Tokina 12 28mm F 4 AF AT-X Pro DX Review | 54 Data compared

The ePHOTOzine review of the Tokina AT-X 12-28mm f/4 Pro DX lens describes it as a robust, highly capable ultrawide 2.3x zoom for crop-sensor DSLRs, featuring excellent sharpness and very low chromatic aberration. Key pros include its solid build quality, reasonable distortion and falloff, and a fast, quiet SD-M autofocus motor with an intuitive focus clutch mechanism, all offered at good value. Key cons highlighted in the review focus on the lack of full-time manual focus override, requiring a physical switch on the focus ring. Furthermore, despite having a rubber mount gasket, the lens body itself is not fully weather-sealed against harsh conditions.

Ken Rockwell praises the Tokina 12-28mm f/4 DX as a durable, sharp, and versatile ultra-wide lens, highlighting its exceptional sharpness, low distortion, and close-focusing capability. It features a robust build with a smooth, damped manual-focus ring and offers a practical zoom range that functions well on both crop and full-frame sensors. Ken Rockwell However, the review notes that the autofocus speed is merely average rather than instantaneous, and users may need to fine-tune it for optimal accuracy. The lens also suffers from a slightly curved field of view, which requires careful focusing to maintain edge-to-edge sharpness. Ken Rockwell

The LensTip review of the Tokina AT-X PRO DX 12-28 mm f/4 highlights an unevenly performing ultra-wide angle lens designed specifically for APS-C/DX format sensors. On the positive side, the lens stands out for its highly versatile and unique focal range that bridges the gap between a 100-degree wide-angle view and a standard focal length at 28 mm. It is constructed with a very solid casing and offers excellent image resolution in the frame centre, alongside good edge resolution at its shortest 12 mm focal length. Furthermore, the lens exhibits low vignetting for its class, properly corrected spherical aberration, slight astigmatism, virtually non-existent distortion at longer focal lengths, and accurate autofocus performance. The reviewers also note that its pricing sensibly reflects its capabilities. However, the lens suffers from several significant drawbacks that impact its overall performance. The most notable flaw is its "monstrous" lateral chromatic aberration, which peaks at an extreme 0.32% at the 12 mm wide end and remains high throughout the zoom range. It also delivers weak performance when shooting against bright light, frequently producing flares and ghosting...

The Digital Picture's review of the Tokina 12-28mm f/4.0 AT-X Pro DX lens highlights its solid build quality and extended, versatile zoom range for APS-C DSLR cameras, offering strong sharpness at 12mm with a constant f/4.0 aperture. However, the review notes significant cons, including a decline in sharpness toward the 28mm end, average overall image quality requiring smaller apertures for better performance, and a lack of continuous full-time manual focus override, relying instead on the One-Touch Focus Clutch mechanism.

The Tokina 12-28mm f/4 AT-X 128 AF PRO DX is a compact and solid zoom lens designed for APS-C (DX) sensor cameras, offering a versatile focal range equivalent to 18-42mm on full-frame sensors. This focal range makes it highly unique, allowing users to transition seamlessly from ultra-wide angles to standard lens views, ideal for street, landscape, and journalism photography. Optically, the lens delivers high center sharpness even at full aperture, which improves further when stopped down, alongside surprisingly low distortion for its class. Additionally, it introduces a quiet and fast "Silent Drive Module" (SD-M) autofocus system with an internal focusing mechanism and a convenient clutch mechanism to quickly shift between automatic and manual focus. The review highlights several key strengths and weaknesses of the lens. The pros include high center image sharpness, low distortion, exceptionally robust build quality that fits comfortably in the hand, and a built-in, silent autofocus motor that benefits entry-level camera bodies. On the other hand, the cons focus heavily on visible lateral chromatic aberration—appearing as green, purple, blue, or yellow fringing in the extreme corners of...

The ⁠Popular Photography review highlights the Tokina AT-X 12–28mm f/4 Pro DX wide-angle zoom lens for Canon and Nikon APS-C bodies as an excellent, budget-friendly successor to the older 12–24mm model. Priced at a competitive $599 street price, the lens stands out for its exceptional optical bench performance, delivering Excellent-range Subjective Quality Factor (SQF) numbers and outstanding distortion control. Key pros include an extended focal length reach (equivalent to 18–42mm on Nikon and 19–45mm on Canon), "imperceptible" pincushion distortion at 20mm and 28mm, a near total absence of edge light fall-off, and a best-in-class maximum magnification ratio that allows for dramatic close-ups. Additionally, the lens is two ounces lighter than its predecessor and features a newly designed, highly convenient push/pull AF/MF focus ring clutch mechanism alongside a faster autofocus control system. However, the review also notes a few cons related to the lens's design and physical handling. Despite featuring a newly designed Silent Drive-Module (SD-M) motor, the autofocus system is not the quietest on the market. Furthermore, due to its physical length, the lens body inadvertently casts a visible shadow...

The Tokina AT-X 12-28 f/4 PRO DX Nikon review by DXOMARK evaluates this ultra-wide zoom lens mounted on a Nikon D500 camera sensor. Originally released in January 2013, the lens receives an overall DXOMARK Score of 20, with its peak optical performance noted specifically at a focal length of 28mm paired with an f/4 aperture. The evaluation is broken down into precise lens metric scores that highlight its technical capabilities and flaws across major sensor benchmarks. The metrics reveal distinct pros and cons regarding its optical traits. On the positive side, the lens displays excellent control over distortion at just 0.3%, and manages a controlled vignetting level of -0.9 EV. Light transmission is also respectable, registering at 4.1 TStop against its f/4 theoretical maximum. Conversely, the primary drawbacks are its low sharpness score of 7 P-Mpix, indicating compromised fine-detail rendering on the D500 sensor, and a high chromatic aberration level of 22 µm, which points to visible color fringing in high-contrast areas of an image.