Only days after Sigma released it’s pair of uber cool, crop-sensor fisheye lenses that I was so excited about, Tokina has joined in the fun a little with their own latest DX idea:

Tokina 35mm f/2.8 DX Macro!

At $500 or so street price guess I won’t be able to pick up one any time soon as much as I’d like to, but it’s still a sweet lens and I’d totally want one for my oldschool type of macro photography! The long “reach” of my Sigma 150mm f/2.8 Macro is nice a lot of the time, especially when I want to REALLY isolate a subject and get some shallow, shallow DOF, but other times I’d like to still be able to get 1:1 macro but with a wider angle of view, and a little more play room closer up to the camera. The Nikon 60mm f/2.8 macro would have been ideal on 35mm film or FX digital, but I don’t plan on “upgrading” to that any time soon, especially not for nature photography, so this Tokina 35mm is an awesome option. And Tokina ATX PRO lenses are known for being dang sturdy, that’s for sure! My all-metal construction 17mm f/3.5 is a tank of a lens…

Yet another lens which Nikon and Canon don’t have a true equal for… Actually, if the optical quality is there I’ve got nothing wrong with buying a third party lens… Still, it’s lame that Nikon and Canon aren’t doing as much as Sigma / Tokina (and Tamron) are…

[EDIT] Wow, how did I miss this other lens, hidden underneath the Nikon ad on DPR? The oh-so-sweet 11-16mm f/2.8 DX!!!! NICE!!!!

11-16, hmm, at first glance it’s a little too close to the 10-17 fisheye zoom and the 12-24 ultra-wide zoom.

But then I realize, it’s ASPHERICAL 17mm equiv, and unlike the fisheye zoom it accepts filters, and unlike the 12-24, this one is f/2.8. Then there’s the fact that Tokina makes a 16-50 f/2.8, which would pair very nicely. Then there’s my Sigma 50-150 f/2.8 to complete the lineup, yum…

But, do I ever really USE that wide of a focal range? As popular as that range is these days, I find it really hard to compose a photo that DOESN’T have tons of wasted space. The lens is often SO wide that unless you really get in and get close and maybe distort perspective, you’re going to lose the subject in all the wide angle-ness…

Definitely another lens that is NOT going at the top of my list, that’s for sure. Right now I’m still too addicted to fast-apeture primes to think seriously about buying another zoom just yet…

=Matt=