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

Makro-Planar T* 100mm f/2.8 (C/Y)

Carl Zeiss · Contax/Yashica · 1984

single source, unconfirmed

Also known as: Contax Carl Zeiss Makro-Planar T* 100mm F2.8 · Contax Makro-Planar 100mm f/2.8 · Carl Zeiss Makro Planar 100mm 2.8 C/Y · Contax 100mm f/2.8 Makro-Planar T* · Makro-Planar 2,8/100 T* · Zeiss MP100/2.8 C/Y · Makro-Planar 100mm F2.8 AEG · Makro-Planar 100mm F2.8 AEJ · Carl Zeiss Makro-Planar T* 100mm F2.8 AE · Contax Macro Planar 100mm f2.8 · コンタックス マクロプラナー 100mm F2.8 · マクロ・プラナー T*100mm F2.8 AE · Carl Zeiss Makro-Planar 100mm F2.8 ヤシカ コンタックス

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
AE (West Germany, later Japan, 1984–) Contax/Yashica 1984 — —
  1. Year: the only introduction date found is the 1984 on Kamerastore's product page for the lens, a dealer's figure with no source given. Japanese Wikipedia gives no date and says only that the lens succeeded the S-Planar 100mm f/4 bellows lens of 1978. No second source for the date has been found.
  2. Construction, angle of view (24°), closest focus (0.41 m, 1:1), weight (740 g), dimensions (76 × 86.5 mm), filter thread (67 mm) and aperture scale (2.8–22) are from Kyocera's Japanese product page archived in September 2002, which also names the floating-element design (フロート方式採用). apotelyt's C/Y table gives the same figures with the length rounded to 87 mm. Kamerastore lists 0.45 m closest focus and GearFocus 600 g; the maker's figures are used.
  3. Diaphragm blades: Kyocera's page does not give the count. Kamerastore's product page says eight; no second source has been found.
  4. Price: ¥198,000 with case (before tax) is Kyocera's list price as shown on its product page in 2002, late in the lens's life, not a launch price. No launch price in any currency was found.
  5. Teleconverters, from the same Kyocera page: the Mutar T* I can be fitted, with a fall-off of illumination at close range and vignetting when stopped down at close range; the Mutar T* II and III cannot be fitted. Hood: the No. 5 metal hood through the 67/86 adapter ring, or the 67 mm G-13 soft hood; snap cap K-61.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Front ring engraved Makro-Planar 2,8/100 T*; the helicoid runs out to 1:1 at 0.41 m, extending the barrel well beyond its 86.5 mm at infinity, with an automatic diaphragm throughout (Kyocera 2002; Japanese Wikipedia)
  • 67 mm filter thread, the same as the Planar 85mm f/1.4 and larger than the 55 mm of the Sonnar 100mm f/3.5; 740 g (Kyocera 2002)
  • Not the Makro-Planar T* 2/100 of 2006 onward in ZF, ZE, ZK and Milvus form, an f/2 lens that stops at 1:2, and not the Contax N Makro-Sonnar 100mm f/2.8, an autofocus lens in the N bayonet. The Contax 645 macro is the Apo-Makro-Planar 120mm f/4
  • Not the S-Planar 100mm f/4 of 1978, which has no focusing helicoid and no distance scale and mounts on the Contax bellows

AE (West Germany, later Japan, 1984–):

  • Minimum-aperture figure 22 in white on the aperture ring on every copy: no MM version was made, so no copy carries the green numeral or the MM coupling
  • 'Made in West Germany' on the early lenses, 'Made in Japan' on the later ones (Japanese Wikipedia); dealers write the two as AEG and AEJ and price the German-made copies higher

Specifications

Formula
Makro-Planar, 7 elements in 7 groups, with a floating-element close-range correction (Kyocera: フロート方式)
Construction
7 elements / 7 groups
Aperture range
f/2.8–f/22
Min. focus
0.41 m
Dimensions
76 × 86.5 mm
Weight
740 g
Filter
67 mm
Years manufactured
1984
Country
West Germany, later Japan
Coating
T*
Original price
¥198,000 with case, before tax, Kyocera's list price as still shown on its product page in 2002 (AE type) — a late price, not the launch price⁴ (today ¥224,000)

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 Makro-Planar T* 2,8/100 is Carl Zeiss’s helicoid-focusing macro lens for the Contax/Yashica bayonet: seven elements in seven groups with a floating group that corrects the lens as it is focused closer, reaching life size at 0.41 m on its own helicoid with the automatic diaphragm working throughout. Kyocera’s product page gives 24° of view, an aperture scale from f/2.8 to f/22, a 67 mm filter thread, 740 g and 76 × 86.5 mm at infinity. Japanese Wikipedia describes it as the successor to the S-Planar 100mm f/4 of 1978, a bellows-only macro lens with no helicoid at all; the Makro-Planar put the same focal length into an ordinary lens that could be used hand-held and with every exposure mode of the AE bodies. The only introduction date found is the 1984 on a dealer’s product page.

There is one version. The lens was never issued with the MM coupling introduced in 1985, so every copy carries the white 22 of an AE lens and works in aperture-priority and manual on the bodies that offer shutter-priority and program. Kyocera was still selling it in 2002, listed as AE type at ¥198,000 with its case, beside the AE-only Makro-Planar 60mm f/2.8 and the MM 60mm f/2.8 C. Early lenses were made in West Germany and later ones in Japan, which the market records as AEG and AEJ; no source consulted dates the change. Kyocera rated only the Mutar T* I usable with it, with a loss of illumination close up and vignetting when stopped down at close range, and ruled out the Mutar II and III.

No independent review of this lens has been found; what exists is dealer copy and forum threads, including one on photomacrography.net about adapting a copy to a Canon body. Dealer figures disagree with the maker’s over the closest focus (0.45 m against Kyocera’s 0.41 m) and the weight (600 g against 740 g); Kyocera’s figures are used here. Left open: the launch year and launch price, the number of diaphragm blades, when production moved from Oberkochen to Japan, and any serial-to-year table.

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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 Makro-Planar T* 100mm f/2.8 (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: S-Planar T* 100mm f/4 bellows lens (C/Y) · Sonnar T* 100mm f/3.5 (C/Y)

Sources (6)

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.