Six Carl Zeiss lenses for the Contax 645. Tested November 1999.

The six Carl Zeiss lenses tested in conjunction with the Pop. Photo. Contax 645 report are the 35mm f/3.5 Distagon, 45mm f/2.8 Distagon, 80mm f/2 Planar, 120mm f/4 Apo-Makro-Planar, 140mm f/2.8 Sonnar and 210mm f/4 Sonnar - all T* lenses designed by Zeiss in Germany and made in Japan by Kyocera.

All six lenses are beautifully finished in semigloss black enamel. All have large legible aperture, distance, and depth-of-field scales in white on black (except for footages in orange on black); raised, white, mounting index dots; grippably textured aperture rings with detents at whole-stop intervals; and wide-textured-rubber manual focusing rings. All balance nicely on the Contax 645, manually focus very smoothly with well-damped action, and autofocus quietly, except for the 120mm f/4 Apo-Makro-Planar, which only focuses manually. Members of this optical sextet all focus closer by turning their focusing rings clockwise, have beautifully machined four-lobe bayonet mounts, and are average in size and weight for their respective size and specs - commendable considering that they have metal barrels, helicals, and built-in AF motors.

In the lab: We are not able to test medium-format lenses on our electronic optical bench, but according to the accompanying resolution tests all six Zeiss lenses showed outstanding imaging performance in the center of the field (on axis) and well above average performance in the corners of the field ( off axis) , except as noted.

35mm f/3.5 Distagon T*

Specifications: (Tested values in italics)
Focal length: 35 mm (34.35mm)
Maximum aperture: f/3.5 Tested measurement not available due to instrument limitation)
Construction: 11 elements in 8 groups
View angle: Diag. 90º
Minimum aperture: f/32
Filter size:95mm screw-in.
Mount available: Contax 645;, included soft-case.
Focussing: 80º clockwise from infinity to close focus, 1 ft. 7 11/16in.
Weight: 1 lb 15oz.
List price: $3,335
Street price: $2,299


                    RESOLUTION

35mm f/3.5 Distagon T*
f/ Center
(l/mm) 		Corner
(l/mm)
3.5 Excellent 79 Acceptable 21
5.6 Excellent 70 Good 22
8 Excellent 70 Good 28
11 Excellent 79 Very good 30
16 Excellent 79 Very good 30
22 Excellent 62 Very good 32
32 Excellent 50 Acceptable 26


The 35mm f/3.5 Carl Zeiss Distagon T* (equivalent to 20mm in the 35mm format) showed minimal barrel distortion (0.45 percent). Exposure accuracy was excellent - within 1/10 of a stop at all apertures. At the measured minimum focusing distance of 16½ inches (1:9.3 x) centre sharpness was excellent at all apertures, and corner sharpness was acceptable from f/3.5 to f/11 and good from f/16 to f/32.
Optimum performance was at f/22.

45mm f/2.8 Distagon T*

Specifications: (Tested values in italics)
Focal length: 45 mm (44.32mm)
Maximum aperture: f/2.8 Tested measurement not available due to instrument limitation)
Construction: 9 elements in 7 groups
View angle: Diag. 90º
Minimum aperture: f/32
Filter size:72mm screw-in.
Mount available: Contax 645.
Focussing: 76º clockwise from infinity to close focus, 1 ft. 7 11/16in.
Weight: 1 lb 6oz.
List price: $3,125
Street price: $2,149


                    RESOLUTION

45mm f/2.8 Distagon T*
f/ Center
(l/mm) 		Corner
(l/mm)
2.8 Excellent 50 Good 24
4 Excellent 70 V. Good 31
5.6 Excellent 78 Good 28
8 Excellent 70 V. Good 35
11 Excellent 70 Very good 35
16 Excellent 62 Excellent 36
22 Excellent 50 Very good 32
32 V. good 40 Good 28

The 45mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Distagon T* (equivalent to 28mm in the 35mm format) showed minimal barrel distortion ( 0.45 percent). Exposure accuracy was very good - within 1/10 of a stop between f/2.8 to F/11, and within 1/3 stop from f/16 to f/32. At the measured minimum focusing distance of 19¼ inches (1:7.5 x), centre sharpness was excellent at all apertures, and corner sharpness was acceptable ay f/5.6, good at f/8, very good from f/11 to f/22, and good at f/32. Optimum performance was at f/16.

80mm f/2 Planar T*

Specifications: (Tested values in italics)
Focal length: 80 mm (78.32mm)
Maximum aperture: f/2 Tested measurement not available due to instrument limitation)
Construction: 6 elements in 5 groups
View angle: Diag. 47º
Minimum aperture: f/22
Filter size:72mm screw-in.
Mount available: Contax 645.
Focussing: 110º clockwise from infinity to close focus, 2 ft. 3½in.
Weight: 1 lb 2oz.
List price: $2,165
Street price: $1,495


                    RESOLUTION

80mm f/2 Planar T*
f/ Center
(l/mm) 		Corner
(l/mm)
2 Excellent 53 Acceptable 18
2.8 Excellent 53 Acceptable 21
4 Excellent 67 Acceptable 25
5.6 Excellent 84 Good 28
8 Excellent 75 Good 33
11 Excellent 67 Excellent 41
16 Excellent 53 Excellent 40
22 Excellent 53 Very good 35

The 80mm f/2 Carl Zeiss Planar T* (equivalent to 50mm in the 35mm format) showed minimum pincushion distortion (0.25 percent). Exposure accuracy was excellent - within 1/10 of a stop at all apertures. At the measured minimum focusing distance of 26½ inches (1:6.4 x ), centre sharpness was excellent at all apertures, and corner sharpness was acceptable from f/2 to f/5.6, good at f/8, very good at f/11, and excellent from f/16 to f/22. Optimum performance was at f/16.

