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Garry Black Photography

Question:

Hi Garry,

I see you own or have owned one of these lenses. I'm interested in your opinion of the optical quality of this lens (sharpness at f5.6 form 150-500mm) for professional use.

Answer:

I have owned this lens for over 14 years (purchased in 1987) and am very happy with it. The optical quality is excellent even at F5.6. I have sold many images that were taken with this lens. It is however very prong to lens flare - the lens hood basically can be no larger than a hood for a 150mm lens.

Now having praised this lens, I must tell you that I know of at least 3 people who have bought this lens within the last 5 years and all of them have found the lens to be disappointing. The main complaint and most important one is that it is soft!!! The only conclusion that I can come up with, is that the quality of the glass in these lenses is now inferior to the glass that I have in mine.

My advice is find an old one and test it out before you buy it.

Follow up Reply:

Garry, Thanks you for your input. The reviews I've seen are not great (2 out of 5). I'll get the serial number and contact Tokina for a production date (if possible).

Thanks again,