Review Tokina 100 mm Macro
Tokina 100 mm/2.8 Macro & Canon 5D MK2 (C FF)Tokina released the Tokina 100 mm Macro in 2005. This macro lens is suitable for both full frame cameras and APS-C cameras. Because of the focal length, this lens can also be used well as a portrait lens. The Tokina 100 mm 2.8 Macro is much cheaper than the Canon 100 mm IS Macro and the Sigma 105 mm OS Macro. |
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Construction and autofocus |
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| The Tokina 100 mm macro lens feels solid and is very nicely finished. The house is made of plastic and the fitting is of metal. The lens hood is large and firmly attached. During focusing, the filter does not turn. The focus ring is rubberized and feels nicely rough. If you slide this ring back, you can focus manually. The focus ring turns very smoothly and the focal stroke is nearly 180 degrees. For focusing manually, often necessary at macro, that is sufficient. The lens has its own AF motor of a conventional type. When focusing from infinity to close, the lens becomes a lot bigger. Focusing is a little slower than we are accustomed to with a Canon 5D MK2; from 15 meters to 1.5 meters in 0.35 seconds. Focusing is rather quiet and at low light, the camera hunts a little bit. The AF is accurate though, even in the nearby area. |
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Vignetting Tokina 100 mm macro |
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| The vignetting, expressed in stops, is very low. Even at full aperture, f/2.8, it is less than half a stop. You rarely come across this at full frame. |  |
Distortion Tokina 100 mm macro |
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| Most of the macro lenses we've tested are excellent performers for distortion, and the Tokina 100 mm macro lens is no exception. The distortion of the Tokina 100 mm macro & Canon 60D jpg files is so low, -0.27%, that it is negligible. |  |
Bokeh |
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| With a macro lens, a good representation of blurred foreground and background due to the limited depth of field is very important. The Tokina performs very well at this point; blurred circles have a solid coverage and the image remains very quiet. |
 Tokina 100mm macro @f/2.8
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@f/2.8
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 @f/2.8
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 Tokina 100 mm macro @f/2.8
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 Tokina 100 mm macro @f/8.0
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Flare |
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The sensitivity to backlight is quite suppressed. Ghosting is rare. The practice shooting, backlight through the leaves, looks remarkably good. The Canon 100 mm 2.8 IS Macro has, both in practice and in the test studio, more problems with flare.
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Resolution Tokina 100 mm macro |
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The resolution of the Tokina 100 mm macro, expressed in lines/sensor height, reaches at all apertures a high value. Equally important is the minor difference in resolution between the center and the corners. Compared to the fast Canon 100 mm, the Tokina is much sharper. If you put the Tokina next to the Canon 100 mm IS Macro, you will see that the Canon is just slightly sharper. The differences are small and in practice, they will rarely be visible. |
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Chromatic aberration |
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| Only at f/5.6, the chromatic aberration of the Tokina 100 mm macro is on the high side, which is easily defeated by software. |  |
Conclusion
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Tokina 100 mm 2.8 Macro AT-X PRO
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See our overview of tested lenses or our overview of tested lenses with a Canon mount to compare the performances of this lens with other lenses. |
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Advantages
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Disadvantages
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The Tokina 100 mm Macro is due to the focal length suitable both as a macro lens and as a portrait lens. The lens is nicely finished and feels solid. The resolution is high at all apertures and the difference between the center and the corners is remarkably small. Also in terms of vignetting and distortion, this is an excellent lens. The bokeh of this lens is very nice. The disadvantages to be named are that the AF is somewhat slow and the absence of image stabilization. The much more expensive Canon Macro 100 mm IS Macro is the direct competitor. This one draws a bit sharper at full aperture, but is more sensitive to backlight. The price/quality ratio of the Tokina 100 mm Macro is very favorable.
