Tokina AT-X 11-20mm f/2.8 Pro DX Review

Third-party lenses have long been a cost-conscious alternative to name brands, but not every one is a strong optical performer.

The Tokina AT-X 11-20mm f/2.8 Pro DX ($599) doesn't necessarily look like a modern lens from the outside, but it makes up for it in image quality.

Its angle of view is solidly in the ultra-wide territory.

If you shoot with an APS-C Canon or Nikon SLR and are after a bright, wide lens, take a look at the Tokina.

It's not the the sleekest zoom on the outside, but its f/2.8 aperture puts it in a class of its own, especially given its relatively low price point.

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Dated Aesthetics

The 11-20mm doesn't look like a new lens.

Its design is straight out of the 90s, rife with odd font choices for labels and chunky rubberized knurling on the focus and zoom rings.

Gold accents are similar to what Nikon does with its recent SLR lenses, but buck the more recent trend of understated designs with little color to grab your attention.

The 11-20mm measures 3.6 by 3.5 inches (HD), weighs 1.2 pounds, and supports 82mm front filters.

It's available for Canon and Nikon SLRs, and covers an APS-C image sensor.

In full-frame terms, its range of coverage is most similar to a 16.5-30mm zoom.

The image above was shot at the widest setting, and the one below zoomed all the way in.

Both were captured from the same vantage point.

A reversible lens hood, along with front and rear caps, are included.

There's no sort of weather protection, which isn't surprising given the asking price and ambitious f/2.8 design.

Still, we would have liked to see fluorine protection for the front element, like you do with rival Tamron's budget-minded 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II VC HLD.

There is no image stabilization built in.

We've seen more recent ultra-wide zooms add the function, as it is very helpful for handheld video recording.

Nikon has a stabilized lens with a similar angle of view, the AF-P DX Nikkor 10-20mm f/4.5-5.6G VR, and Canon has the stabilized EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM.

Neither is as bright as the Tokina, but both will net smoother handheld video footage.

The autofocus motor is a little slow, requiring about 0.2-second to acquire and lock focus with the usually speedy Nikon D500.

It's also loud, which is a concern for photographers working in environments where silence is key, and puts an additional damper on using the lens for video.

If you do, stick the camera on a tripod and stick to manual focus.

You'll use a focus clutch to switch between manual and autofocus.

The focus ring, which sits toward the front element, pulls straight back to disable autofocus and switch to manual control.

It works well in theory, but in practice I found the mechanism a bit difficult to adjust.

It was just as likely to get stuck during movement as it was to work as designed.

Focus is available to 11 inches, measured from the camera's image sensor, so roughly five inches from the image sensor.

You won't typically get macro results from such a wide lens, but you won't feel limited when working close.

At its best the 11-20mm magnifies subjects at 1:8.6 life-size.

Sharp Optics

I tested the 11-20mm with the 20.9MP Nikon D500 and Imatest software.

At 11mm f/2.8 it puts up strong resolution numbers, notching 2,520 lines in a center-weighted evaluation.

Edge quality, often a concern in wide zooms, isn't as high as the average, but exceeds our 1,800-line minimum easily with a 2,080-line mark.

At f/4 the average score climbs to 2,851 lines, and edges are a sharp 2,538 lines—landscape photographers will find the lens is very viable here, even for scenes where edge resolution is key.

The lens is better at f/5.6 (3,062 lines) and f/8 (3,084 lines), and at both settings resolution is almost as strong at the edges of the frame as it is on average.

There's a slight drop in resolution at f/11 (2,922 lines), a trend that continues at f/16 (2,553 lines), and the minimum f/22 setting (1,930 lines).

Because of this, we don't recommend using the lens at its narrowest apertures, unless you are trying to get the sunstar effect in your image.

Resolution remains strong at 15mm.

At f/2.8 we see 2,610 lines on average, with 2,058 lines at the periphery.

There's a modest uptick at f/4 (2,652 lines), but to see a significant gain you'll need to stop down to f/5.6.

Here the lens shows 2,870 lines on average, without outer parts of the frame showing an excellent 2,742 lines.

Peak resolution is at f/8 (3,041 lines) and f/11 isn't far behind at 2,939 lines.

Once again, avoid f/16 (2,601 lines) and f/22 (2,022 lines) when you can.

At 20mm the lens shows isn't as sharp at f/2.8 as at other settings—we see 2,473 lines—but it is as sharp at the edges as it is on average.

We see similar results at f/4 (2,611 lines), before the expected improvement at f/5.6 (2,827 lines), f/8 (2,979 lines), and f/11 (2,917 lines).

Skip f/16 (2,649 lines) and f/22 (2,093 lines) when you can.

The lens shows some distortion, but not as much as you expect from an ultra-wide zoom, and certainly not as much as you'd imagine seeing from one with an f/2.8 aperture throughout its zoom range.

At 11mm there is about 4.3 percent barrel distortion—noticeable, but better controlled than the Nikon AF-P DX 10-20mm (5.5 percent) or Tamron 10-24mm (5.9 percent) at their widest settings.

Distortion drops as you zoom in—you get about 1.9 percent at 15mm and a negligible 0.9-percent at 20mm.

I tested the 10-20mm with the Nikon D500, which supports in-camera peripheral illumination adjustment, even when shooting with a third-party lens.

Enabling it delivers JPG images with brighter corners than you get when shooting in Raw or with correction turned off.

At 11mm f/2.8 the corners show a -2.2EV drop at f/2.8 and a -1.3EV deficit at f/4.

At narrower f-stops brightness is within our -1EV tolerance from center to corner, and the same is true at 15mm and 20mm at every aperture.

The vignette is a little bit stronger with correction turned off.

At 11mm we see -2.6EV at f/2.8, -1.6EV at f/4, and about -1.1EV at narrower apertures.

At 15mm the vignette is only worth talking about at f/2.8, and it's a modest -1.4EV there.

Illumination at 20mm is, for practical purposes, uniform at every f-stop.

A Strong Third-Party Alternative

There is very little to complain about the Tokina AT-X 11-20mm f/2.8 Pro DX from an optical perspective.

It boasts a bright f/2.8 aperture, delivers detailed, sharp images, and while it does show some distortion, it's better controlled than in competing zooms with narrower apertures.

And it gives you all of this for around $600, a steal considering the f/2.8 design.

Fit and finish are a bit behind the times, however.

There's no sort of weather sealing and the focus motor is both loud and a little slow.

The 11-20mm has been on the market for a few years, so it's not shocking to see the fluorine coating missing—the water-resistant finish has become more and more common in the past few years.

If you're primarily interested in photography, the Tokina 11-20mm is an excellent option for shots where an ultra-wide lens is key.

It will serve you well for landscapes—both epic western vistas and cavernous urban cityscapes.

But videographers, especially those who prefer to work handheld, should shop for a lens with stabilization and a quieter focus system instead.