Gone birding: the RMC Tokina 80-200 1:4 (model SZ820)

Cost: 19.99$ (average market price $43.79)

I strongly suspect this lens to be one of the most sold tele-zooms, as I keep on finding them everywhere. I know have two in my collection, and have to be careful not to purchase another one.
The RMC Tokina lenses were positioned somewhere in-between the cheap consumer lenses and the more expensive professional grade lenses. The RMC designation was not always a sign of superior quality, but this lens is for sure one of the better older 80-200mm tele-zoom lenses you can find.
In a comparison in a Consumer Report in the 80's, the lens was selected as the top lens amongst 25 other similar lenses.

The lens is made from metal and has a good solid feel to it. Very smooth one-touch focus and zoom design without any focus or zoom creep when used in a downwards angle. Apperture ring works great, with full stops, but could be a tad smoother. That it also looks nice, is an additional bonus. Make no mistake though.. this is a large lens with some weight to it.

Image quality is great for an older zoom of this wide of a range. Nice colors, sharp across the zoom and aperture range and decent bokeh. Wouldn't mind taking this one out again with a tripod to really see how sharp it is. As I have two of these, I likely will.

The reach is just not enough for real birding, but it works great for the local pond. And a maximum constant aperture of 4 is pretty decent, especially with today's very sensitive digital camera's.
So again a great lens to add to your collection at an awesome price. And easy to find!

RMCRMC, or Rainbow Multi Coated, stands for a multiple of chemical coatings for lens surfaces with minimum light loss. The result is a dramatic improvement in both color fidelity and brightness and the elimination of flare and ghost images.

Lens Specification:
Focal Length: 80-200mm
Maximum Aperture: F4
Minimum Aperture: F22
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: PK
Optics: 12 elements in 9 groups
Blades: 6
Focussing: Manual
Minimum Focus: 190cm
Maximum Magnification: unknown
Filter Size: 55mm
Weight: 575g
Length: 131mm
Production: unknown
Serial Number: 82211158

Original Brochure of Tokina 80-200mm Tele-Zoom lenses

More information on: Tokino Co., Ltd

Samples:
All pictures taken with the Lens Turbo II adapter

1/1000s - ISO2000 - Handheld

1/1000s - ISO3200 - Handheld

1/1000s - ISO1600 - Handheld

1/1000s - ISO2500 - Handheld

1/1000s - ISO2500 - Handheld

1/1000s - ISO5000 - Handheld

1/1000s - ISO5000 - Handheld

1/1000s - ISO1600 - Handheld

1/1000s - ISO2000 - Handheld

1/1000s - ISO6400 - Handheld

1/1000s - ISO2000 - Handheld

1/1000s - ISO6400 - Handheld

Sources:
Pentaxforums

Broken beyond repair: the FOCAL MC AUTO 1:2.8 135mm

Cost: 10$ (average market price $32 - for different variant)

Focal was a trade mark for K mart photographic products in the 1980's and seem to have a reasonable reputation for a no-brand. But I can tell you, finding specific information on a lens brand as "FOCAL" is a tough thing to do. You can imagine that googling for "Focal" will give you a lot of hits, but not the ones you are looking for.

I did find information on a lens of the FOCAL brand with the same specs but one: a filter size of 58mm instead of 52mm. That probably points to a different manufacturer, so likely a completely different lens. This lens has MC in green, while the more common one has MC in orange. I do have a suspicion, based on looks and specs, that the lens was originally manufactured by Kominar.

I bought this specific lens at a flea-market, a few minutes before closing time, as it looked like a lens worthwhile playing with. And it shows that last minute impulse buys are not always a good decision. On closer inspection at home, I noticed a scratch on the front lens, and more important, that someone had removed the complete aperture section of the lens. The aperture ring was there, but the section itself was gone... so a good opportunity to test if a broken lens, with parts missing, could still be used to take decent pictures. And to my surprise, it could!!!

Of course, with no aperture section, all photo's are taken at maximum aperture, or wide open. That resulted in a very shallow DOF (Depth Of Field, nice round bokeh, and a lot of flare when taking pictures in the direction of the sun. But I had some really decent pictures amongst a lot of bad ones... The lens is OK in sharpness when dialed in properly, and the color quality was excellent. Focus was smooth and stable. Build quality is solid, and the looks are there, even with a missing rubber grip. I believe that if the lens was complete, it would have been an great addition to my collection.

MC or Multi Coating: a multiple of chemical coatings for lens surfaces with minimum light loss. The result is a dramatic improvement in both color fidelity and brightness and the elimination of flare and ghost images.

Lens Specification:

Focal Length: 135mm

Maximum Aperture: F2.8
Minimum Aperture: F22
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: Pentax K
Optics: unknown
Blades: unknown (possibly 6)
Focussing: Manual
Minimum Focus: 150cm
Maximum Magnification: unknown
Filter Size: 52mm
Weight: 320g
Length: 72 to 90 mm
Production: 80's
Serial Number: K8512984

More information on Focal

Samples: Pictures taken with Mitakon PK to Sony E Turbo Adapter Mark II

1/320s - ISO1600 - Handheld

1/640s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/320s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/250s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/500s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/500s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/320s - ISO160 - Handheld

1/250s - ISO100 - Handheld

Sources:
Camera Wiki: Kmart

Not the sharpest kid on the block: SMC Pentax 1:2.8 24mm Asahi Opt. Co. Japan (first version)

Cost: 0$ (average market price $142.67)

The SMC Pentax 24mm F2.8 is the faster version of the two K series 24mm lenses. It was succeeded by an A series lens with the same optical formula.

