PC-Distagon T* 35mm f/2.8 (C/Y, shift)
Carl Zeiss · Contax/Yashica · 1980
Also known as: Contax PC-Distagon 35mm f/2.8 · Carl Zeiss PC-Distagon T* 35mm F2.8 · Contax Carl Zeiss T* PC-Distagon 35mm f2.8 Shift · PC-Distagon 2,8/35 T* · PC Distagon 35mm F2.8 AEG · Zeiss PC Distagon 35mm 2.8 C/Y · Contax 35mm f/2.8 PC-Distagon T* shift lens · コンタックス PC ディスタゴン 35mm F2.8 · PC-ディスタゴン T* 35mm F2.8 シフト
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PC-Distagon 2,8/35 T* shift (West Germany) | Contax/Yashica | 1980–2005 | — | — |
- Introduction year: no source consulted gives one. Japanese Wikipedia, which dates most C/Y lenses, gives none for the PC-Distagon; the Digital Journal of Photography places the design in the late 1970s or early 1980s; the earliest dated record found is Kyocera's lineup of February 2001. The 1980 in the table is the middle of that span, carried only because the entry needs a first year, and should be read as 'about 1980' until a dated catalogue or Zeiss record is found. The end date of 2005 is the end of Kyocera's Contax production.
- Construction (9 elements in 9 groups), closest focus (0.3 m), shift (±10 mm, no tilt), filter (86 mm through the 70/86 ring) and aperture range (f/2.8–22) agree between Kyocera's product page, the two Wikipedias, apotelyt and the Digital Journal of Photography. The five diaphragm blades are the Journal's figure alone.
- Weight: 740 g on Kyocera's page, on apotelyt and in the Digital Journal of Photography; 725 g in the English Wikipedia table. The table carries Kyocera's. Length: 85.5 mm (Kyocera), 85.6 mm (the Journal), 86 mm (apotelyt); the diameter is 70 mm everywhere.
- Angle of view: Kyocera gives 63° for the frame and 83° for the image circle, which is what allows 10 mm of shift on 24 × 36; the Journal prints the same pair.
- Price: ¥390,000 with case is the list price still on Kyocera's Japanese product page archived in 2003. The Digital Journal of Photography gives an RRP when new of £2,100 including VAT or $2,499 without saying for which year. Apotelyt's used band is $1,300–1,800; the Journal reports sales of over £4,000 and nearly $5,000 in 2025.
- Diaphragm: Japanese Wikipedia files the lens outside the AE and MM series; Kyocera's own page nevertheless labels it 'AE type, shift'. Whether the diaphragm couples automatically to the body is not stated by either, so no claim is made here.
How to tell them apart
- The only shift lens for the Contax/Yashica mount: a shift knob, a ±10 mm scale and a rotating mount under a plain 70 mm front that takes the clamp-on 70/86 ring the Distagon 18mm f/4 also uses. Carl Zeiss PC-Distagon 2,8/35 T* on the front ring
- About 740 g and 85.5 mm long, three times the weight of the ordinary Distagon 35mm f/2.8 and heavier than the aspherical f/1.4
- Made in West Germany only; there is no MM version and no Japanese-made copy, so the trade's usual AEG/MMJ codes do not sort it
- Not the Schneider PC-Super-Angulon 2.8/28 or the Canon TS-E and Nikon PC lenses that shift lenses are compared with: those carry their makers' names and mounts
PC-Distagon 2,8/35 T* shift (West Germany):
- Shift knob and a ±10 mm scale on a mount that rotates; a plain 70 mm front with no filter thread, taking the clamp-on 70/86 ring
- 'Lens made in West Germany' on the barrel; no Japanese-made copy is known
- Aperture scale 2.8–22 with the figure in white: Kyocera's 2003 product page calls it AE type, shift, while Japanese Wikipedia files it outside both the AE and MM series
- PC-Distagon 2,8/35 T* shift (West Germany): The one version. It never received an MM barrel: Kyocera's lineup of February 2001 listed it simply as 'shift', and its product page of 2002–03 as 'AE type, shift' at ¥390,000 with case, the dearest lens in the range short of the long teles. Kyocera's table says the Mutar I fits but warns of light fall-off when shifted and vignetting when shifted and stopped down. The introduction year is not established (see the table notes).
