I got this to use with my Nikon N90 in 1994, when I first went into autofocus. It had a very high reputation then and since, but some of my professional contacts on mailing lists reported not-so-good performance from newer and supposedly better Tokina zooms.
I was considering sticking with this as my main lens for a while after I got the D700 (which brought me back into full-frame photography), but this required testing.
Results seemed pretty conclusive to me.
28mm f/2.8
![ddb-20081005-020-tokina-28-70-28mm-f28-006-orig-corner Tokina ATX-Pro 28-70mm f/2.8 at 28mm, f/2.8, corner](http://dd-b.net/ddbcms/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/ddb-20081005-020-tokina-28-70-28mm-f28-006-orig-corner-150x150.png)
![ddb-20081005-020-tokina-28-70-28mm-f28-006-orig-center Tokina ATX-Pro 28-70mm f/2.8 at 28mm, f/2.8, center](http://dd-b.net/ddbcms/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/ddb-20081005-020-tokina-28-70-28mm-f28-006-orig-center-150x150.png)
![ddb-20081005-020-tokina-28-70-28mm-f28-006 Tokina ATX-Pro 28-70mm f/2.8](http://dd-b.net/ddbcms/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/ddb-20081005-020-tokina-28-70-28mm-f28-006-150x150.jpg)
Those corners are really pretty appalling. This was a reshoot, because I was worried I’d somehow done it wrong in the initial shoot.
28mm f/4
![ddb-20081005-020-tokina-28-70-28mm-f40-003-orig-corner Tokina ATX-Pro 28-70mm f/2.8 at 28mm, f4, corner](http://dd-b.net/ddbcms/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/ddb-20081005-020-tokina-28-70-28mm-f40-003-orig-corner-150x150.png)
![ddb-20081005-020-tokina-28-70-28mm-f40-003-orig-center Tokina ATX-Pro 28-70mm f/2.8 at 28mm, f/4, center](http://dd-b.net/ddbcms/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/ddb-20081005-020-tokina-28-70-28mm-f40-003-orig-center-150x150.png)
![ddb-20081005-020-tokina-28-70-28mm-f40-003 Tokina ATX-Pro 28-70mm f/2.8 at 28mm, f/4](http://dd-b.net/ddbcms/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/ddb-20081005-020-tokina-28-70-28mm-f40-003-150x150.jpg)
Some improvement; but more, some reason to believe that the f/2.8 result wasn’t a mistake somehow.
50mm f/2.8
![ddb-20081005-020-tokina-28-70-50mm-f28-002-orig-corner Tokina ATX-Pro 28-70mm f/2.8 at 50mm, f/2.8, corner](http://dd-b.net/ddbcms/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/ddb-20081005-020-tokina-28-70-50mm-f28-002-orig-corner-150x150.png)
![ddb-20081005-020-tokina-28-70-50mm-f28-002-orig-center Tokina ATX-Pro 28-70mm f/2.8 at 50mm, f/2.8, center](http://dd-b.net/ddbcms/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/ddb-20081005-020-tokina-28-70-50mm-f28-002-orig-center-150x150.png)
![ddb-20081005-020-tokina-28-70-50mm-f28-002 Tokina ATX-Pro 28-70mm f/2.8 at 50mm, f/2.8](http://dd-b.net/ddbcms/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/ddb-20081005-020-tokina-28-70-50mm-f28-002-150x150.jpg)
Considerable improvement in the corners; not so much in the center, I almost wonder if that was me? This is why sane people use tripods for lens testing, I believe. But that one was at 1/1000 sec., it really doesn’t seem likely it was camera shake.
50mm f/5.6
![ddb-20081005-020-tokina-28-70-50mm-f56-004-orig-corner Tokina ATX-Pro 28-70mm f/2.8 at 50mm, f/5.6, corner](http://dd-b.net/ddbcms/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/ddb-20081005-020-tokina-28-70-50mm-f56-004-orig-corner-150x150.png)
![ddb-20081005-020-tokina-28-70-50mm-f56-004-orig-center Tokina ATX-Pro 28-70mm f/2.8 at 50mm, f/5.6, center](http://dd-b.net/ddbcms/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/ddb-20081005-020-tokina-28-70-50mm-f56-004-orig-center-150x150.png)
![ddb-20081005-020-tokina-28-70-50mm-f56-004 Tokina ATX-Pro 28-70mm f/2.8 at 50mm, f/5.6](http://dd-b.net/ddbcms/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/ddb-20081005-020-tokina-28-70-50mm-f56-004-150x150.jpg)
There we go, that’s about where it’s really supposed to be.
70mm f/2.8
![ddb-20081004-020-tokina-28-70-70mm-f28-005-corner Tokina ATX-Pro 28-70mm f/2.8 at 70mm, f/2.8, corner](http://dd-b.net/ddbcms/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/ddb-20081004-020-tokina-28-70-70mm-f28-005-corner-150x150.png)
![ddb-20081004-020-tokina-28-70-70mm-f28-005-center Tokina ATX-Pro 28-70mm f/2.8 at 70mm, f/2.8, center](http://dd-b.net/ddbcms/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/ddb-20081004-020-tokina-28-70-70mm-f28-005-center-150x150.png)
![ddb-20081004-020-tokina-28-70-70mm-f28-005 Tokina ATX-Pro 28-70mm f/2.8 at 70mm, f/2.8](http://dd-b.net/ddbcms/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/ddb-20081004-020-tokina-28-70-70mm-f28-005-150x150.jpg)
Funny-looking at the long end, too; more in the middle really. Coma maybe? I haven’t done serious pixel-peeping at these yet.
70mm f/5.6
![ddb-20081004-020-tokina-28-70-70mm-f56-004-corner Tokina ATX-Pro 28-70mm f/2.8 at 70mm, f/5.6 corner](http://dd-b.net/ddbcms/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/ddb-20081004-020-tokina-28-70-70mm-f56-004-corner-150x150.png)
![ddb-20081004-020-tokina-28-70-70mm-f56-004-center Tokina ATX-Pro 28-70mm f/2.8 at 70mm, f/5.6, center](http://dd-b.net/ddbcms/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/ddb-20081004-020-tokina-28-70-70mm-f56-004-center-150x150.png)
![ddb-20081004-020-tokina-28-70-70mm-f56-004 Tokina ATX-Pro 28-70mm f/2.8 at 70mm, f/5.6](http://dd-b.net/ddbcms/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/ddb-20081004-020-tokina-28-70-70mm-f56-004-150x150.jpg)
Nice in the center, okay at the corner now.
Conclusion
So, as you may have guessed by now, I’ve ordered the Nikkor AF-S 24-70 f/2.8.