Tokina AT-X SD 100-300mm F4 Lens Reviewed

Introduction

This review was updated 06/20/09 with the non-TC test replaced. These tests were performed using an Olympus E-510 that has a 2x crop factor. This effectively doubles the focal lengths listed, allowing a 200-600mm F4 equivilent range, a 280-840mm F5.6 equivilent range with a 1.4x teleconverter attached, or a 400-1200mm F8 equivilent range with a 2x teleconverter attached. This particular lens has an Olympus OM mount, and was attached using a OM to Four-thirds adapter. This is a mint copy of this lens, fucntioning perfectly. The origional hood was attached for these tests. This lens has a great feel to it, and it's easy to focus. Let's see how it peforms...

Test 1 (lens alone)

These are at 100mm, 200mm, and 300mm respectively. Target is about 20 feet away from camera. This is obviously indoors. It's during daylight, reflected in through windows. This makes contrast appear low. Camera in (A) Aperture priority mode. Shot in RAW, all processed identically. No sharpening or other correction applied. Any differences in exposure are due to camera's metering. Camera was tripod mounted, stabilization off, anti-shock enabled, and self-timer used.

Exposure	Full image scaled	100% crop
100mm ISO200 F4 1/25th
100mm ISO200 F5.6 1/15th
100mm ISO200 F8 1/8th
200mm ISO200 F4 1/25th
200mm ISO200 F5.6 1/15th
200mm ISO200 F8 1/8th
300mm ISO200 F4 1/25th
300mm ISO200 F5.6 1/15th
300mm ISO400 F8 1/15th

Comments

This is a more accurate representation than the previous test that was here. The low contrast is due to dim indoor light, that said, I think the lens did quite well. When stopped down to the same aperture, I feel it's as sharp as a basic ZD lens wide open, such as the 70-300mm, or a kit lens. Wide open this Tokina is a little soft all around, but not bad at all, and some sharpening or levels adjustment in post will take care of that nicely. In these situations CA is nowhere! Now some does show up when in contrast situations outside, but again, when an image is not pixel-peeped, and viewed at a normal size, everything looks great. Images should be high enough quality for almost any purpose, in most situations.

Test 2 (with EC-14)

This test was performed with the lens at the 300mm setting. Olympus EC-14 1.4x tele-converter is attached. Focused using live view, then shot with the optical viewfinder. Target for this test is the front of my shed, about 20 meters away (I did not measure). Camera in (A) Aperture priority mode. Shot in RAW, all processed identically. No sharpening or other correction applied. Any differences in exposure are due to camera's metering. Camera was tripod mounted, stabilization off, anti-shock enabled, and self-timer used. APERTURE SETTINGS LISTED ARE PRIOR TO LIGHT REDUCTION VIA EC-14. F-STOP IN PARENTHESIS () INCLUDES EC-14.

Exposure	Full image scaled	100% crop
ISO100 F4 (F5.6) 1/1250th
ISO100 F5.6 (F8) 1/800th
ISO100 F8 (F11) 1/400th
ISO100 F11 (F16) 1/160th

Comments

It seems to be that the CA dissapears drastically when the EC-14 is added. Most teleconverters in my experience do the opposite, but this is great! Wide open the lens seems to be sharper with the EC-14, and just margnially sharper without it when stopped down to F11. Throw in some high ISO noise that would make cropping not possible, and the EC-14 seems to be a good idea.

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Test 3 (with Vivitar 2x converter)

This test was performed with the lens at the 300mm setting. Vivitar 2x tele-converter is attached. Focused using live view, then shot with the optical viewfinder. The shed is a different distance and different angle from the other tests. The magnification of this test cannot be directly compared to the previous two tests. The weather was also different on this day. Camera in (A) Aperture priority mode. Shot in RAW, all processed identically. No sharpening or other correction applied. Any differences in exposure are due to camera's metering. Camera was tripod mounted, stabilization off, anti-shock enabled, and self-timer used. APERTURE SETTINGS LISTED ARE PRIOR TO LIGHT REDUCTION VIA 2X CONVERTER. F-STOP IN PARENTHESIS () INCLUDES 2X CONVERTER.

Exposure	Full image scaled	100% crop
ISO100 F4 (F8) 1/125th
ISO100 F5.6 (F11) 1/160th
ISO100 F8 (F16) 1/50th
ISO100 F11 (F22) 1/30th

Comments

Now this shocks me. CA is reduced again when attaching this Vivitar 2x TC. The image looses a good bit of contrast, but the sharpness is still there. These are very good results from a TC, especially considering that there's already a 2x crop due to my E-510 camera body. If you can live with the reduced speed, by all means mount a TC!

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Real-World Samples

300mm F4 ISO400 1/200th

420mm F5.6 (F8 w/TC) ISO800 1/1250th

420mm F4 (F5.6 w/TC) ISO400 1/2000th

420mm (additional 2x crop) F4 (F5.6 w/TC) ISO400 1/4000th

420mm (additional 2x crop) F5.6 (F8 w/TC) ISO400 1/1600th

600mm F4 (F8 w/TC) ISO800 1/250th

420mm F5.6 (F8 w/TC) ISO400 1/200th

200mm F5.6 ISO400 1/15th

Final Thoughts

What a wonderful lens! This lens offers great speed for it's range, and acceptable quality to match. It even works well with the teleconverters! I'd say the quality even improves at the larger apertures when a TC is attached, especially in regards to CA. It is only one stop slower than the "Big tuna" Zuiko 300mm F2.8 and less than the cost of a used 70-300mm F4-5.6, yet being a stop faster than the latter. The lens is easy to hold, and snaps into clear focus. It has a handy tripod mount, and an OEM lens hood. This lens is taking over for my 50-200mm F2.8-3.5 SWD + EC-14 kit I usually would use for long telephoto use. It is even making me rethink keeping my 50-200mm. With a little more practice with this lens, I could sell my 50-200mm for the 35-100mm F2, and let this Tokina lens do all the long work. It is a must have if you can pick one up. As a bonus, I can use it on my OM-2n as well, and I can't wait to do so!