120mm f/4 Apo-Makro-Planar T*

Specifications: (Tested values in italics)
Focal length: 120 mm (119.54mm)
Maximum aperture: f/4 Tested measurement not available due to instrument limitation)
Construction: 8 elements in 5 groups
View angle: Diag. 32º
Minimum aperture: f/45
Filter size:72mm screw-in.
Mount available: Contax 645;, included soft-case.
Focussing: 690º clockwise from infinity to close focus, 1 ft. 4¾ inches.
Weight: 1 lb 12oz.
List price: $3,335
Street price: $2,299


                    RESOLUTION

120 mm Apo-Makro-Planar T*
f/ Center
(l/mm) 		Corner
(l/mm)
4 Excellent 80 Excellent 30
5.6 Excellent 71 V. Good 31
8 Excellent 71 V. Good 34
11 Excellent 56 Very good 37
16 Excellent 56 Excellent 41
22 Excellent 45 Very good 35
32 Good 36 Good 29
45 Acceptable 28 Acceptable 24
The 120 mm Apo-Makro-Planar T* (equivalent to 70mm in thr 35mm format) showed minimal pin-cushion distortion (0.35 percent). Exposure accuracy was very good - within 1/10 of a stop from f/4 to f/16, and within 1/3 of a stop between f/22 and f/45. At the measured close-focusing distance of 16½ inches (1:1.1) centre and corner sharpness were excellent from f/4 to f/5.6, very good at f/8, good from f/11 to f/22, and acceptable from f/32 to f/45. Optimum perfance was at f/4.

210mm f/4 Sonnar T*

Specifications: (Tested values in italics)
Focal length: 210 mm (206.28mm)
Maximum aperture: f/4 Tested measurement not available due to instrument limitation)
Construction: 7 elements in 4 groups
View angle: Diag. 19º
Minimum aperture: f/45
Filter size: 72mm screw-in.
Mount available: Contax 645;, included soft-case.
Focussing: 170º clockwise from infinity to close focus, 4 feet 6 inches.
Weight: 2 lb 8 7/8oz.
List price: $3,125
Street price: $2,149


                    RESOLUTION

210mm f/4 Sonnar T*
f/ Center
(l/mm) 		Corner
(l/mm)
4 Excellent 64 V. Good 28
5.6 Excellent 51 Excellent 34
8 Excellent 51 Excellent 40
11 V. Good 45 Very good 36
16 V. Good 40 Good 33
22 Excellent 45 Very good 36
32 V. good 40 Excellent 38
45 Good 36 Good 33

The 210 f/4 Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* (equivalent to 135 mm in the 35mm format) showed slight pincushion distorton (0.95 percent). Exposure accuracy was very good - within 1/10 of a stop between f/4 and f/8, within 1/3 stop from f/11 to f/22, and within 2/5 stop from f/32 to f/45. At the measured minimum focusing distance of 54¼ inches ( 1:4.9 ), centre and corner sharpness were excellent at all apertures. Optimum performance was at f/4.

140mm f/2.8 Sonnar T*

Specifications: (Tested values in italics)
Focal length: 140 mm (136.03mm)
Maximum aperture: f/2.8 Tested measurement not available due to instrument limitation)
Construction: 7 elements in 5 groups
View angle: Diag. 28º
Minimum aperture: f/32
Filter size: 72mm screw-in.
Mount available: Contax 645;, included soft-case.
Focussing: 130º clockwise from infinity to close focus, 4 feet 3inches.
Weight: 1 lb 7oz.
List price: $3,125
Street price: $2,149


                    RESOLUTION

140mm f/2.8 Sonnar T*
f/ Center
(l/mm) 		Corner
(l/mm)
2.8 Excellent 40 Acceptable 19
4 Excellent 42 Good 25
5.6 V. Good 45 Acceptable 25
8 Excellent 57 V. Good 34
11 Excellent 57 Excellent 38
16 Excellent 57 Excellent 43
22 Excellent 45 Very good 35
32 V. good 40 Good 32

The 140mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* (equivalent to 75 mm in the 35mm format) showed slight pincushion distortion( 0.85 percent). Exposure accuracy was very good - within 1/10 of a stop between f/2.8 and f/11, and within ½ of a stop from f/16 to f/22, and 2/5 stop over at f/32. At the measured minimum focusing distance of 50 inches (1:7.2 x), centre and corner sharpness were excellent at all apertures. Optimum performance was at f/8.

Conclusion; to say that these Carl Zeiss lenses for the Contax 645 are outstanding is putting it mildly - they offer state-of-the-art performance and are unsurpassed in their class. Understandably, they are quite expensive.

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