Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

Distagon T* 18mm f/4 (C/Y)

Carl Zeiss · Contax/Yashica · 1975

Also known as: Contax Distagon 18mm f/4 · Contax Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 18mm F4 · Carl Zeiss Distagon 18mm f/4 T* C/Y · Zeiss Distagon 18mm F4 MMJ · Zeiss Distagon 18mm F4 AEG · Distagon 4/18 T* · Distagon 4/18 Contax · Contax Zeiss 18mm f4 MM · コンタックス ディスタゴン 18mm F4 · コンタックス Distagon T* 18mm F4 MM · CONTAX Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 18mm F4 MMJ

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
AE (West Germany, 1975–) Contax/Yashica 1975 — —
MM (West Germany and Japan, 1985–2005) Contax/Yashica 1985–2005 — —
  1. Element and group count, focal length (18.6 mm), 100° diagonal field, aperture scale 4–22, focusing range to 0.3 m with a floating element, 36.3 mm back focal distance, 60.1 mm first-to-last vertex, 70 mm clip-on filter connection and approx. 350 g are from Carl Zeiss's data sheet, cat. no. 10 48 42 (Oberkochen, undated; it lists Multi-Mode Operation among the exposure modes and carries the D-73446 postcode, so it describes the MM lens and was printed in 1993 or later). Kyocera's 2003 product page gives the same 9群10枚, フロート方式, 100°, 0.3 m and 350 g, adds 70 × 51.5 mm, and gives the filter as 86 mm screw-in used with the 70/86 ring. English Wikipedia's C/Y table agrees on 10/9, 0.3 m, 70.0 × 51.5 mm, 350 g and 86 mm.
  2. Zeiss's data sheet calls the design 'time-honoured' and says the 'new version' gives the same image quality at distance as 'the well-known and time-tried design', but with a redesigned focusing system in which the groups move relative to each other at short distances, extending the useful range to 0.3 m. Which barrel generation that new version is, and what the earlier focusing range was, the sheet does not say; Japanese Wikipedia already credits the 1975 AE lens with close-range correction and 0.3 m. The point is left open.
  3. Years: the AE is dated 1975 by Japanese Wikipedia. The MM generation is dated from the Contax 159 MM, 1984 by apotelyt and February 1985 by camera-wiki; 1985 is used here. The end date is the close of Kyocera's Contax business in 2005 (Japanese Wikipedia); the lens was on sale in 2003.
  4. Price: ¥130,200 with case is Kyocera's Japanese list price as archived in 2003, for the MM lens at the end of its life, broken down on the page as ¥124,000 product price plus ¥6,200 consumption tax. No launch price in any currency was found.
  5. Where it was made: AE copies offered for sale read 'Made in West Germany'; MM copies appear with both West German and Japanese engravings (dealer and auction titles writing MMG and MMJ). No production record was found, so the `country` field is left empty.
  6. Blades: not given by Zeiss or Kyocera; the field is left empty.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • A short, wide lens: 70 mm across but only 51.5 mm long, 350 g, with a plain front rim of 70 mm for a clip-on cap and filters and no built-in hood; the 15 and 16 beside it in the range have fixed hoods and filter turrets, the 21 is a much larger 82 mm-thread lens (Zeiss, Kyocera)
  • Front ring engraved Carl Zeiss Distagon 4/18 T* with the serial; minimum aperture 22 in white on the AE, green on the MM; 'Lens made in West Germany' or 'Lens made in Japan' on the barrel
  • Takes 86 mm filters only through Contax's 70/86 adapter ring, which clips on the front rim (Kyocera); without the ring the front is bare
  • The Zeiss Distagon T* 18mm f/3.5 (ZF, ZE, ZK) of 2007 and the Milvus 18 are different Cosina-made designs with 82 mm threads; the Rollei QBM Distagon 18mm f/4 HFT is the same focal length on another mount and carries the HFT marking

AE (West Germany, 1975–):

  • Minimum-aperture figure 22 in white; no MM coupling
  • 'Lens made in West Germany' on the barrel: sellers' AEG. No Japanese-made AE copy was found offered

MM (West Germany and Japan, 1985–2005):

  • Minimum-aperture figure 22 in green and the MM coupling on the mount, for shutter-priority and program modes on the 159 MM and later bodies
  • Both 'Lens made in West Germany' (MMG) and 'Lens made in Japan' (MMJ) copies appear in trade listings

Specifications

Formula
Retrofocus ultra-wide, 10 elements in 9 groups, floating element for close-range correction (Zeiss data sheet)
Construction
10 elements / 9 groups
Aperture range
f/4–f/22
Min. focus
0.3 m
Dimensions
70 × 51.5 mm
Weight
350 g
Filter
86 mm, 70 mm clip-on front; 86 mm screw-in filters through the 70/86 adapter ring (Kyocera); no metal hood listed
Years manufactured
1975–2005
Coating
T*
Original price
¥130,200 with case (2003), Kyocera's Japanese list price for the MM lens as archived in 2003 (¥124,000 plus ¥6,200 consumption tax) — no launch price in any currency was found (today ¥148,000)

What reviewers say

No reviews aggregated yet — this family is still in the research queue. Written one? We'd love to index it.

