[Brightcolours]

Miro messaged me privately about a problem with the 12-24mm f4 from Tokina I once mentioned, because his 100mm macro from Tokina has developed a problem too.



I thought it might be a good idea to make a public post about the production/design problem with the Tokina 12-24mm f4, so people who encounter problems with this lens can find out about it.



The Tokina 12-24mm f4 can start to have problems closing its aperture (Canon mount, also Nikon mount seems affected). It is not related to normal wear and tear, people who only had their lens a few months, or only made a couple of 100 photos with the lens also ran into the problem.



The camera will start to have problems closing the aperture in the 12-15mm range, resulting in an Err.99 message or lens error message (depending on camera model) Above 15mm or so, the aperture will still close fine.



Tokina is aware of this problem, and will tell people who contact them (at least in my part of Europe) that fixing it outside the 2 year warranty (in my part of Europe) will cost about €130. They hide behind the warranty period, and do not consider how much the lens is used... This of course is not correct, a production error like this should be fixed normally under an extended warranty program (or without special extended warranty program, for free, because it is a production/design error).



My Tokina has developed a funny side issue as well, the aperture is constantly closed to f10 or so, and it says "f4". When you close it to "f5.6" or so, the aperture actually closes a bit more. So... lens really thinks it is at f4. Funny! Not very workable though. And yes, only from 15mm up (the closing further than the f10).



What exactly is causing the aperture problem I do not know, some mention the connector ribbon cable, others the circuitry board itself.



Links to people who encountered the same problems with the aperture:

http://forum.belgiumdigital.com/f35/tokina-12-24-met-electr-probleem-309441.html

http://dutchphotozone.com/viewtopic.php?f=74&t=64398

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/812838

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1030&message=22880319

http://www.fotocommunity.de/forum/read.php?f=1&i=569839&t=569839

http://www.dforum.net/archive/index.php/t-556763.html



Would be nice if Tokina would admit to a production problem, and treat the fixing as such too.



I have not sent my Tokina in for fixing, by the way. I rather dump the lens than having to pay for having it fixed, when it is not working correctly due to a design/production error.



Miro, whether any aperture problems you may encounter with your 100mm macro from Tokina are related I can not answer.

[Klaus]

Tokina makes a couple of nice lenses but their service is OMG ...

[Guest]

Same problem here. Read about the issue and the solution suggested by Tokina service earlier. My personal solution: Purchased another ultra wide lens. My 12-24 is reserved for physical challenging shootings.



Ciao, Walter