The average DSLR ‘kit’ zoom lens has a focal range equivalent to 28-85mm, which is fine for everyday photography, but not much use for sports, action or wildlife where you can’t get close to the subject.

It’s not surprising, then, that most photographers choose a telephoto zoom as their next purchase. Most of the camera makers offer low-cost alternatives, typically 55-200mm ‘digital’ lenses designed solely for DSLRs, or 70-300mm lenses designed back in the days of film, but which can also be used on digital bodies.

These inexpensive lenses have drawbacks, though. Their optical quality is distinctly average, especially at the longer focal lengths, and their plastic build saves weight but doesn’t inspire much confidence. In addition, their maximum aperture often drops substantially towards the long end of the zoom range, making them more difficult to use in poor light.

The Tokina 80-400mm, though, is a step up from these inexpensive ‘amateur’ lenses. Its metal build gives it a much more solid feel and both the zooming and focusing rings have a smooth, high-quality action.It’s more sophisticated optically, too, with a maximum aperture ranging from f4.5 at 80mm to f5.6 at 400mm. It’s not quite a constant-aperture zoom, but the difference is less than one stop, so it’s nearly there. The upshot is that the viewfinder remains bright even at the maximum focal length, and you should be able to keep the shutter speeds high to avoid camera shake.

This is actually a very powerful zoom, given its size. The 80-400mm range is impressive enough on a film camera or a full-frame DSLR, but on an SLR with an APS-C sized sensor, the ‘crop factor’ of 1.5-1.6 means that it’s equivalent to a 120-600mm lens, which is really entering professional territory. Given this, the compactness of this lens is quite striking. It is heavy, though, at over 1kg, and as a result, Tokina has built in a tripod bush on the lens itself. This distributes the weight more evenly when you’re using a support, and reduces the strain on the camera’s lens mount.

It’s a nice lens to use, though the tripod-mounting collar can get in the way while you’re trying to turn the Zoom ring. It's also very difficult to shoot at extreme focal lengths without an image stabiliser. It’s not just a question of camera shake – a high enough shutter speed should sort this out. The real problem is the way the image jiggles about in the viewfinder. It’s not a fault with the lens, of course, but a characteristic of all super-telephotos. They do require a good deal of skill and patience, and it helps if you can find something to lean against, otherwise keeping your subjects centred in the frame can prove next to impossible.

The images produced are of a high quality at short and medium focal lengths, but at 400mm there's a drop in sharpness. The detail is still good in the centre of the frame, but not at the edges, and it doesn’t improve much as the lens is stopped down. This is borne out by our resolution test data. At 400mm, there’s a fair of chromatic aberration (colour fringing) too.

To a degree, this is to be expected in any telephoto zoom. The best performance is always at the shorter focal lengths, and at full range most show a significant drop in definition. It is quite pronounced here, though, and it’s a little disappointing given this lens’s price. That said, the chart data is slightly misleading. Our resolution figures are calculated using the resolution both in the centre of the frame and at the edge. With the Tokina, the edge performance at 400mm is poor, and this is what’s dragging down the overall figures. The sharpness in the centre of the frame is rather better than it appears from the figures, though still not as good as it is at shorter focal lengths.

This is a very well-made lens with an impressive focal range and surprisingly compact dimensions, but the drop in optical quality and the lack of image stabiliser limits its usefulness at long range.

Final Verdict Superficially, this is a very well-made lens with a terrific focal range, but the lack of an image stabiliser and the drop in image quality at maximum zoom will make it quite hard to get great results OVERALL

Our lens reviewer, and technical expert, Rod is a veritable photographic encyclopaedia. His illustrious CV has seen him write for many mags, websites and journals.