Joanne Maly: Tokina Unveils the Opera 50mm f/1.4 Lens for Canon and Nikon

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Tokina Unveils the Opera 50mm f/1.4 Lens for Canon and Nikon

Kenko Tokina today announced the new Tokina Opera 50mm f/1.4, a premium full-frame lens for high-end Canon and Nikon DSLR cameras.

This lens is the first in a new family of lenses from Tokina called the “Opera” series.

“Opera series is designed to perfectly match recent high-spec full-frame DSLR cameras, which keep requiring high-quality optics to be used with,” Tokina says. “In addition to originally high-valued Tokina AT-X series, this new opera series is positioned as top premium series of full-frame size lenses and will be further expanded with other lenses of related specifications and performance.”

Here’s the company’s explanation for why they chose the name:

In modern society the word “opera” is commonly used to express general genres of stage art. In Italian it means work or work of art. As an omitted art genre definition opera comes from “opera musicale” that means a piece of music work. In Latin opera comes from “opus” and in contemporary language “magnum opus”, “opera magna” still has a meaning of “great literary, artistic or intellectual work”. We chose the name “opera” for a new premium full-frame DSLR lens series thinking of a lens that will help photographer in creating real “work of art”.

The new Tokina Opera 50mm f/1.4 features a ring-shaped ultrasonic motor for autofocusing. The exterior of the lens is weather-sealed to protect the insides from moisture and dust.

This lens is also the first Tokina lens for Nikon cameras to use an electronic aperture system. Tokina also says the rotation of the focus ring’s rotation will match official Canon and Nikon lenses.

The Tokina Opera 50mm f/1.4 will be released in the summer of 2018, but exact pricing and availability details have not yet been announced.