Distagon T* 35mm f/1.4 (C/Y)
Carl Zeiss · Contax/Yashica · 1975
Also known as: Contax Distagon 35mm f/1.4 · Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 35mm F1.4 · Contax Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 35mm f1.4 C/Y · Distagon 1,4/35 T* · Distagon 35mm F1.4 MMJ · Distagon 35mm F1.4 MMG · Distagon 35mm F1.4 AEG · Distagon 35mm F1.4 AEJ · CONTAX Distagon T* 35mm F1.4 MM · Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 35mm F1.4 AE · コンタックス ディスタゴン 35mm F1.4 · ディスタゴン T* 35mm F1.4 MMJ
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AE (West Germany and Japan, 1975–) | Contax/Yashica | 1975 | — | — |
| MM (West Germany and Japan, –2005) | Contax/Yashica | — | — | — |
- Construction, closest focus, dimensions, weight, filter thread and aperture range are the same in the English Wikipedia Contax lens table, apotelyt's C/Y catalogue and Kyocera's own product page of 2002–03 (9 elements in 8 groups, 0.3 m, 70 × 76 mm, 600 g, 67 mm, f/1.4–16). Kyocera gives the angle of view as 62°30'. The aspherical surface and the floating close-range correction are from Japanese Wikipedia, which places the ground aspherical surface on the front face of the sixth element; Kyocera's page confirms both features (フロート方式採用・非球面レンズ使用) without locating them.
- No source consulted gives the number of diaphragm blades; the field is left empty.
- Dates: Japanese Wikipedia gives a 1972 announcement and a 1975 release for the AE lens and no date for the MM. The MM series began with the Contax 159 MM, which camera-wiki dates to February 1985 and apotelyt to 1984; this lens was still in Kyocera's lineup in February 2001 and on its product pages in 2003. The end date of 2005 is the end of Kyocera's Contax production, not a date published for the lens.
- Price: ¥168,000 with case is Kyocera's list price for the MM lens as still shown on its Japanese product page archived in 2003, not a launch price. No 1975 list price in yen, dollars or marks was found.
- Where made: the trade codes AEG, AEJ, MMG and MMJ all occur for this lens. Apotelyt says production shifted over time from Oberkochen to Zeiss's facility in Japan, that both plants worked to the same quality control, and that German-made copies nonetheless command a premium; a Fred Miranda thread records owners reporting slight rendering differences between copies of the four codes. English Wikipedia makes the same point about equal quality control.
- The f/16 minimum aperture is from the English Wikipedia table and Kyocera's aperture scale (1.4−2−2.8−4−5.6−8−11−16); most other C/Y primes stop down to f/22.
How to tell them apart
- Front ring reads Carl Zeiss Distagon 1,4/35 T* with the serial; 67 mm filter thread, 70 mm across and 76 mm long, about 600 g, closing to f/16 only. The Distagon 35mm f/2.8 of the same mount is a 55 mm, 245 g lens that stops down to f/22
- About the size of the Planar 85mm f/1.4 (Japanese Wikipedia); the biggest of the three 35 mm lenses for the C/Y mount apart from the shift PC-Distagon
- AE or MM by the colour of the 16 on the aperture ring: white on the AE, green on the MM, which also carries the coupling cam for the multi-mode bodies. The G or J a seller appends (AEG, AEJ, MMG, MMJ) is read from the 'Lens made in West Germany' or 'Made in Japan' engraving
- Not the Zeiss Distagon T* 1.4/35 of the ZF, ZE and ZM lines or the Milvus 1.4/35 of the 2010s, which are later designs in Nikon F, Canon EF and Leica M mounts and carry those line names on the barrel
AE (West Germany and Japan, 1975–):
- Minimum-aperture figure 16 engraved in white on the aperture ring, as on every AE lens, and no MM coupling for the multi-mode bodies
- 'Lens made in West Germany' (the AEG of the trade) or 'Made in Japan' (AEJ) on the barrel: both are met in listings
MM (West Germany and Japan, –2005):
- Minimum-aperture figure 16 in green, and the MM cam at the mount that lets a multi-mode body close the diaphragm
- 'Lens made in West Germany' (MMG) or 'Made in Japan' (MMJ) on the barrel; the MMJ is the version Japanese dealers list most often
- AE (West Germany and Japan, 1975–): The original version, announced in 1972 and sold from 1975 with the RTS. An AE lens works in aperture-priority and manual exposure only: the 159 MM and the later multi-mode bodies cannot set its aperture for shutter-priority or program. Apotelyt adds that AE lenses closed two or three stops show the 'ninja star' diaphragm shape in out-of-focus highlights, which the MM lenses do not.
