NOTE: This article was first published over at Nikonglass (https://goo.gl/m7AHwA) on the 28th January 2008

Intro

When I first started shooting wildlife I had an old Nikkor AF 300mm f/4 lens that was able to produce some pretty nice results. Of course I soon realized that 300mm was a bit short so I purchased a set of Kenko teleconverters. But the slow lens only got slower and darker making AF and MF nearly impossible since the viewfinder darkened so much. Then I purchased the Tokina 300mm f/2.8 lens and the brighter viewfinder made all the difference. This lens was a huge jump and suddenly my wildlife photography improved. Of course a 300mm lens is still short for those of us who mainly shoot birds but combined with a teleconverter and and a lot of perseverance (for getting real close), then this focal length which also provides an excellent short focusing distance, can be a good starting point to gain the experience needed for a bigger lens. So let’s take a closer look at the Tokina.

Build

As you have probably read elsewhere on the net, this is a well built lens capable of supplying a feeling of reassurance to the photographer. It has a beautiful crinkle finish like older AF Nikkor’s and it comes with an extremely long and very effective 10 inch lens hood (this hood and the one from the 500mm Nikkor are the most effective hoods I’ve seen on any telephoto lens). The lens barrel is constructed of a high quality aluminium alloy and the overall length of the lens is only 213mm with a maximum diameter of 117mm. On the back, the mount plate is constructed from chrome-plated brass, just like true Nikkor’s. Although metallic in construction, the lens only weighs 2kg so this is a very light lens for its class and it’s also a very compact package making it an easy setup to handle even without a tripod.

Unfortunately, the one negative point in the overall design is that it’s a bit front heavy even when combined with a heavy pro body such as the D2x. Considering the heavy punishment I’ve put this lens through (heavy rain, sitting in snow, sprayed by saltwater, ventured through sand storms and dropped on rocks) it still works great and is optically clean and sharp just like when I first bought it. One problem that did show up though, was with the locking mechanism of the tripod collar. The lens features a nice tripod collar which is very smooth when going from horizontal to vertical and back again but from my constant over tightening; it wore the screw out making it hard to lock it in the upright position (I now use pliers to tighten it). Otherwise this lens worked flawlessly in all weather and abuse. For those interested, you can buy a color filter set (4 x colored filters @ 35.5mm) or a circular polarizer. In these digital days, the color set is pretty much worthless, but the polarizer is a nice tool to have lying in your bag.

Quick specs

• Max Aperture ............................................. f/2.8
• Min Aperture .............................................. f/32
• Angle of View .............................................. 8°
• MFD ............................................................ 2.4m
• Filter Size .................................................... 112mm
• Max Diameter ............................................ 117mm
• Lens Length ................................................ 187mm
• Weight ..................................................... 2300g
• Mounts ....................... Canon, Minolta, Nikon

Construction: 9 elements in 7 groups. It comes with multilayer coatings and has 2 SD glass elements

Inside

The optical construction consists of 9 elements in 7groups and is of a rear internal focusing (IF) design so it can provide fast AF. This is achieved by the fact that it only requires moving a very small group of lenses to acquire focus so it requires less torque from the camera’s AF motor.

The front group is made up of two large SD (Super Low Dispersion) elements to correct chromatic aberrations so different wave lengths of light can be focused on the same plane. Still though, chromatic aberrations are a small, but correctable, problem with this lens. In front of all this glass, Tokina has added a large 112mm UV screw-on filter. Taking this filter off brings no benefit and I highly suggest you leave it on all the time since its real value comes as a protection to the SD element behind it. You would rather change a UV filter than an SD element.

To finish off with the overall optical design, I should mention that Tokina has provided this incarnation of the lens with 9 rounded aperture blades. These produce a more rounded light path which in turn provides more even illumination across the frame and reduced diffraction. The bokeh is also great especially when focusing close, but can also be a little disturbing when bright spots are in the background and can get worse when using the Kenko converters. The apertures range from f/2.8 to f/32, the minimum focusing distance is only 2.4m producing good magnification, plus it also works well with extension tubes. Overall this is a good and simple design that has proven itself in the field over and over.

Focusing

AF: Auto focusing speed was a lot faster than expected, since it was faster than most of my other screwdriver lenses on the F5. On the D70/D200 the AF speed still felt good but obviously can’t be compared to the speed offered by a pro body. On rare occasions focus locking was at times problematic, usually in dim lighting; but I think this had more to do with the AF technology of the camera in hand. (Update: The D3 and D300 have elevated the AF capabilities of this lens with more accuracy and less hunting, especially in low light conditions).

