Saturday 8 December 2012

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



4 comments:

  1. I think Tokina never made something particulary interesting until digital age. Their today AF lens are quite different and some pretty good.

    In case you want best lens in this zoom range, it has Carl Zeiss name written on it.

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    Replies
    1. I bet it would cost more than $10 at the local farmer's market :)

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    2. Um yea, unfortunately its more like 400 USD. Tho depends how lucky you are. They are possible to find, sometimes..

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  2. Ich besitze ein 28- 85, 1:4, mit MD Anschluss.
    Meine Ergebnisse mit der Sony NEX 5n und einem MD Adapter aus China finde ich sehr gut.
    https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xat1/t31.0-8/11259191_934006656662912_5838270869524197869_o.jpg

    ReplyDelete

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