Instead of Rants, I've got another Rave to drive you all insane. Last
weekend I shot an outdoor wedding where I used the Tokina AT-X
100-300 F4 zoom. Well, I finally got the proof book order out, but
during the process of sorting images something jumped out at me.
The sharpness of some of the images exceeded anything I've ever seen
before. In my lens tests, those were performed at specific distances
not exceeding 20 feet. But the wedding pictures were around 50 feet.
What I'm seeing somehow plays in with Olympus' claims of
"telecentricity" being an advantage. This lens has more of an
image-column instead of an image-cone coming from the rear element.
In essence, the image appears to be punching through the AA filter at
a direct 90 degree angle. Images did not need sharpening of any kind
and they were susceptable to aliasing artifacts in the fabric of the
clothes. One particular shot even showed the fabric weave of the
wedding dress. It was as though there was no AA filter on the sensor
at all.
Comparing images to the 14-54, there was a similar sharpness, but the
Tokina shots had a level of detail present that far exceeded the
limits of the sensor array. This was at F5.6, so contrast suffered a
little, though.
I continue to be impressed with this lens and consider it one of the
better $150 I've spent. Who says that old lenses aren't up to digital
demands?
AG
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