Tokina RMC 135mm f2.8 - lens review

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 Let's be honest: there are a few reasons why I bought this lens and the most important one is the built-in sun hood.

 Jokes aside it was on sale for 20 euros, it's a small, compact, rugged 135mm f2.8 so I just said “heck, I'll get it” and I must say that I'm not disappointed. This really is a rugged, compact, easy to carry telephoto lens and that 2.8 aperture is not that easily found is this focal length on older vintage lenses, as many of them are f3.5 or even f4.

Tokina RMC 135mm f2.8
Tokina RMC 135mm f2.8

 Talking about size, it is 82mm long when focused to infinity, 96mm when fully extended, 114mm when the sun hood is out, with a 52mm front thread and it weights 400 grams.

 The body is made of metal, with a rubberized focus grip, the iris has 6 rounded blades, the aperture is clicked and goes from f2.8 to f16, past which there’s a red EE markers, for the auto exposure feature that works on compatible analog cameras.

 It comes in different mount, mine has a Konica AR mount, so I can use it on my Autoreflex TC and still adapt it to my Sony cameras with no issue, but reflex users will have to be careful and get one with a compatible mount.

 I did some researching on the internet, as I usually do when I get a new lens, well old lens, but this is one of those instances where I couldn't really find much about this Tokina. Different people say different things about this lens, some say it's from the 60s and some from the 70s, some say it's multicoated, some say it's not…

 Honestly I don't even care about all this stuff, if it works good and the images looks good I'm fine.

 This lens is not optically perfect, it has a strong chromatic aberration, magenta and green edges on high contrast areas and it's kind of soft wide open.

 Boke goes from really soft to hard edged bubbles, depending on the source of the highlight, but the hexagonal shape when stopped down it’s not distracting.

 Images have a nice contrast and colors tend to verge towards pastel tones, which I quite enjoy.

 The only issue I have when using this lens is that sometimes it is a bit finneky to nail focus, but when you do the results are really pleasant. The color rendering and the character of this lens are kind of unique, although they may not be to everyone’s liking, and the size and weight make for a portable and agile setup.

 As always, let me know your experience with this lens, if you have any question feel free to ask in the comments below and don’t forget to check the full video for all the samples.



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