Tokina AT-X 80-200mm f/2.8 (called f/4 in the journal !!) lens     Tested April 1991.

Lens number 8901429                  

Available mounts: Canon, Minolta, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax KA.

Price: $918

Accessories: Lens case with strap, lens hood.

Specifications: (Tested values in italics)
Focal length: 80 - 200 mm (80.42 - 191.13mm)
Maximum aperture: f/2.8 (f/2.84 - 2.90)
Construction: 17 elements in 11 groups
View angle: Diag. 30º - 12º, Horiz. 25º - 10º, Vert. 17º - 7º
Minimum aperture: f/32
Click stops: ½ stops from f/4 to f/22, full stops from f/2.8 to f/4 and f/22 to f/32
Number of blades: 6
Scales: Focussing in feet (light green) and meters (white). Focal lengths marked at 80-, 100-, and 200mm. Depth of field marked at f/8, f/22, and f/32. IR correction at all focal lengths.
Zooming: Push to 200mm in 1 3/8 inch
Focussing: 160º counterclockwise to close focus, 5 ft. 8 7/8 in. ( 1.8m)
Weight: 2 lb 6 oz. (1,077g)


Distortion: @ 80mm, 2.3% barrel; @ 135mm, 0.8% pincushion; @ 200 mm, 1.6% pincushion.
Lateral color: Very slight at 80mm, negligible at longer focal lengths.

Hands on: Rather large and heavy but not excessively so for a fast tele zoom; balances well on all but the lightest SLR bodies. Very broad, well-textured zoom/focus ring has smooth, well-damped push-pull zooming action, very smooth, well-damped focusing action. Compact, rotatable tripod platform has marks for horizontal, vertical positioning. Clear, fairly comprehensive depth-of-field scale and IR focus index atop barrel. Minium focus of 6 feet judged adequate for all focal lengths.

In the lab. SQF data indicate exceptional performance at 80mm, somewhat above-average performance at 135 and 200mm. Moderate field curvature. Slightly high barrel distortion at 80mm, niminal distortion at other focal lengths.

In the field: Slides were generally well exposed with good contrast. Flare was well controlled at 80mm, slightly visible at 200mm. Light fall-off was gone 1 stop from maximum aperture. Slight barrel distortion was seen at 80mm.

Conclusion: Excellent handling and above-average overall optical quality for a fasr tele zoom, but high magnification requirements at 135 and 200mm will require stopping down to the middle aperture range. Image quality in close-focusing range satisfactory at 80mm, but not recommnended for critical work at 200mm.

Macro / Close-Focussing

Max MAG: (all distances to lens)
1:17.4 @ 80mm ( 5 feet. (1.51 m)
1:7.1 @ 200mm (5 feet. (1.51m)

@ 80mm: Sharpness is average to slightly above average, constant from f/8 to f/22. Very low barrel distortion..
@ 200mm: Sharpness a bit below average. Not recommended for critical closeup work. Normal pincushion distortion.
Subjective Quality Factor     KEY:
A+
A
B+
B
C+
C
D
F


Tokina AT-X 80-200mm f/2.8 lens @ 80mm

MAG   >
4
5
6
8
12
17
22
Size (in.)   >
3.5 x 5
4 x 6
5 x 7
8 x 10
11 x 14
16 x 20
20 x 24
@ f/2.8
99.3
99.0
98.5
97.4
94.3
89.1
82.8
@ f/4.0
99.4
99.1
98.8
97.8
95.2
90.8
85.4
@ f/5.6
99.5
99.2
98.9
98.1
95.7
91.7
86.8
@ f/8.0
99.6
99.3
99.0
98.2
96.2
92.4
87.9
@ f/11.0
99.5
99.2
98.9
98.0
95.6
91.4
86.3
@ f/16.0
99.2
98.8
98.2
96.9
93.3
87.3
80.1
@ f/22.0
98.7
97.9
97.0
94.8
88.9
79.7
69.7
@ f/32.0
98.1
97.1
95.8
92.8
84.9
73.2
62.4
A+
A
B+
B
C+
C
D
F


Tokina AT-X 80-200mm f/2.8 lens @ 135mm

MAG   >
4
5
6
8
12
17
22
Size (in.)   >
3.5 x 5
4 x 6
5 x 7
8 x 10
11 x 14
16 x 20
20 x 24
@ f/2.8
96.9
95.2
93.3
88.5
77.1
61.8
48.2
@ f/4.0
96.8
95.1
93.1
88.3
76.6
61.1
47.4
@ f/5.6
98.5
97.7
96.8
94.4
88.0
78.2
67.7
@ f/8.0
99.0
98.4
97.7
96.0
91.4
84.0
75.5
@ f/11.0
99.2
98.7
98.2
96.8
93.1
87.0
79.8
@ f/16.0
99.1
98.6
98.0
96.4
92.3
85.5
77.6
@ f/22.0
98.5
97.7
96.7
94.3
87.9
78.0
67.5
@ f/32.0
98.0
96.9
95.6
92.5
84.3
72.4
60.4
A+
A
B+
B
C+
C
D
F


Tokina AT-X 80-200mm f/2.8 lens @ 200mm

MAG   >
4
5
6
8
12
17
22
Size (in.)   >
3.5 x 5
4 x 6
5 x 7
8 x 10
11 x 14
16 x 20
20 x 24
@ f/2.8
97.1
95.5
93.7
89.2
78.3
63.5
50.0
@ f/4.0
97.1
95.5
93.6
89.1
78.1
63.2
49.7
@ f/5.6
97.8
96.6
95.2
91.8
83.07
78.6
68.2
@ f/8.0
98.6
97.8
96.8
94.5
88.2
78.6
68.2
@ f/11.0
98.9
98.3
97.6
95.8
90.9
83.1
74.3
@ f/16.0
98.9
98.3
97.5
95.7
90.8
82.8
73.9
@ f/22.0
98.6
97.9
96.9
94.7
88.7
79.3
69.1
@ f/32.0
97.7
96.5
95.0
91.5
82.4
69.4
56.8
A+
A
B+
B
C+
C
D
F

Tested April 1991.

SQF testing

This is some of what Pop Photo had to say about SQF testing in November 1990 when they were finally happy with their system.

In short, SQF is the way to relate the total of all our MTF measurements to the quality you can expect at any given print size.

Under normal conditions, a slight difference in SQF will hardly be noticeable. Experimentally, it's been shown that a difference of 10 SQF units will show a definite difference in quality level, with a difference of only 5 units producing a just noticeable difference (JND). SQFs below 50 yield unacceptable results.

SQF: making the grade
With five distinct quality levels to work with, it seeemed only natural to assign letter grades to each:   A for the best, then B, C, D, and finally F for anything below 50. We added "+" grades to A - C to characterize the quality, widening the group as quality diminished, giving a full 10 units to both C and C+ grades. In our system, we broke them down this way:
99.9 - 95.0   A+
94.9 - 90.0   A  
89.9 - 85.0   B+
84.9 - 80.0   B  
79.9 - 70.0   C+
69.9 - 60.0   C  
59.9 - 49.5   D  
          <49.5 F  

We expanded the C and C+ categories to fit actual experience. There was little point distinguishing between a D and D+. As overall quality goes down, it is increasingly difficult to distinguish between pictures. It's easier to tell which of two good prints is sharper than it is to determine which of two prints is fuzzier.

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