In article <43stgo$iv9@agate.berkeley.edu>, ptloh@babbage.eecs.berkeley.edu says...
>I'd like to buy a 70-210mm zoom for my Nikon SLR, but I can't really
>afford the Nikon lens (costs about $340 from CWO).
>So, I'm looking at either the Tamron or Tokina 70-210mm f/4-5.6.
>These lenses are quite inexpensive (around $140). Does anyone
>have experience with one of these lenses? (...)

The Tokina 70-210 f4-5.6 compact zoom I tried was a decent performer,
capable of pleasing 8x10 prints. It is also small and light, and for
the price should serve you well. A better quality alternative
[IM(NS)HO] for a bit more money would be a used Nikkor 70-210mm f4
E-Series MF or the identical optics of the 70-210mm f4 (constant) AF,
both of which are superior optically to the Tokina and the current
70-210 f4-5.6 Nikkor AF.