The picture with the church is impressive, likewise the resolution figures in the photozone test. I have handled the lens in a camerashop, and I agree, it is HUGE and heavy. The concept about sacrificing autofocus in favour of (supposedly) great optics and low price appeals to me

I have been experimenting with taking pictures of the Northern Lights this winter. Since I do not have any fast wide angle lenses (for APS-C) in my possesion I have mostly used an FA* 24mm wide open. I have also briefly tried my DA 18-55mm WR, but for this use the kit zoom was not very satisfying. I am not saying that the DA 18-55mm is useless for this kind of photography, only that the FA* 24mm is about ten times better in capturing the subtle nuances of the Northern Lights.

In Norway many Northern Lights photographers seem to use the Tokina AT-X 11-16 f2.8, but the Samyang 14mm f2.8 has also become quite popular. Do any of you have any experience with the Samyang 14mm?

Bjørn

I have already complained once to Tokina. The lens has been twice in the Netherlands. The first time the initial repair, the second time to deal with the damage caused by the less than stellar first repair. How much time should one spend with such a matter?

Based on reports on other forums , I am not the first Tokina owner to experience trouble with TSE. There have been other "pour souls" before me...

Thank you John for your advice! I will give your suggestions some serious thought.

There are few things that irritate me more than sloppy repair work like this, wether it is done to my car, my musical instruments ( I am a musician), or indeed my camera equipment. I might have blown off too much steam in this tread, but I believe that negative experiences like mine with TSE should also be shared.

Bjørn

Generally I would think and act in a similar way to the one you describe above, in most cases that is a very wise strategy. But the level of inferior craftsmanship or lack of quality control evident in the work having done on my Tokina is just beyond my acceptance. I am prepared to "repair the repair" somewhere else, and forget all about TSE.

I also like the Tokina ATX 80-400mm a lot. But the kind of service I have experienced with TSE have gotten me to take into consideration the service and repair options available with Tokina. It is cumbersome enough to send lenses to the Netherlands for service and repair, but if one has to send the lens to Japan or the USA to get decent quality S & R it really becomes to much hassle, for me at least. I have sent a request to a Norwegian technician to clean the front element and re-seat the "inner beauty ring" on my lens, so probably these things will be fixed. But one should not have to "repair the repair" having been done by a major workshop like the TSE

I have recently had some experience with Tokina Service Europe in the Netherlands that I would like to share with you.

About half a year ago I by ended up with buying two Tokina ATX 80-400mm lenses. The first one was a version 1 (without tripod collar) that I purchased off eBay for USD340. The price was good, but the lens was not. When it arrived I realized that the zoom mechanism was damaged. There was zoom unevenness around 300mm and sometimes the zoom got stuck in one position, and it needed prolonged manipulation to resume normal function. In the midst of deep irritation with this purchase I found a "mint" version 2 on "pentaxforums.com" that I purchased. This lens arrived in truly immaculate condition, it is really superb.

Now back to my unhappy eBay purchase. After having done some research I sent the version 1 to Tokina Service Europe in the Netherlands on the 13. october 2011. In the beginning of November I got an email from the Netherlands stating that the zoom mechanism damage could be repaired for EURO 180,- I accepted this price, and the lens arrived by UPS in the middle of November. The first thing I noticed when examining the lens was that the zoom no longer got stuck in one position, but the unevenness around 300mm was still there. I called TSE on the phone to ask about this, and they told me that they would have to change the whole zoom-rail-mechanism in the lens to deal with the unevenness. I was also told that this was a common problem with this lens (if it had had some kind of impact damage) and that most people just got used to it being like this. It would cost another EURO 240,- to change the whole zoom-rail-mechanism.

While I was considering what to do, I noticed some days afterwards that there was some grease on the inside of the front element, and also some loose metal bits. Closer examination also revealed that the front element came into contact with the inner metal tubing when fully compressed. There was already a circular imprint on the glass. (photo 1)

I sent a letter of complaint to TSE, and on the 29. November I returned the lens. Some weeks later I sent an email stating that I would also like to have the zoom-rail-mechanism 100% fixed according to previous price estimate (EURO 240,-).

On Thursday last week I received the lens from the Netherlands. I took me about 30 seconds of examination to register the following defects:

1. The front glass element had been changed, but not cleaned on the inside. It is full of dirt. (photo 2)

2. The "beauty ring" covering the inner zoom tubing is partly loose and comes into contact with the front element when using the lens at 80mm. This will eventually mark the inside of the front element. (photo 3)

3. The zoom ring unevenness is still there. They had not repaired the zoom mechanism fully, like I asked for.

4. The lens arrived with a Sigma bottom cap, not the original Tokina that I sent along. The Sigma cap hardly fits at all.


They did not charge me anything for the second repair, but I had to pay about GBP 30 in postage.


Am I happy with the quality of repair and competence of TSE ? No!!!!

Will I ever send anything to TSE for service or repair? No way!!!!

Will I ever buy any other Tokina lenses, with my knowledge of repair and service possibilities in Europe? Very doubtful.

I Norway we have a brilliant Pentax technician, I probably will stick to "Pentax-only" in the future. Then I can rest assured that if something gets broken or needs service, there is a dedicated technician that will fix it.


Regards from "No-longer-a-Tokina-afficianado"

Bjørn


Photo 1:
[IMG]http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz50/bjolester/80_400_0.jpg[/IMG]

Photo 2:
[IMG]http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz50/bjolester/80_400_2.jpg[/IMG]

Photo 3:
[IMG]http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz50/bjolester/80_400_1.jpg[/IMG]

This is the place to discuss the Golden Hour competition.

The Golden Hour is the hour after sunrise and before sunset, where the light has a special quality. Many landscape photographers do their shooting in the Golden Hour. But also architectural photography, human portraits, and many other motives get a characteristic quality when taken during the Golden Hour.


"Typically, lighting is softer (more diffuse) and warmer in hue, and shadows are longer. When the sun is near the horizon, sunlight travels through more of the atmosphere, reducing the intensity of the direct light, so that more of the illumination comes from indirect light from the sky (Thomas 1973, 9–13), reducing the lighting ratio. More blue light is scattered, so that light from the sun appears more reddish. In addition, the sun's small angle with the horizon produces longer shadows." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_hour_(photography))

All photos to be taken with Pentax cameras or the Samsung clones.

Competition closes at 1800 GMT 08.02.2012

Wow Thank you very much, I am honored that my photo made it to the top in such competition. There were many other great images in this competition! I have some ideas about a theme for the next fortnightly competition, I just need to do some research first. So, within a day or two I will start the 86th round of this competion

Best regards

Bjørn