Ian,
I have all the mentioned lenses. I used the Tamron 35-80 as my main midrange
lens for years with great results. I currently have one on a 2S at my
veterinary office for medical photography and have another one as a backup.
It does great close-up work, and was given glowing praise by Herbert Keppler
in Modern Photography back when the lens was in production. The Tamron has
the advantage of interchangeable mounts in case you have another camera
system you want to use it on. I don't really think the interchangeable mount
makes it any more valuable for resale, as there seem to be plenty of them
available on the famous auction site, but it may be easier to sell. The
Tokina is definitely less common, in my experience.
A few years back I bought the Tokina, and it became my main walking-around
lens due to the longer reach on both ends. Later, I got the Oly 35-105. I
now pick between the Tokina and the Oly based on what focal lengths I think
I'll need (wider vs. longer). All three lenses are high-quality zooms. The
Tokina does give a slightly higher macro ratio, I think.
I have recently discovered that there are two versions of the Tokina. I have
the earlier one. The earlier one has a narrower zoom ring than the later
one. With the earlier one, you enter macro mode by pressing a button and
turning the zoom ring past 85. On the newer one, you just focus continuously
closer. I don't know if there's any difference in optical performance or max
repro ratio between them. They take different hoods, which can be hard to
find. The earlier version takes a slide on hood that has a set screw, while
the later version has a hood that clips into a groove around the end of the
lens, like the 80-200 does. If you can buy the lens with the correct hood,
you'll be better off. The Cult Classics Web site likes the AT-X lens and
also says some good things about the earlier, non-AT-X 28-85 that Tokina
produced, but it's larger, heavier, uses larger filters, and doesn't focus
as close. Here's a link:
http://medfmt.8k.com/third/cult.html#tokina
You probably already know that there are two different version of the Oly
35-105, with the newer ones having serial numbers higher than 500,000.
I think you would enjoy the longer focal length stretch of the Tokina 28-85
over the Tamron 35-80. Both produce high quality images. The Tokina and the
Oly are slightly different beasts. The type of photography you like to do
may help you decide on whether to go ahead and get the Tokina or just wait
on the Oly.
HTH,
Greg
----- Original Message -----
From: "IanG" <I@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [OM] Tokina 28-85 3.5~4.5 AT-X
> Does anybody have any experience of one of these. I'll use it as a
standard
> walk about to replace a Tamron SP 35-80..... that is until I can find a
> Zuiko 35-105 at a price I'm willing to pay
>
> Ian
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