Tokina RMC 80-200 f/4.5

[PeterW]

Hi all,

Anyone had experience with Tokina lenses? I recently picked up a Tokina RMC f/4.5 80-200 zoom with close focus in Canon breech-lock fitting. The fitting fooled me for a few moments as the lock ring is black, not chromium as Canon's lenses are. I've already got Canon's 70-150 f/4.5 zoom which covers almost the same range, but the price of the Tokina was so low, and it's in absolutely pristine condition, complete with front and back caps, and I bought it.

Hoping to get the chance to try it out soon, but in the meantime has anyone any experience of this, or other Tokina lenses? I know nothing at all about them.

PeterW

[casualcollector]

Peter,

Probably an inexpensive zoom, in its time, but not cheap. Tokina has a reputation for making good quality stuff. Like Kiron and Tamron, Tokina was a manufacturer and not just a label, as Soligor and Vivitar were. I have a Tokina 70-210/3.5 that produces excellent photos.

Bill

[kiev4a]

I've got the Tokina 80-200mm F2.8 zoom for Nikon. It's got some heft but all f2.8 zooms do. It is very well made and performs very well. I posted a power pole shot in the digital picture section the other day shot with the Tokina. Didn't cost near as much as a f2.8 Nikkor of the same focal length.

[nikonbob]

My only experience with a Tokina lens was with a 17mm/3.5 MF lens model. It appeared to be well built and had little distortion as 17s go as well as being sharp. I don't know if they are all the same but in a fit of insanity I sold this fine lens.

Bob

[herron]

I've had a couple of Tokina lenses over the years, and always found them to be solid performers. Sold them all, but only because I was trying to get down to lenses that "matched" the camera bodies I had collected. Have been looking at one with the EOS mount for my Canon DSLR.

[SidW]

I have the 400mm/5.6 with Canon EOS mount, a respected lens here in Sweden about 15 years ago for wildlife photography. I've been very satisfied with it and it wotks perfectly on the 20D as well without any revision. I put some pictures in a thread in this topic a couple of months ago.

[PeterW]

Thanks everyone. I'm heartened. I asked because as I said I have absolutely no experience of Tokina stuff. I will put a film in the T70 and try it out against the Canon 70-150.

I once bought a cheap zoom of some made-up name, it should have been called Trashogon it was that terrible. Distortions right through the range, even stopped down. I threw it away eventually, it was so bad I didn't like to sell it.

I gave very little for the Tokina, but if you'd all come back and said it was a mediocre el cheapo dog I wouldn't have wasted a film, I'd have put it on ebay with an opener of 99p.

I don't mind it being f/4.5 and not f/2.8. We'll see how it goes.

Thanks again,
PeterW

[bobm]

Tokina are part of Hoya so Hoya supply blanks to Tokina.

[pentaxgraflex]

I have the 60-120mm Tokina F/2.8 AT-X I bought in 1985 that
produces some of the sharpest Kodachromes I have. Tokina
had/has a good reputation here in the states. In the 70's they
sold their designs as the Asanuma line.

[Peter S.]

Dear Peter,

Tokina lenses have the reputation for top notch mechanical quality. The optical performance
usualy is solid. So unless You need extreme sharpness (read: You want to make a poster of
the picture), You can expect to be satisfied with virtually any Tokina lens. But on top of that
those tele zooms got th reputation to be _very_ good - and not only good. So I (picky as I am)
would not hesitate to use the lens.

Best regards
Peter

PS: some (ir)relevant Tokina lens talk...

I have a few Tokina lenses. Two of them are primes, the 2.5/90 macro, which is very good, and a
3.5/17, which I am about to test - but there are no indications that it wouldn't perform well.
I got also a few zooms. Three AT-X, namely the 2.8/35-70, the 3.5-4.5/28-85, and the 2.8/80-200.
And a SL 4/28-85. Of these I got the impression the SL4/28-85 is the best performer (of the shorter
ones, as I never did really test the big 2.8/80-200 gun).
I wish I could try the AT-X 2.8/300...