Tokina Creates Its First Optically Stabilized Lens, a 70-200mm f/4 Zoom

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Tokina broke new ground yesterday when it announced its very first optically-stabilized lens. Dubbed the AT-X 70-200mm F4 PRO FX VCM-S, it uses a voice coil motor-driven IS system to deliver a promised three stops of image stabilization for the shaky of hand.

The lens consists of 19 elements in 14 groups, uses an ultrasonic AF motor and was designed with full-frame SLRs in mind. If you do decide to attach it to an APS-C sensor body, you’ll be getting a focal range equivalent to 105-300mm.

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The Nikon mount will go on sale in Japan by the end of this month for 150,000 Yen (approximately 1,475 USD), but we don’t expect it to cost this much when it hits US shores, mainly because this would make the lens (which doesn’t even come standard with a tripod collar pictured above) a teensy bit MORE expensive than the name-brand competition.

The Nikon AF-S 70-200mm f/4G ED VR zoom is going for $1,400 at B&H right now, while the Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS USM is only $1,350 (or $1,150 after a mail-in rebate). Plus, at $1,475 for a third-party lens, you’re only $25 away from brighter the Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 image stabilized lens.

Of course, all of this pricing stuff is speculation for now. If you’d like to browse through the concrete info available on the lens, head over to Tokina by clicking here (Japanese website, so be ready for some things to be lost in translation).

(via DPReview)

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