Tokina’s 24-70mm f/2.8 Outperforms Nikon’s Versions, Costs Half as Much

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Third-party lenses are getting better and better, and the latest lens to impress reviewers with its stellar performance is the Tokina AT-X 24-70mm f/2.8 PRO FX lens. In fact, it outperforms both of Nikon’s 24-70mm options and will only cost you a fraction of the price!

DxOMark put the lens through its paces and released their surprising review yesterday. Calling it a “top performer,” they wasted no time pointing out the price differences between the Tokina and the Nikon competition:

At $999, the Tokina 24-70mm f/2.8 isn’t cheap, but could represent great value compared to own-brand options, such as the $1797 Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G ED or the $2397 Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8E ED.

And in fact, by the time they reached their conclusion, DxO had decided that it does represent a great value, “deliver[ing] marginally better image quality compared to the popular third-party Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 and Nikon’s own 24-70mm f/2.8G, due to its excellent sharpness between f/4 and f/11 at most focal lengths.”

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So, what do you give up? What’s the catch? A $1,000 lens can’t simply be all-around better than a $2,400 lens without a catch.

There are two catches really. (1) You’re missing optical stabilization, which the more expensive of the two Nikon 24-70mm lenses does have; and (2) The lens “isn’t quite as sharp” as the Nikon competition when shooting wide-open at f/2.8.

These are both important considerations depending on what kind of shooting you do, but for many Nikon photographers the advantages may not be worth the extra cash. With its excellent sharpness, solid build, and “snappy autofocus,” DxO has no qualms labeling this “an attractive third-party option for Nikon full-frame photographers.”

Check out the full DxOMark review by clicking here.

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