Tokina 35-300mm F4.5-6.7 AF A-mount lens review by QuietOC
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sharpness: 3 color: 4 build: 3 distortion: 4 flare control: 4 overall: 3.6 | tested on:
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ownership: | I used to own this lens |
compared to: | Tamron 18-250 F3.5-6.3 Minolta AF 24-105 F3.5-4.5 D Minolta AF 28-100 F3.5-5.6 D Sigma AF 28-105 F2.8-4 Canon EF 28-105 F3.5-4.5 USM II Minolta AF 28-105 F3.5-4.5 & RS & Xi Minolta AF 28-135 F4-4.5 Tamron 28-200 F3.8-5.6 LD Tamron 28-300 F3.5-6.3 XR Di Tamron 28-300 F3.5-6.3 XR Minolta AF 35-105 F3.5-4.5/New Sigma AF 35-135 F3.5-4.5 Minolta AF 35-200 F4.5-5.6 Xi Tokina AF 35-200 F4-5.6 SD Minolta MD 50-135 F3.5 Sony DT 55-200 SAM Sony DT 55-300 SAM Minolta AF 70-210 F4 Minolta AF 70-210 F3.5-4.5 Minolta AF 70-210 F4.5-5.6 I/II Canon EF 70-300 F4-5.6 IS II USM Tamron SP 70-300 USD Minolta AF 75-300 "Big Beercan" Minolta AF 75-300 D Minolta AF 100-300 APO Minolta AF 100-300 APO D Minolta AF 100-400 APO |
price paid: | 47 USD (used) |
positive: | Compact size Large zoom range Decent image quailty |
negative: | Incompatibility (Maxxum 70, Sony A68) Focal encoder issues Zoom creep Noisy focus mechanism Varifocal Long minimum focus distances Borrows lens ID from Minolta 28-85 |
comment: | This lens seems to have debuted around 1998. Tokina described it as a "Super Mini Zoom" on the packaging. It is actually about a centimeter shorter than their earlier AF 35-200 zoom (AF352). It is not much larger than the Minolta 100-300 F4.5-5.6 zooms. It has typical cheap heavy metal Tokina construction. "JAPAN" It doesn't work with several of my cameras including the A68 and Maxxum 70. It actually prevents the operation the former camera when attached to it. It does seem to mostly work on the Maxxum 600si as well as the A5000 via the LA-EA1. It does autofocus on the Monster modified LA-EA4R. The focus encoder seems to be failing at the long end. Is is better than the Tokina 35-200 at the wide end, but it gets much softer at the longer focal lengths. Since this lens is not compatible with Sony cameras, it should be removed from the database. |
rating summary

- total reviews: 4
- sharpness: 3.38
- color: 3.50
- build: 3.50
- distortion: 3.25
- flare control: 3.50
- overall: 3.42