Less expensive by far than Nikon's or Sigma's 12–24mm, Tokina's optical quality is unsurpassed. This lens sports a rugged construction with fine satin-crackle finish; handy, oversized, smooth-turning ribbed rubber zoom and manual-focusing rings. Latter ring quickly snaps back and forth between autofocus and manual positions. An easily readable meter and footage scales inset under a plastic window. When tested in the PopPhoto lab, SQF performance was excellent at all focal lengths. Based on DxO Analyzer test results, we found noticeable barrel distortion (1.22%) at 12mm, slight barrel (0.45%) at 18mm, and minimal barrel (0.33%) at 24mm. Light falloff at 12mm was gone by f/8, and by f/5.6 at 18 and 24mm. At the closest-focusing distance of 11.7 inches, the magnification ratios were 1:16.9 at 12mm, 1:12.1 at 18mm, and 1:9.1 at 24mm, respectively. Tokina recommends using HOYA PRO 1 Digital filters with the AT-X 124 Pro DX, and low profile circular polarizing filters like the HOYA Pro 1 Digital Wide Band Circular Polarizer or the Super HMC low profile Circular Polarizer.
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