Specifications
- Formula
- PC-Distagon: retrofocus wide-angle with an enlarged image circle (83° against 63° used), 9 elements in 9 groups, floating close-range correction, shift of ±10 mm on a rotating mount, no tilt
- Construction
- 9 elements / 9 groups
- Aperture range
- f/2.8–f/22
- Diaphragm blades
- 5
- Min. focus
- 0.3 m
- Dimensions
- 70 × 85.5 mm
- Weight
- 740 g
- Filter
- 86 mm, 86 mm, through the clamp-on 70/86 adapter ring; no metal or soft hood; 70 mm slip-on cap (Kyocera)
- Years manufactured
- 1980–2005
- Country
- West Germany
- Coating
- T*
- Original price
- ¥390,000 with case, before tax, the list price still shown on Kyocera's Japanese product page archived in 2003; the Digital Journal of Photography gives an RRP when new of £2,100 including VAT or $2,499 without a year (today ¥443,000)
What reviewers say
- Kevin Carter (The Digital Journal of Photography) (blog) — A 2025 test of the lens on mirrorless bodies under the heading 'Shift Performance on Modern Mirrorless'; the public introduction presents it as considered the best of its type at this focal length, and the findings themselves are behind the Journal's membership wall. single source, unconfirmed
History
The PC-Distagon T* 2,8/35 is the perspective-control lens of the Contax/Yashica system and the only one with movements: a shift of 10 mm either way on a mount that rotates, so that converging verticals can be straightened in any direction, and no tilt. To cover the displaced frame Zeiss gave it an image circle of 83° against the 63° a fixed 35 mm lens uses, a construction of nine elements in nine groups with a floating group for close-range correction, and a 0.3 m closest focus. The front is a plain 70 mm cylinder with no thread; filters of 86 mm go on through the clamp-on 70/86 ring that the Distagon 18mm f/4 also takes, and Kyocera’s accessory table lists no hood of either kind for it. At about 740 g and 85.5 mm long it is three times the weight of the ordinary Distagon 35mm f/2.8. The diaphragm, five-bladed by the Digital Journal of Photography’s count, runs from f/2.8 to f/22.
When it appeared is not settled. Japanese Wikipedia, which dates most C/Y lenses, gives nothing for this one and files it outside both the AE and MM series; the Digital Journal of Photography places its design in the late 1970s or early 1980s; the earliest dated record found is Kyocera’s lineup of February 2001, which lists it simply as ‘shift’. Kyocera’s own product page of 2002–03 nonetheless labels it ‘AE type, shift’ and lists it at ¥390,000 with case, more than eight times the price of the plain f/2.8 Distagon and above everything in the range short of the long telephotos. It was made in West Germany only, with no MM version and no Japanese-made copy, and stayed in the catalogue until Kyocera ended Contax production in 2005. The Journal gives a recommended price when new of £2,100 including VAT or $2,499, without a year.
It has become one of the dearest C/Y lenses used. Apotelyt’s band of $1,300–1,800 is already above the aspherical Distagon 35mm f/1.4’s lower bound, and the Journal reports copies selling for over £4,000 and nearly $5,000 in 2025, driven by use on mirrorless bodies through adapters, which is the subject of Kevin Carter’s 2025 review. On a film body the shift works as on any manual shift lens: compose, shift, then meter stopped down, remembering Kyocera’s warning that with the Mutar I attached the corners darken when shifted and vignette when shifted and stopped down.
Left open: the introduction year, serial or production data, how the diaphragm couples to the body, and the year of the Journal’s quoted recommended 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 PC-Distagon T* 35mm f/2.8 (C/Y, shift)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
Live listings
Listings updated 2026-11-02. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.