Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought this lens to "complete" my lens collection. I have a fair number of good to high-quality lenses, but the widest lens I owned was a 24-70mm. It just seems that fairly often I find myself needing just a bit wider than that. I read a bit about this lens before the purchase and it seems a lot of people are very happy with this lens. Now that I own it, it is obvious why. Right out of the box you can tell that this is a solid piece of equipment. It is definitely not a "fantastic plastic". It's got some heft to it, though it is not so heavy that it is uncomfortable on the camera. (I have a Canon 40d.) In playing around I found it to be a very sharp lens. It also has tremendous depth of field making it great for getting group shots and including background. I've read some complaints that 11-16mm isn't much of a zoom. It's not. However, when it's that wide I look at the zoom just to give me a little play around the edges and keep my group more towards the center of the photo. If 16mm is way wide, I'd go with the 24-70mm and if 11mm isn't wide enough I'm just going to have to back up. This is my first Tokina lens and I was a bit nervous, but not now. I'm very happy with the purchase. If you buy it, I hope it works out as well for you and thank you for taking the time to read my review. Additional Review 8/22/14: When I originally wrote this review I had owned the Tokina for a little over a month, now it has been more than a year. I am still as happy with it as I was when I bought it. I wanted to add that this is a bit of a niche lens. I'm now using a Canon 70d and if I'm out and I'm only taking one lens this isn't it. However, when I pack a bag, the tokina is always in it. when I'm looking for that really wide shot, this is the lens and it has never disappointed me. I'd also like to point out that this is not a fisheye lens. There is a little distortion at the edges, but to me I've always been amazed that there is not more on a lens this wide so I certainly am not upset by it. Thanks again for reading my review and I hope if you buy this lens that it gives you some great shots as well!