- MM (West Germany and Japan, –2005): The multi-mode barrel around the same glass: Japanese Wikipedia lists the MM with the same 8-group, 9-element aspherical construction, 0.3 m and 67 mm as the AE, and KEH describes the MM as having revised aperture mechanicals for the shutter-priority and program bodies. No source consulted dates the MM version of this lens; the MM series itself began with the 159 MM in 1985. Kyocera's Japanese product page still listed it, as the MM type at ¥168,000 with case, in 2002–03, and the Kyocera lineup of February 2001 carried it as an MM lens.
Specifications
- Formula
- Distagon: retrofocus wide-angle, 9 elements in 8 groups, with a ground aspherical surface on the front face of the sixth element and a floating group for close-range correction
- Construction
- 9 elements / 8 groups
- Aperture range
- f/1.4–f/16
- Min. focus
- 0.3 m
- Dimensions
- 70 × 76 mm
- Weight
- 600 g
- Filter
- 67 mm
- Years manufactured
- 1975–2005
- Country
- West Germany and Japan
- Coating
- T*
- Original price
- ¥168,000 with case, before tax, the list price for the MM lens still shown on Kyocera's Japanese product page archived in 2003; no launch price of 1975 was found (today ¥191,000)
What reviewers say
No reviews aggregated yet — this family is still in the research queue. Written one? We'd love to index it.
History
The Distagon T* 1,4/35 was the fast wide-angle of the Contax/Yashica system from the start: Japanese Wikipedia records its announcement in 1972, three years before the RTS, and its release in 1975 with the first lenses for the new bayonet. It is a retrofocus design of nine elements in eight groups, and two things set it apart from the rest of the 1975 range. The front face of its sixth element is a ground aspherical surface, a rarity in a production lens of the mid-1970s, and a floating group corrects the image at close range, so that the lens holds its quality down to its 0.3 m closest focus. The cost is bulk: 70 mm across, 76 mm long and about 600 g, with a 67 mm filter thread, which Japanese Wikipedia points out makes it about the size of the Planar 85mm f/1.4. It stops down only to f/16, where most of the other C/Y primes reach f/22.
Two barrels carried the same glass. The AE lens of 1975 has its minimum aperture figure in white and works in aperture-priority and manual exposure; the MM lens, made for the multi-mode bodies that began with the 159 MM in 1985, has the figure in green and a cam at the mount that lets the body close the diaphragm for shutter-priority and program exposure. Japanese Wikipedia lists the MM with the same eight-group, nine-element aspherical construction, and no source consulted says when this lens changed over. Both barrels were made in Oberkochen and in Japan, which is where the trade’s AEG, AEJ, MMG and MMJ codes come from; apotelyt reports that the two plants worked to the same quality control and that German-made copies still fetch more. Kyocera’s lineup of February 2001 carried the lens as an MM type, and its Japanese product page, archived in 2003, still listed it at ¥168,000 with case. No launch price was found.
Its reputation rests on how it draws stopped down a little. Japanese Wikipedia quotes the critic Hioki Munehiro: considerable sharpness from about f/2.8 and very good contrast. A review of a C/Y copy reproduced on the mflenses forum praises its sharpness and bokeh wide open while noting soft edges and flare in extreme conditions, and owners on Fred Miranda, who call it a heavyweight priced as such, report slight differences in rendering between copies of the four production codes. Apotelyt puts the used price band at $1,500–2,500, the highest of any 35 mm lens in the mount short of the shift PC-Distagon.
Left open: the number of diaphragm blades, the year the MM version appeared, any serial or production data, and the original 1975 list price.
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* 35mm f/1.4 (C/Y)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
Live listings
- Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 35mm F1.4 - Contax Yashica — SN 6593727
- 希少★ CONTAX コンタックス Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 35mm F1.4 AEG
- ★★極上品 CONTAX Distagon T* 35mm F/1.4 AEG Lens♪♪#5787EX
- コンタックス CONTAX Carl Zeiss Distagon 35mm F1.4 T* AEG 純正フィルタ #22884
- 【動作品】CONTAX Carl Zeiss Distagon T 35mm F/1.4 AEG C-1402
- ★★極上品 CONTAX Distagon T* 35mm F/1.4 AEG Lens♪♪#5786
- ★レア玉★CARL ZEIS Distagon F1.4 35mm T AEG #S700
- CONTAX コンタックス Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 35mm F1.4 AE
- 1円～ CONTAX コンタックス 137 MA QUARTZ Carl Zeiss T* Distagon 35mm F1.4 一眼レフカメラ 動作確認済
- CONTAX Carl Zeiss Distagon 35mm F1.4 T* AEG 〔Y/Cマウント〕
- コンタックス Contax Carl Zeiss Distagon 35mm F1.4 T* MMJ
- Contax Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 35mm F/1.4 MMJ Lens for CY Mount #63930A1
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.