As you might know from previous reviews, I have a weakness for old Pentax lenses, due to the sharpness, nice color rendition and affordable prices. And this lens is smooth, feels solid and looks great. But, in contrast with some other online reviews, I found the lens to lack in sharpness. Not truly bad, but not what I expected from a Pentax lens. And it seems more soft when focussed on infinity, what is not really suitable for a focal length targeted to landscape photography. Maybe it was the Turbo II lens adapter, or the fact I had to up my ISO for early evening light... I should definitely try this lens again within a few months, on a bright day, with other subjects, maybe on one my older Pentax K20D.

I was so lucky to travel last week to San Francisco, so a good opportunity to shoot a few pictures before dinner, and during a Warriors game.
Although not the sharpest Pentax lens, it was a pleasure to use, and still had some nice Pentax colors. It therefore does deserve a place in my Pentax collection.

Lens Specification:
Focal Length: 24mm
Maximum Aperture: F2.8
Minimum Aperture: F22
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: Pentax K
Optics: 9 elements, 8 groups
Blades: 5 blades
Focussing: Manual
Minimum Focus: 25cm
Maximum Magnification: 0.12x
Filter Size: 52mm
Weight: 192g
Length: 63mm
Production: 1977 to 1984
Serial Number: 7536301

Company:
The company was founded in 1919 by Kumao Kajiwara. In 1938 the name changed to Asahi Optical Co., Ltd., manufacturing camera and cine lenses. Since 1957, the products were distributed under the name "Asahi Pentax" and finally the company was renamed Pentax Corporation in 2002. In 2011, Ricoh bought and renamed the company to Pentax Ricoh Imaging Company, Ltd and on August 1, 2013, the company name was again changed to Ricoh Imaging Company Ltd.

SMC or Super Multi Coating

To combat partial reflection, Pentax developed chemical coatings for the lens surfaces with minimum light loss. SMC is "a remarkable seven-layer lens coating process that cuts the reflection ratio down to just 0.2% per lens surface. The result is a dramatic improvement in both color fidelity and brightness and the elimination of flare and ghost images."

SMC was patented and first applied in 1971, when Pentax was still making screw mount equipment. The multi-coated lens lines changed from Takumar and Super-Takumar to Super-Multi-Coated Takumar and later on to SMC Takumar. SMC Pentax was used for the newly introduced K-mount lenses.

Pentax's SMC is still today considered as one of the best lens coatings on the market.

Adapter:

Lens Turbo II PK - Nex

Cost: $75, used on B&H PhotoVideo, new for $149

The Pentax K Lens to Sony E-Mount Camera Lens Turbo Adapter Mark II from Mitakon allows Pentax K lenses to be mounted on Sony E-Mount APS-C format cameras, increasing the angle of view by 0.726x and the maximum aperture of the lens by 1 f-stop.The four optical elements of the Lens Turbo adapter condense light from the Pentax K full frame lens and project it onto the camera's APS-C sensor allowing the sensor to capture all of the lens' transmitted light, negating the 1.5x crop factor and effectively producing full-frame coverage on non-full-frame sensors. A corresponding increase in the maximum aperture of 1 f-stop makes the lens more effective in low-light situations.

The Mark II version of the Lens Turbo features an improved design to produce sharper images. Its rectangular rear lens rests closer to the camera's sensor improving light transmission and an enhanced lens coating minimizes ghosting and flare. One extra-low dispersion (ED) lens element reduces aberrations for better delineated images. The adapter offers a sturdy metal construction and stainless steel mounts, it attaches to both camera and lens with little play and includes a front and rear protective cap. The Lens Turbo is a manual adapter offering no electronic communication between lens and camera.

Samples:



1/250s - ISO800 - Handheld

1/500s - ISO800 - Handheld

1/500s - ISO800 - Handheld

1/1000s - ISO800 - Handheld

1/500s - ISO1600 - Handheld

1/250s - ISO1600 - Handheld

1/500s - ISO1600 - Handheld

Sources:
Wikipedia - Pentax
Pentax Forums

Another Nifty Fifty: Ricoh Rikenon P 50mm 1:2

Cost: 24$ (average market price $69)

Nothing special to see, just move along.

That's what you can easily say about this lens, but that also points to what this lens really is: a manual, dependable, sharp 50mm prime with decent to excellent image quality.

It's nice and solidly made from hard plastic (no metal), and looks pretty good. It's very compact (as most 50mm's) and handles very smoothly. Focussing was easy and the Sony Peak Focussing worked like a charm. Bokeh is nice but nothing special.

Summary: looks nice, good image quality, sharp for it's price, good handling, compact size. If you are looking for a cheap but decent 50mm prime to add to your collection at an awesome price, do not hesitate. If you are looking for something special, or the best image quality ever, please move along. Nothing special to see here...

Lens Specification:
Focal Length: 50mm
Maximum Aperture: F2
Minimum Aperture: F16
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: PK
Optics: 6 elements in 5 groups
Blades: 6
Focussing: Manual
Minimum Focus: 60cm
Maximum Magnification: unknown
Filter Size: 52mm
Weight: 135g
Length: 30mm
Production: 1985
Serial Number: 886215329

"P"
The XR and P versions are Rikenon lenses ones with better optical quality. The XR and the P labelled models are essentially of the same optical grade and image quality, the only difference being the pin on the P model for use in AV mode on Pentax cameras.

Samples:

1/160s - ISO100 -Tripod

1/2000s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/1600s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/160s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/125s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/800s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/400s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/1000s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/2s - ISO100 - Tripod

1/200s - ISO100 - Handheld

Sources:
All Photo Lenses
Wikipedia Ricoh
AFLenses.net