Tokina 11-16 - Soft at furthest focus

[Jacek Zakowicz]

Have you checked the (11-16 lens)back focus on the dslr?
Was it correct?
Front focus?
On a short range zoom they are close to each other.
These is the two things to know first in order to proceed with the trouble shooting

[Ben A.]

I know that the Tokina is for Canon Cropped sensor and looks sharp on my 7D, but I too have soft infinity on Scarlet.

If you tell me how to test for front focus I will. Have not tested the back focus on 7D yet.. is that the first thing?

[Scott C]

I've actually been wondering since I got my 11-16 (about a month and a half ago) about this as well. When using the magnification focus assist on an object ~6-8 ft away it never got sharp. I have tested similar distance with other lenses and gotten much better results, so I'm curious if it's my particular copy of this lens that isn't sharp.

[Zac C]

Here's a quick test.

Scarlet 4k 24fps 1/48th 800ISO

Canon 60D Full RAW Still 1/50th 800ISO


Around 100% crop on both, Scarlet Sharpness up to full in REDCINE-X Pro

[Ben A.]

I ran some tests on my lens and it seems that the back focus is shifting when zooming!!! If I set the B focus at 16mm when I zoom out 11mm is off and vice versa. The B Focus should not be shifting when I zoom, should it?!?

When I set the B focus for 16mm, once I go below 14mm it gets soft.

I wonder if this is a defective lens? I have screen shots if anyone cares to see.

[Ben A.]

Does this lens breathe or should the focus stay locked when zooming? Maybe I should Set the B focus at 11mm at infinity minus a hair, I'm thinking that would solve the soft infinity, but would probably throw off the scale on the lens... hmmm

I got a hold of Tokina, they want me to send the lens back, but I would like to make sure Im not the one messing up. I set the focus at 3ft, chart at 3 feet and set the B focus.

Any thoughts?

[Jacek Zakowicz]

Does this lens breathe or should the focus stay locked when zooming? Maybe I should Set the B focus at 11mm at infinity minus a hair, I'm thinking that would solve the soft infinity, but would probably throw off the scale on the lens... hmmm

I got a hold of Tokina, they want me to send the lens back, but I would like to make sure Im not the one messing up. I set the focus at 3ft, chart at 3 feet and set the B focus.

Any thoughts?

When it looses focus while zooming and it's different on both extremes your (lens) back focus or camera flange depth (or both) is off.
Zoom to 16 mm, focus with the lens at 3 ft and zoom out to11. refocus with the lens. Where is your focus now? Closer or further than at 16mm?

[William Albertini]

Mine is ok at f5.6 if you back off inf. a little bit so that it reads 17-inf on the display.

[Ted Parkes]

Its very common for still lenses not to hold focus while zooming. They really are just variable primes. Thats what they were designed to do.

[Jacek Zakowicz]

Its very common for still lenses not to hold focus while zooming. They really are just variable primes. Thats what they were designed to do.

yes that's correct but you are always able to set both the front and back focus so the extreme ends of the zoom are sharp. in between could vary but with such a short range it will be pretty close....