Tokina 35-105 f3.5 Close Focus Lens ( manual focus )

[old4570]

Im going to have to do this slowly as this is a very interesting lens , that needs some delving into ..

@ 105mm it has that GLOW / hue , halo effect when close ( 1.5meter minimum focus - Normal ) and when using the close focus function ..
Not so much an issue @ 35mm , in fact , 35mm is some what impressive ..

Lets look at the lens ..

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/IMGP5997_zpse9e10600.jpg

No 1 - Your f stop ring or aperture ring
No 2 - Zoom ring
No 3 - Close focus ring
No 4 - Focus ring

Now you can use both the focus and close focus rings , this is very nice , the close focus is some what of a course adjustment , while the normal focus ring is very fine , or large amount of movement to go in and out of focus ..
There are only 5 aperture settings , 3.5, 5.6, 8 , 11 and 16

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/IMGP6005_zps1137359e.jpg

This is a somewhat large and heavy lens , I mean , its a brick .. And in front of the little istDs , yeah , you can feel the heft !

Now lets check out what happens close up @ 105mm

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/IMGP7508_zps8c85a48b.jpg

This picture was taken @ 105mm and f3.5 just outside ( few centimeters ) the minimum focus distance ..
In the next images , we will examine the close focus , now the exact same thing happens using the close focus as taking pictures @ 105mm just outside the minimum focus distance , so why double up ?

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/IMGP7537_zps498160d7.jpg

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/IMGP7538_zps04b04eac.jpg

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/IMGP7539_zps1553f2e4.jpg

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/IMGP7540_zps98ea9bda.jpg

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/IMGP7541_zpsdc375660.jpg

Thats @ 105mm

Next lets take a look 35mm , here are some images @ 35mm just to see how close you can get at this setting ..

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/IMGP7563_zpsf156f3ba.jpg

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/IMGP7566_zpsf64661d6.jpg

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/IMGP7568_zpse820cb72.jpg

Well , its a dark dreary day outside , but at 35mm and f3.5 , hand held mind you , the lens is working rather well ..

I went outside to take some more pictures - unfortunately the weather is a little topsy turby outside .. The sun came out as I was taking the pictures , and you can clearly see how this affected the images ,
but we are examining the halo or glow .

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/IMGP7572_zpsdce7c570.jpg
First image @ 35mm and f3.5 using close focus


http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/IMGP7573_zpsc4d2507a.jpg
Second image - f5.6
You will note the lack of the halo or glow effect , unfortunately at this point the sun began to peek and the wind picked up ( very poor conditions for testing )


http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/IMGP7574_zpsd5e400ab.jpg
Third image - f8


http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/IMGP7575_zps4e6ee510.jpg
Fourth image - f11


http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/IMGP7576_zpsf558c102.jpg
Fifth image - f16 and the sun is blaring down


Now next I went back to 105mm and f3.5 to see what effect moving away from the subject would have ...
First shot is about 2.5 meters ..

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/IMGP7579_zps6eee8cb6.jpg

Now the problem here is the wind , the subject is moving , and the wind is only growing in strength , so there might be some BLUR in effect from movement ..

In this next image we are still @ 105mm and f3.5 .. My focus point is the pin wheel ..

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/IMGP7584_zpsa1a147af.jpg

Now will notice the limitations of f3.5 in this image , again be mindful that the wind is in effect : And its going to be a few days before the weather settles ..
So I will come back to this lens , this is a very interesting lens , but for now , mother nature wins .


More as time permits ( this is an interesting lens ) ............................................

[old4570]

Part 2
Ok now lets examine the effects of zoom - Starting from the minimum distance @ 105mm + a few centimeters .. I will step down from 105mm by the readings on the lens

Thats 105mm , 85mm , 70mm, 55mm, 45mm, and 35mm .. So lets see what happens ..

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/1-105_zps9f68e25f.jpg


http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/2-85_zps32d39549.jpg


http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/3-70_zpsf60e76d4.jpg


http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/4-55_zps23708239.jpg


http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/5-45_zps84df0b06.jpg


http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/6-35_zps01e3b126.jpg

Well , that was interesting ...
Next lets try the same again but at that all time fav f-stop setting of f8 ..

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/1-105_zps1f9bb90f.jpg


http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/2-85_zpsc7209a2a.jpg


http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/3-70_zps3697dd6b.jpg


http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/4-55_zpse0bac7b4.jpg


http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/5-45_zpse8e95812.jpg


http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/6-35_zps8bc07ab1.jpg

Wow - much nicer !

Lets do a couple of direct comparisons :


First at 35mm

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/ScreenShot004_zps806cacfa.jpg

Next 105mm

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/old4570/ScreenShot003_zps399a23c9.jpg

Well interesting ( for me ) , and I hope this was all interesting for you as well

..

So in a nutshell ..
You can close focus through the zoom range , not just at one end .. Thanks to separate close focus function
The lower the magnification , the closer you can get to your subject ( pretty darned close )
There is that glow when at higher zoom settings at close to minimum focus distance at wide open aperture ..
Overall I like this lens , its sharp , its big , its heavy , and for some reason as you increase zoom , it gets brighter and you need to increase shutter speed to compensate ( I actually like this )

It is a fully manual lens , and one sometimes forgets - (All these auto cameras) ... So if you can live with a manual lens ?
Anyhow , I wont be parting with this lens any time soon , that's for sure .