Last Updated on 07/05/2016 by Chris Gampat
If you’re in the market for a new 24-70mm f2.8 lens for a full frame camera, then you should be taking a good, hard look at what Tokina is doing according to the latest DXOMark scores. When you rate it against the latest Canon and Nikon variants and set the system up to render results with more comparable camera sensors, you start to see that Tokina is ahead of Nikon at their own game.
On the other hand, Canon seems to take the edge over Tokina when it comes to their head to head comparison and overall Canon takes the lead thanks in part to the resolving power of the Canon 5DSR. Even further, the lens seems to best Sony’s newest G Master lens when comparing it on the D810 (and D800E) vs the A7r.
It’s quite an interesting 24-70mm f2.8 comparison when you look at all the scores but more importantly the bigger pieces of the picture together.
Then you look at the prices:
Tokina 24-70mm f2.8: Both variants are under $1,000
Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 VR: $2,396.95
Canon 24-70mm f2.8 II L: $1,899
Pretty crazy, right? Theoretically you could get a Tokina 24-70mm f2.8 lens, a Metabones adapter and then attach that onto your Sony camera to save a load of money. But you probably won’t get the autofocus performance.
If you’re overall looking to save money, Tokina is giving you an alternative that you’ll really want to consider.
Of course, consider the fact that DXOMark’s tests are really about pixel peeping. You may not care otherwise and missing the focusing by a hair or two won’t be the end of the image for a client considering that they all love so many images that are completely out of focus. Granted all the other lenses also have weather sealing and Tokina’s doesn’t.