Tokina is a Japanese manufacturer of lenses for different camera brands. The company makes a wide variety of lenses that use high-quality glass and offer an alternative to more expensive name brands like Canon and Nikon. The company has evolved over its history, and now offers lenses for almost every camera on the market.
Origins
Tokina was started as an original equipment manufacturer of lenses in the 1950s. In the early 1970s, a group of former Nikon engineers established Tokina Lenses as its own separate entity.
Goals
The origins of Tokina reflect the schism in the photographic community over the importance of zoom lenses. While most amateur and even professional photographers currently prefer zoom lenses, at the time, the quality of zoom lenses was suspect, and prime lenses---fixed focal lengths---ruled. The Nikon engineers who created Tokina did so with the goal of focusing on developing high-quality zoom lenses.
Sourcing
When Tokina started building lenses, one problem it faced was glass quality. The company turned to Hoya, one of the world's largest manufacturers of high-quality optics, to source its glass. Hoya made the glass according to Tokina specifications. Hoya still provides the glass for Tokina lenses, and Tokina is owned by THK corporation, which also includes Hoya, Kenko and Slik.
AT-X
Tokina launched its Advanced Technology-Extra (AT-X) in 1981, and it has continually advanced since then. The AT-X is Tokina's highest grade lens. It refers to the company's top design and top technologies. Tokina's goal with AT-X is "advanced features, high performance, lightweight and compact designs." The current top level Tokina lens is the AT-X Pro line, which includes six different lenses: an 11-16, a 12-24, a 16-50, a 50-135, and a 35mm and 100mm macro. All of the AT-X Pro lenses except the 12-24 are fast f2.8 aperture lenses.
Location
Tokina is still headquartered in Japan. The company partnered with Pentax in 2006, and has released a variety of lenses for Pentax digital single-lens reflex cameras (SLRs). Some of these lenses have the same focal lengths as Pentax lenses with slightly differing technology. These lenses also are made with mounts for Nikon and Canon. For instance, the 16-50 requires manual focus when used on a Nikon D40 or D60, while it has screwdrive autofocus on Pentax cameras. Several of the current AT-X Pro lenses, including the 16-50 and 50-135, are re-branded by Pentax as Pentax lenses.
Technology
Tokina uses a lot of popular technology in its lenses. The lenses are multicoated to reduce reflections, and use super low-dispersion glass to reduce or eliminate chromatic aberration (rainbow effect). Other technologies include an internal focusing mechanism and focus clutch mechanism to switch between auto and manual focus.
Tags: zoom lenses, 16-50 50-135, AT-X lenses, AT-X Tokina, manual focus, manufacturer lenses, Nikon engineers
