The Tokina 24mm f/2.8 manual-focus primes (RMC / SL / Vivitar-made-by-Tokina variants) are generally considered one of Tokina’s better budget wide-angle lenses from the film era. They’re compact, inexpensive on the used market, and can produce surprisingly good landscape and street images when stopped down.

What’s good

• Sharp center performance even wide open for a lens of its era. Multiple user tests report very good sharpness from f/5.6–f/8 across most of the frame. (Rokkort.eu)

• Excellent value — these often sell cheaply compared with vintage Nikon or Canon FD alternatives. User reviews consistently rate the value highly. (Pentax Forums)

• Compact and lightweight, making it a nice travel or everyday manual lens.

• Pleasant vintage rendering with slightly lower contrast and warmer colors that some photographers prefer for film-style images. (Rokkort.eu)

• Works very well adapted to modern mirrorless cameras.

Weak points

• Corners are soft at f/2.8, especially on full frame. Most reviewers say it improves noticeably by f/5.6. (Rokkort.eu)

• Flare resistance is mediocre compared with modern coatings. (Pentax Forums)

• Some copies show:

  • decentering,

  • haze/fungus,

  • focus stiffness,

  • or coating wear due to age.

• Contrast and color are less “clean” than modern Sony/Sigma/Tamron wide primes.

Best use cases

This lens still makes sense for:

• street photography,

• landscapes,

• travel,

• environmental portraits,

• film photography,

• adapting to Sony E / Fuji X / Micro Four Thirds bodies.

It’s less ideal for:

• astrophotography,

• professional architecture work,

• heavy video autofocus use,

• edge-to-edge sharpness demands.

Image character

The Tokina has a distinctly vintage look:

• slightly warm rendering,

• moderate barrel distortion,

• softer edges wide open,

• smoother transition zones than many clinically sharp modern lenses.

That’s why some photographers still enjoy it despite newer alternatives.

Buying advice

When buying used:

• check carefully for fungus and haze,

• test corner sharpness for decentering,

• inspect aperture blades for oil,

• make sure focus turns smoothly. Reddit users frequently recommend optical inspection before buying older Tokina glass. (Reddit)

Verdict

For the usual €50–120 used price range, the Tokina 24mm f/2.8 is still a good vintage wide-angle lens if you:

• enjoy manual focus,

• don’t need perfect corners at f/2.8,

• and like classic rendering.

It’s not a modern ultra-sharp optic, but for landscapes stopped down and everyday shooting, it performs better than its low price suggests. (Rokkort.eu)