Hoya 75-205 f4 zoom- surprise!!!

martyn_bannister · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 1151

I have this lens in Pentax K mount but never really took much notice of it.
Decided to lug it around on my 5D for a two hour walk yesterday and pleasantly surprised Smile

The lens has a totally weird Macro ring which seems to act like a built in extension tube, You depress a release button and then turn the macro ring to seemingly crank the whole body away from the mount.

The zoom is a push/pull affair and focus is (thankfully) normal rotation.

To my eyes, lovely colour and contrast and OK bokeh stopped down. Can't find any shots which I can swear were wide open.

ManualFocus-G · Expire: 2014-11-24

Hoya lenses tend to be pretty good (in my experience). I strongly suspect they're Tokinas.

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

I strongly agree with you, the two Hoyas I have (28 and 135 primes) look and feel like Tokinas to me, also the writing on the front is similar to that on my Tokina-branded zooms.

I have a RMC Tokina EMZ 4.5/70-210 in Nikon mount, has some similarities to this Hoya.

martyn_bannister · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 1151

Certainly seems to give good results Smile

But the handling is abominable Shocked

I had seen a previous thread which attributed Hoya lenses to Tokina.

Must admit that the 75-205mm zoom doesn't seem commonplace. Only reference I can find thru Google or Ebay is for the Hoya. I'm on the lookout for an M42 version now Smile

ryan s · Joined: 26 Sep 2008 Posts: 384 Location: Madison, WI

I had and sold an HMC "Quick Macro" 80-205mm f/3.6 version...it was one of the best super-cheap 70~210/4 zooms I've used. The Vivitar Series 1 is probably better but it's rare to find one for $0-20 Laughing

ludoo · Expire: 2011-12-05

I had the 80-205/3.8 HMC and it was pretty good: maybe a bit low on contrast, but really sharp. Big and heavy though.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

I've never owned a Hoya lens, but I've always assumed that, since they were a top-notch glass maker, they made their own lenses. Or at least the glass that went into them.

BTW, very nice looking pics! I'd say it's a keeper.

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

Pilkington in the Uk make most of the optical glass in the world, it is shipped to Hoya who add various things and produce the glass blanks, Hoya then supply most of the Japanese lens makers with the blanks to grind lenses from.

So Hoya know a thing or two about making top notch optical glass, not that surprising their lenses are good.

martyn_bannister · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 1151

Given that they are so heavily into the glass side of things I would have thought it was a substantial investment in the machinery and infrastructure to produce the actual lenses. Would make much more sense to talk to one of the lens makers they supply glass to and ask them to do it?

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

Yes, I expect someone else makes Hoya's lenses but you would tend to think Hoya would use some of their best glass formulas in their own lenses.

I wouldn't be surprised if Hoya lenses are just optical formulas created by whoever made their lenses (Tokina?) but with better glass than Tokina used for their own version of the same lens.

scottyea · Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 10:18 am Post subject: Hoya 75-205

The usefulness of the Hoya prompted me to sell a zoom-nikkor 80-200 f4. With an adapter it goes on the 10D with no problems. Mine is 'as new', I bought it from a collector on line for about $100.

martyn_bannister · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 1151

Nice shots - are those with the Hoya 75-205?

scottyea · Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 11:54 am Post subject:

Thanks Martyn and yes, on a 10D.

I agree that the HMC coating is remarkable. Take this shot under shade

I have used Takumar SMC and of course a Jupiter 37A, but the coating on the Hoya is deeper, with more purple, and I can tell you that reflected sunlight creates intense purple CA with this lens. I was looking at the waves and thinking a little bit country, a little bit rock'n'roll.

Focus rotation distance is much less than the Nikon Zoom-NIKKOR 80-200 1:4 AIs, and the added "Macro" function make the Hoya lens a hands-down winner for my purposes.
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iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

I have my eye on 300mm and 400mm Hoyas and have just bought a copy of this 75-210 for 99p in C/Y mount. I agree the HMC coating is really good, I shot these with my 2.8/28 Hoya and I wasn't using a hood, to me it handles the harsh lighting (sun was low in the sky, early evening) very well and is pretty sharp.

martinsmith99 · Expire: 2013-11-18

It looks a very good lens.

I'd be interested to further investigation on the Hoya-Tokina link. As far as I knew, Hoya were an optical company and I assumed that they would make all their own lenses. There were (apparently) Hoya-made Vivitars, so who really made these?

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

Very impressive photos, guys. Scott, I especially like the one of that forlorn-looking Aussie flag. Is there a story behind it? Looks to have survived not just a battle or two, but a major campaign. Cool

Geez, that's all I need to do is to start scrounging around for more glass, but after seeing these shots, I'm definitely gonna keep my eyes out for Hoyas from now on.

EDIT: I just went and had a look on eBay to see what I could find, and yep they've got some. But you know what? The Hoya lenses all look similar to each other, but quite a bit different from any other manufacturer I can think of. Take a look:

Click here to see on Ebay

Click here to see on Ebay

Click here to see on Ebay

martyn_bannister · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 1151

That 35-105mm looks scrummy Smile

No! I musn't! Nurse! The pills!

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

The zooms don't interest me that much but i do want one of those 5.6/400, looks pretty compact for such a long lens and if it has the typical Hoya IQ then it will be well worth having. I also want the Hoya 300mm but can wait a while as I already have a Tair-3C.

revers · Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 6:13 pm Post subject:

I have the Tokina RMC 35-105/3.5 close focus & really like it for a walk about lens. Great for a vacation as it covers most of the focal lengths I use. I think it is greatly undervalued on eBay - got mine for $30 including shipping & it was like new.

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

I have, but not tested yet:

Tokina RMC 25-50
Tokina SD 35-70
Tokina SD 70-210
Hoya HMC 70-260

ManualFocus-G · Expire: 2014-11-24

I've previously owned a Tokina made Soligor 400/5.6, and if it's the same as the Hoya lens, then it's well worth avoiding. It was so soft wide open that I struggled to focus! The Komine made Vivitar 400/5.6 is better, but still a bit soft wide open. At least I can focus with that one though! Laughing

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

Interesting, I will eventually grab the 300 and 400 Hoyas, fingers crossed they are good.

I also have another Tokina - the Rolleinar MC 80-200, so I will test that one too.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

Don't worry Michael, I am going to post a 'Testing all my Tokinas' thread soon.

It is indeed a useful range, I would like a Vivitar S1 24-48 but those are not that commonly seen for sale and fetch quite hefty prices, I paid 9ukp for this Tokina.

At f4, it's not as fast as the Viv and I doubt the IQ will be as stellar but I have hopes it will be a good one as it will be a useful walkaround lens. It is about the same size as my 28-70 Tokina although I think it's from the early 80s, rather than the late 80s like the 28-70.