Optical formula — Retrofocus ultra-wide, 10 elements in 9 groups, floating element for close-range correction (Zeiss data sheet)
ⓘ What these charts mean

MTF (modulation transfer function) shows how much contrast the lens keeps at a given fineness of detail, from the center of the frame to the corner — the coarse curves track punch, the fine ones resolving power, and a gap between solid and dashed lines means astigmatism. Relative illumination (falloff) shows how much darker the corners are than the center at each aperture. Manufacturers only began publishing these for modern lenses; no 1950s maker issued them, which is why older families here cite period magazine bench tests instead.

History

The Distagon T* 4/18 is the compact ultra-wide of the Contax/Yashica range: ten elements in nine groups covering 100°, in a barrel 70 mm across but only 51.5 mm long and weighing 350 g, less than half the 15mm f/3.5 and two-thirds of the 21mm f/2.8 that flank it. Zeiss’s data sheet gives a true focal length of 18.6 mm, f/4 to f/22, focusing to 0.3 m with a floating element, and a 70 mm clip-on front; Kyocera’s product page explains that 86 mm screw-in filters go on through the 70/86 adapter ring, and that no metal hood is listed for it. Zeiss calls the design “time-honoured”, claims distortion correction “unexpected in this type of lens”, and says the current version keeps the image quality of the old one at distance while a redesigned focusing system, in which the groups shift relative to each other at close range, holds the outer zones together down to 0.3 m. The 18mm Distagon was a Zeiss staple before Contax, sold for the Contarex and in Rollei’s QBM mount, and Japanese Wikipedia dates the Contax version to 1975, the year of the mount.

It is one of the C/Y wide-angles made in both barrels. The AE lens of 1975 is engraved “Made in West Germany”; the MM lens, from the arrival of the Contax 159 MM in 1985, has the green minimum-aperture figure and the extra coupling that lets the body set the aperture for shutter-priority and program modes, and turns up with both West German and Japanese engravings, the MMG and MMJ of dealers’ titles. Japanese Wikipedia gives both generations the same construction and the same 0.3 m close focus, and nothing read here says the glass changed; what Zeiss’s sheet means by the “new version” with its reworked focusing, and whether that line was drawn at the MM barrel or earlier, the sheet does not say. Kyocera still listed the lens as MM in February 2001 and sold it in 2003 at ¥130,200 with case, ¥124,000 before tax, the cheapest of the four C/Y lenses wider than 25 mm. No launch price was found.

No published review of the Contax 18 was found. The comparison that exists is a 2021 forum thread setting it against Cosina’s Zeiss 18mm f/3.5, where the older lens is credited with its small size, slightly less distortion and a “film” rendering, and the newer with more resolution, on the strength of Zeiss’s own MTF sheets rather than side-by-side tests. Zeiss’s curves for the 4/18 show barrel distortion and the usual fall in corner illumination at full aperture.

When buying, note that the front element sits close behind a bare 70 mm rim: look for cleaning marks, and check whether the 70/86 ring and the 86 mm cap come with the lens, since filters are impossible without the ring and it is often missing. Check that the floating-element focusing is smooth to 0.3 m and that the diaphragm works; the AE barrel’s “ninja-star” iris shape two or three stops down is normal. An AE lens meters at full aperture on every C/Y body but gives only aperture-priority and manual; an MM lens adds shutter-priority and program on the 159 MM and later.

Expand Collapse

This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.

Example photos

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Distagon T* 18mm f/4 (C/Y)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Buying from Yahoo! Auctions outside Japan. It is a domestic marketplace: sellers ship within Japan, and most will not register an overseas buyer. A proxy service bids on your behalf, receives the item and forwards it, for a fee and a wait. Buyee, Jauce and ZenMarket each accept a Yahoo auction number directly. Listed alphabetically for information — none is recommended over another, and none of these is an affiliate link.

Listings updated 2026-11-02. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: Distagon T* 15mm f/3.5 (C/Y) · F-Distagon T* 16mm f/2.8 (C/Y) · Distagon T* 21mm f/2.8 (C/Y) · Distagon T* 25mm f/2.8 (C/Y)

Sources (7)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this lens, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.