Tokina 10-17 mm fisheye reviewThe Tokina 10-17 mm 3.5-4.5 Fisheye appeared in 2008. Not only as a Tokina fisheye, but also in a slightly different version by another brand: a Pentax 10-17 fisheye. At first sight it might seem that the Tokina 10-17 mm zoomrange is similar to the zoomrange of the Tokina 12-24 mm. However, the Tokina 10-17 mm is a fisheye lens with nearly an 180 degrees viewing angle. Combined with an APS-C sensor camera it doesn't have these characteristic black corners which are common for circular fisheye lenses. Because of the extreme viewing angle of the Tokina 10-17 mm fisheye, it is not possible for us to test chromatic aberration, distortion and resolution of this lens in the lab. Therefore we'll provide you with a field test. This remarkable lens really invites you to go out and shoot. |
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Tokina 10-17 mm 3.5-4.5 Fisheye DX
Testcamera: Canon 60D, APS-C
Testmethod: see FAQ
Suitable for: APS-C and full frame
Smallest focussing distance: 14 cm
Optical built: 10/8
Size: 71 x 70 mm
Weight: 378 grams
Suggested retail price (NL: 03-03-2011): NL € 500
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 Tokina 10-17 mm @10 mm |
 Tokina 10-17 mm @17 mm
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Construction and autofocus |
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| As usual for Tokina, this Tokina 10-17 mm lens feels solid. The zoomring has no margin and turns easily. The focussing ring is smooth in operation. The Tokina 10-17 mm lens is available in two versions: with and without a built-in hood. The built-in hood is only a few milimeters large and it is not possible to place a filter on this compact lens. The Tokina 10-17 mm version without a built in hood can also be used on full frame cameras like the Canon 5D MK2 and Nikon D700. Between a focal point of 12 mm to 17 mm, you will not see black corners due to shielding of the sensor by the built-in hood. |
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| This lens is not available with a silent HSM drive mode for the autofocus. This is not a problem at all, because this wide angle lens has to move only the lens elements for a few mm only to focus correctly. It focusses, attached to a Canon 60D camera, very fast: from 15 meters to 1.5 meter in 0.15 seconds. In low light situations this lens hunts seldomly. | |
Vignetting |
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| You expect a wide angle lens to show severe vignetting. However, the Tokina 10-17 mm is a strong performer at this part of our Tokina fisheye review. At aperture f/5.6 or f/8.0 there is hardly any vignetting left. A remarkable tour de force for this extreme wide angle lens. |
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Distortion |
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Characteristic for fisheye lenses like the Tokina 10-17 mm is an extreme distortion. In fact, it's one of the main reasons to buy a fisheye lens like this. Therefore it is pointless to measure the distortion of this lens. A picture of a brick wall shows you this characteristic fisheye view. Horizontal lines going straight through the centre will be perfectly straight, both at a focal point of 10 mm and 17 mm. These two picures clearly show you the very low level of vignetting. |
 @10 mm/8.0 |
 @17 mm/8.0 |
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Flare |
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| It is not uncommon for an extreme wide angle lens to be very susceptible to flare. The Tokina 10-17 fisheye is a pleasant surprise: you will not see blemishes in your backlight pictures. What you do see, is that the image softens. Nevertheless a very good performance! |
 @10 mm/3.5 |
Sharpness / resolution |
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We couldn't determine the resolution at a focal point of 10mm. You can't compare these results with images made by much larger focal points. So we made many images outside using this lens at 10 mm. At 10 mm sharpness at full opening is poor in the center of the image. Use f8 instead and it will become much better. In order to obtain sharp coners, you will need f8 anyway. At 13 mm and 17 mm, we observe the same. Use aperture f/8.0 in order to obtain sharp images in center and corners. Click at the graph to see all Imatest results. |
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Chromatic aberration |
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Click at the graph to see all Imatest results. |
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Chromatic aberration is a weak point of this Tokina, especialy at a focal distance of 10 mm. If the contrast is high you will see all kinds of green and purple edges. This phenomenon is visible in the centre and in the corners and is very high at full aperture. It falls a little at f/8.0. The pictures of the trucks are made at 10 mm/10. The two backlit shots were made at 10 mm/3.5. Left shows the uncorrected file, right the corrected file and CS 5 was used. Canon's own DPP software didn't manage to remove CA in this file. |
 10 mm/11.0 hoek |
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Other Tokina 10-17 mm/3.5-4.5 Fisheye reviews: |
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Conclusion
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Tokina 10-17 mm 3.5-4.5 Fisheye
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See our overview of all tested enses to compare the performance of this lens with other lenses. |
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Pro
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Con
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The Tokina 10-17 mm Fisheye is suitable for both APS-C and full frame camera's. This lens is compact and focusses fast. Vignetting is remarkably low for a wide angle lens, as is the susceptability for glare. Distortion is large, but this is normal for a fisheye lens. Corner sharpness is, even at f/8.0, low. The main disadvantage of this lens is the very high chromatic aberration associated with high contrasts. If you know how to correct for this phenomeneoon in post-processing, you will enjoy making many pictues using this this lens. Tokina 10-17 mm Fisheye gives you good value for your money.
