conditions, I shot the All-Ukrainian SPA-Summit-2016 with it, a 20 mm focal length helped me a lot when shooting a group portrait of all the participants. Actually, the 20mm focal length is the only thing that is of real interest in this lens.

Home Nikon ED AF Nikkor 18-35mm 1: 3.5-4.5 D IF Aspherical I liked it all the more. Also, I want to note that Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5 on open apertures is sharper than the professional model Tokina AT-X PRO 20-35mm 1: 2.8 235 AF.

I do not recommend buying the Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5 for crop cameras, as 20mm on Nikon DX crop is not wide at all.

Catalog of modern Tokina lenses can look at this link.

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Results

Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5 turned out to be a lens with a very good assembly and a sharp picture (especially on covered apertures). Considering its modest cost, Tokina AF 20-35 1: 3.5-4.5 is quite suitable lens. But the 24-year-old "old man" is no longer capable of something special: he is afraid of flare, strongly vignetts at 20 mm and F / 3.5, gives strong distortion at 20 mm.

Material prepared Arkady Shapoval. Training/Consultations | Youtube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Telegram

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