Focus Clutch Mechanism: An issue I had with this lens from the beginning was with the “Focus Clutch Mechanism” which is supposed to make using the lens in the field easier. I usually have it pulled back for MF but it seems to always get knocked forward in the AF position and I usually only find out when I’m about to manually focus on my subject – this has been annoying. I eventually got used to it, but it did take me a while. And if that wasn’t enough, changing from AF to MF or the opposite, requires not only the sliding of the focusing clutch to the right position but also the selection of the AF mode on the camera body as well. This is a pretty bad design if you ask me. I hope Tokina gets rid of the “Focus Clutch Mechanism” all together. I believe such a move would elevate their pro series lenses.

Optical quality

Find any MTF chart or reviews of this lens and you’ll soon discover that this lens is sharp. Personally I believe the lens is a great performer under all shooting conditions except for when using the 2x TC. Basically you get what you pay for. The Nikkor counterpart is more expensive not so much because it may be a tad sharper as a 300mm prime, but for its ability to produce sharp results even when used with TC’s. This is because it has more resolving power than the Tokina. Optical degradation when using the Kenko Pro 1.4x TC is non existent, though the Kenko 2x converter does degrade image quality noticeably - (you need to close two stops to get a good crisp picture).

I have also tried both Nikon teleconverters (modified) and the TC-14E produces sharp and crisp results wide open but the 2x is a little soft just like the Kenko counterpart. This is a limitation of the lens and has less to do with the converter. Obviously the modified Nikon teleconverters provide only manual focusing. Both the Kenko 1.4x and Nikon TC14E (converted) work great with this lens and both perform the same. Their optical quality is very good wide open but closing down one stop will give you noticeably better results with more contrast.

Sharpness: Excellent at all apertures with best performance between f/4 and f/11. You can shoot worry free at f/2.8 but when possible shooting at f/4 will guarantee better sharpness, contrast and color. Overall, very sharp in the center and degrades gracefully towards the edges on the full 35mm frame. At f/5.6 and f/8 image quality and resolution are simply outstanding. On the D300, from f/8 onwards diffraction spoils the finer details so beware but D3 users can use f/16 max. Also worth noting, is that the sharpness is consistent throughout the focusing range of the lens.

Chromatic aberrations: Like a lot of Tokina products, purple fringing in high contrast areas is present and at times can be visibly irritating. But most of it can be corrected in post processing. This is about the only major complaint regarding this lens. Flare on the other hand is non-existent. Surprisingly, when shooting a sunset the Tokina performs quite well. Its optical design keeps internal reflections to a minimal. Shoot with a bright sun in the frame and the lens will produce excellent results with no flare or ghosting.

Vignetting: Surprisingly, even using a full frame film body, this lens does not suffer much from light fall-off. There is a hint of light fall-off at the corners when shooting wide open, but on the DX format cameras there is no light fall off to talk about.

Distortion: On both the DX and FX format cameras there is no distortion to worry about.

Is 300mm long enough?

Well combined with a 1.4x TC you end up with a 420mm telephoto. On a digital Nikon that’s a 630mm f/4 telephoto that can focus to 2.4m. At around 2500€ new and around 1000€ second hand, the Tokina 300mm f/2.8 lens is a great way to get into wildlife photography. I haven’t used the new 1.7x TC so I can’t comment on that converter but I can recommend avoiding the 2.0x TC.

Tokina or Nikon?

Well this you need to answer yourself. But as I mentioned earlier, you get what you pay. Of course if you are a pro and plan on using it every day, then maybe you should spend the money for the Nikon especially if you plan on using the 2x TC. On the other hand if you only plan on using it for a couple of days a year and money is tight then go for the Tokina especially if you know you will be limiting yourself with the 1.4x TC. Generally what you need to remember is that under good lighting conditions the Tokina can produce results that are indistinguishable from its Nikon counterpart, even with the 1.4x TC attached.

Last words

There is no doubt that the Tokina 300mm f/2.8 lens is the best aftermarket optic money can buy and it usually ships to distributor’s world wide at a lower price than any other 300mm (usually less than half the price of a Nikkor). I owned this lens for nearly four years (until I swapped it for a beaten up MF 500mm f4P Nikkor) and I truly believe it’s an honest investment whether new or second hand. So apart from some minor negative issues, this lens has proven a rugged workhorse with the ability to produce excellent imagery.

Pictures taken with the Tokina AT-X 300 AF PRO

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