The first impression you'll have when you see the Tokina 28-70mm f/2.6-2.8 is "Wow ! It's so well-built !!" The lens is very solid to the feel, in accordance to it's AT-X Pro name-tag. The construction is completely metal on the exterior, and the mount is metallic too. It has a filter size of 77mm due to it's fast aperture. It comes with a metal screw-on lens hood and a boxy "leather" case.

Other than it's rugged construction, there is one exciting feature of this Tokina. The lens features the new "clutch system" by Tokina that disengages the focusing ring from the AF motor shaft. This means that if you disengage the focusing ring (by rotating and pushing the ring into a catch system), the lens will now focus internally. This isn't true internal focusing by the definition of the term, but the effect is the same. The lens zip into focus extremely fast, and quietly too. This offers the advantage of a non-rotating focusing ring. Firstly, the focusing ring is available for holding (it's large BTW) during AF operation, and you can use polarizing filters or graduated filters without much problem. When you engage it into position again (a quick turn will do it), the lens turns considerably more slowly due to the large mass of the focusing ring. However, if you switch to Manual Focusing on your camera, the lens retains the familiar feel of a Manual Focus lens which many of us love. This is lacking in many of the AF lenses on the market nowadays.

You must note that the switching of manual/AF on the lens only engages or disengages the clutch in the lens. You must set the AF/Manual mode on the camera yourself (except for Canon EOS). People think that this is then useless !! They have to make 2 adjustments just to switch from AF to Manual. Actually, the increase in AF focusing speed, the manual feel of the lens, the larger holding area, and the non-rotating front element makes it worth all the trouble.

The optical performance of the lens is good. I'm not one who hunts for the MTF chart of the lenses and scrutinize them for the curves grading. I prefer to see the actual photos shot by the lens to determine its performance. Due to the large numbers of elements in this lens (as in the cases of all zooms), there is a danger of flare when shooting into a bright light source. The f/2.6 maximum aperture is more academic than anything else, and I don't think it does make any difference from a standard f/2.8 lens. Anyway, the f/2.6 value doesn't show up in my F90X. The multi-coating of the lens is nicely done, although it's no T* standard. Because the front and rear element protudes quite a bit, I would recommend using a filter to protect the front and to handle the rear carefully when fitting the lens on the camera.

The lens exhibit a little distortion at both the extreme ends, but it is nothing to worry about. It is well within the standards of zooms of this range. If you need reduced distortion, you'd be better off using a prime lens. Just try not to place critical objects near the edges.

The lens will cost $750 new and is available in the Pro II incarnation. The difference is that it now has the weird shaped bayonet-mounted lens hood (I think it'll work better) which is much easier than screwing on, and a textured surface (much like the Nikon AF ED lens surfaces). Very nice !!!

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