Contax lens

[MP Guy]

Are all Zeiss lens for the Contax made in Japan or are there some German ones?

[JGH]

I think the ultra wide 16 mm f/8 Hologon is made in Germany.
Not 100% certain of this. All the other lenses are Carl Zeiss designs made by Kyocera/Contax under license in Japan.

[SolaresLarrave]

I'll look mine up. In any case, the Planars are great, the 45mm being better than the 35mm. Have no experience with any other lens, though...

[Mike Richards]

I can verify my 16 Hologon is stamped "Made in Germany"

[Picture Guy]

Which raises the question, why doesn't somebody make a Contax G to Leica M mount adapter ?

[Todd Phillips]

Hi Picture Guy,

Contax G lenses have NO manual focussing rings so their use on Leica cameras is nil. I suppose, maybe, that a "focus adapter" could be made but it would be so large as to preclude its use.

[back alley]

hey todd,

welcome to the forum!
joe

[oftheherd]

My recollection is that all Zeiss lenses with the Contax/Yashica mount wewe differentiated by the T* logo. The T* meant oriental manufacture, while those without meant German manfacture.

[mfs]

The T* logo indicates that the lens has been treated with the Zeiss multicoating system. It does not indicate the country of manufacture. The Zeiss lenses made in Japan are made either by Zeiss, or under license by Kyocera. The offical line is very hazy as to which of these possibilities is actually correct.

The Hologon for the G series is made in Germany.

Several of the Zeiss SLR lenses are made in Germany (usually the more complicated lenses), but most are made in Japan.

Hope that this helps.

[oftheherd]

Years ago, when Kyocera (Yashica) purchased the Contax rights and made lenses in the Contax/Yashica mount, all the photo magazines were relating that the T* were made in Japan (or at least in the Far East), and the non-T* were made in Germany. Your information may be correct, but I never heard that.

In any case that may not apply to the question above since it seems to refer to other than SLR lenses. My bad.

[Todd Phillips]

The T* designation does mean the Zeiss multicoating. All of my Hasselblad lenses (save for a backup 80mm) are T* lenses and, trust me, ALL are made in Germany.

[SolaresLarrave]

Both of my Planars are made in Japan, and both have the T* stamped in red on the front.

The truth is that whether German or Japanese, this pieces of glass have some reputation. Deserved? I don't know. My Planar 35 wasn't too impressive the last time I used it. But then, it was probably the conditions under which I used it. :(

[jdos2]

Any time anyone thinsk that their Planar isn't up to snuff, I invite them to shoot a portrait with a Tessar wide open,with a nice noisy background.

Sit back and enjoy the coma and over-corrected spherical aberation!, the bullseye effect! Yuck! Gimme a soft J-8 any day.

[Rich Silfver]

Give me a sharp lens any day - I can use softar filters if I want to degrade it ;-)

[oftheherd]

Right on rsifverberg!