By Eric Cohen
Tokina has announced its latest full frame lens, the AT-X 24-70mm F2.8 PRO FX. And it has the potential to be one of the more versatile lenses on the market. It is just as suitable for portraiture as well as landscape photography thanks to a focal zoom from 24mm (wide angle) to 70mm (medium). Having an aperture span of F/2.8 to F/22 doesn’t hurt, either, as you can indulge in that artsy “shallow depth of field” look that’s all the rage these days.
The most intriguing aspect of the Tokina 24-70mm PRO FX involves what they call a “groundbreaking proprietary design.” Three aspherical lens elements are combined to achieve superior contrast and sharpness while lessening the possibility of spherical aberrations at the same time (when light passes through a lens, it sometimes causes a decrease in resolution. A nuisance Tokina’s design is meant to prevent). So it will be interesting to see how the 24-70mm PRO FX works under low light conditions – and with a fast F/2.8 aperture – because of this.
Tokina also makes use of a speedy, SDM (Silent Drive-Module) to reduce AF noise. And according to their press release, this will make it one of their quickest and most silent auto-focusing lenses to date. However, Tokina’s One-Touch Focus Clutch Mechanism will allow photographers to switch between AF and MF mode by just the snapping of the focus ring. And by “snapping” I mean pushing the ring forward and back but not by pressing your two fingers together. Well, maybe you could try that. And maybe the 24-70mm PRO FX will whistle on cue. No… it will not do that.
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Anyway, the estimated release date for the Tokina 24-70mm F2.8 is scheduled to fall somewhere in August with a fairly affordable price point of $999.00. And it will come available with mounts for both Canon and Nikon cameras.
