Tokina is rumored to be bringing out a new 16-28mm f2.8 full frame lens. Its thought to be likely announced at Photokina this year.
In true Tokina fashion, it’ll likely be built like a tank. Tokina is famous for its build quality. You could probably run over most Tokina pro lenses with a truck and it wouldn’t hurt them.
Tokina lenses are also known to be quite good optically. Some of the 28-70 and 28-80 models have been stellar performers. I’ve owned a couple, one Nikon and one Canon version, and both were very good. I imagine with today’s DSLR bodies that have the ability to dial in a lens, I’d be even more impressed.
So a new Tokina 16-28mm f2.8…
Given that it’ll be almost surely well built and a pretty decent performer optically, price will be the key here. The new Nikon 14-24mm f2.8 is nothing short of STELLAR, so I don’t actually expect Tokina to beat it. What I do think they’ll be able to do is offer a decent alternative at a better price.
I’ll be interested to see some real world samples and testing once this new Tokina hits the street.