Tokina Launches New Line of Mirrorless Lenses Starting with an 85mm f/1.8 for Sony E-Mount

After a week full of rumors and leaks, Tokina has officially unveiled their brand new ‘atx-m’ line of mirrorless lenses, starting with an affordable 85mm f/1.8 lens for Sony full-frame mirrorless cameras: the Tokina atx-m 85mm f/1.8 FE.

The atx-m 85mm f/1.8 is the “debut lens” for this new lineup of mirrorless lenses, which Tokina says will “include lenses for multiple mounts and sensor formats.” And while they haven’t said what exactly that entails, we would expect RF-Mount, L-Mount, Z-Mount, and possibly others are on the way.

This particular lens features an optical design made up of 10 glass elements in 7 groups, including 1 “SD” low dispersion element. Altogether, this design promises all of the usual optical buzzwords: excellent resolution, edge-to-edge sharpness, and minimal/well-controlled chromatic aberration.

The atx-m 85mm f/1.8 also features Tokina’s Super Low Reflection Multi-coating for “natural color and excellent contrast,” and an ST-M focus motor that moves an “all-metal focus unit” with “high quality lubricants.” That last part should translate into fast, quiet autofocus and “smooth, tactile” manual focus.

“This is a very exciting new lens series for Tokina,” says Kenko Tokina USA President Yuji Matsumoto. “The mirrorless camera market continues to expand and the atx-m series will address the needs of photographers using different camera mounts and sensor sizes.”

Here are a couple of sample images courtesy of Tokina:

Tokina emphasized that this lens was developed “in accordance with Sony-licensed specifications” so you can expect it to work as any native lens would when mounted to, say, a Sony a7R IV. It can take full advantage of important features like 5-axis IBIS, Eye-AF, Real-Time AF, MC assist, the electronic distance scale, and more.

The Tokina atx-m 85mm f/1.8 FE will go on sale worldwide on February 7th for $500, and retailers will begin taking pre-orders starting tomorrow, January 17th. For reference, Sony’s “budget” FE 85mm f/1.8 lens announced in February of 2017 still sells for $600.

To learn more about this lens, head over to the Tokina website.