RMC Tokina 28-85 f/4 zoom lens

Couple days ago I was at the local yard sale and spotted new (to me) zoom lens, RMC Tokina 28-85 1:4. I bought it because it had fixed f/4 aperture, Minolta bayonet (compatible with my MD-FX-NEX adapters), cost me only $10 (including manual, 72mm protective filter, both caps and carrying case) and had some kind of cool red letters on the front barrel. The lens was in pristine condition and I was very curious to try it.

I couldn't find any lens reviews on the internet,  so here is my own.

The lens is all metal and heavy. Zoom and focusing rings are smooth and aperture clicks are very crisp. Size and weight wise it's pretty close to Canon 24-104 L lens, but no image stabilization of course :)

Made in Japan, very well built with all attention to small details

It feels big and unbalanced with X-Pro1, but it is OK with me, I like big and heavy glass.

I put it on Fujifilm X-Pro 1 and took couple shots.

 RMC Tokina @ 85 mm f/4

And... results at f/4 were appalling.  I shot and re-shot at all focal ranges and results were the same, terrible. Below is comparison to some of my prime lenses (not fair, I know) just to give you a perspective.

Test at 85mm f/4. Tokina left , Minolta 85 mm f/1.7 right

Test at 35 mm f/4. Fujinon 35mm f/1.4  left, Tokina right

Results are very good when the lens is stopped down to F/5.6 or more.

RMC Tokina at 85 mm f/8 + CS

 RMC Tokina at 28 mm f/8 + CS

Verdict: very well built IF lens in good zoom range with good results at F/5.6 and up.

Thanks for dropping by,
vkphoto