The type of photography that you are planning to use is an important decision factor. Here we have evaluated the Tokina 12-28mm f4 Pro DX and the Canon 20-35mm f3.5-4.5 USM for their suitability to various photography scenarios:
Size and Weight Comparison
The size of a lens is an important deciding factor when comparing two lenses. Tokina 12-28mm f4 Pro DX is the longer of the two lenses at 90mm. The Canon 20-35mm f3.5-4.5 USM with a length of 69mm, is 21mm shorter. On the other hand, there is no difference between the max diameters of these lenses, both coming at 84mm.
The weight of a lens is as important as its external dimensions, especially if you are planning to hand hold your camera and lens combination for longer periods. Canon 20-35mm f3.5-4.5 USM weighs 340g, 35% (190g) lighter than the Tokina 12-28mm f4 Pro DX's weight of 530g.
Below you can find the dimension and weight table of the Wideangle Zoom Lenses in Canon EF Mount for size comparison purposes.
Wideangle Zoom Lenses in Canon EF Mount for Size Comparison
Lens Mounts
Both the Tokina 12-28mm f4 Pro DX and the Canon 20-35mm f3.5-4.5 USM has the same Canon EF lens mount. Some of the latest released cameras that are compatible with the Canon EF lenses are Canon T8i, Canon 90D and Canon SL3.
Tokina 12-28mm f4 Pro DX is also available in Nikon F (DX) mount.
Focal Range
Tokina 12-28mm f4 Pro DX has a focal range of 12-28mm and 2.3X zoom ratio which has an effective (full-frame 35mm equivalent) focal range of 19.2-44.8mm when used on a APS-C / DX format camera. Canon 20-35mm f3.5-4.5 USM has a focal range of 20-35mm and 1.8X zoom ratio . When it is mounted on an APS-C sensor camera with 1.6x crop, it provides a 35mm (FF) equivalent of 32 - 56mm.