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

Planar T* 100mm f/2 (C/Y)

Carl Zeiss · Contax/Yashica · 1980

Also known as: Contax Planar 100mm f/2 · Carl Zeiss Planar T* 100mm F2 · Contax Carl Zeiss Planar 100mm F2 MMJ · Contax Zeiss Planar 100mm F2 AEG · Planar T* 2/100 · Planar 2/100 T* C/Y · Zeiss 100mm f/2 Planar C/Y · Contax 100mm 2.0 Planar · コンタックス プラナー 100mm F2 · CONTAX Carl Zeiss Planar T* 100mm F2 MMJ · カールツァイス プラナー T* 100mm F2 · Planar 100/2 Contax

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
AE (1980–) Contax/Yashica 1980–1985 — —
MM (1985–2005) Contax/Yashica 1985–2005 — —
  1. Element and group count (5群6枚), angle of view 24°30', closest focus 1.0 m, 670 g, 70 × 84 mm and 67 mm filter are Kyocera's own figures for the MM lens from its product page archived 2002–03; apotelyt and English Wikipedia give the same. The page lists adapter ring 67/86 with metal hood No. 4, soft hood G-13 (67 mm), cap K-61 and case No. 2, which PebblePlace confirms with the K-84 hood cap. Mutar compatibility per Kyocera: Mutar I good but with light fall-off or vignetting at small stops, Mutar II usable, Mutar III especially good.
  2. Launch year: Japanese Wikipedia gives 1980 as the announcement; PebblePlace says it was first available in 1981 in AE mount. Both may be right, announcement against delivery; 1980 is used as the first year.
  3. Price: ¥178,000 with case is Kyocera's Japanese list price as still shown in 2002–03 for the MM lens; no 1980 launch price was found. A US dealer listing asked about US$1,099 for a used copy in 2025.
  4. No source gives the number of diaphragm blades; PebblePlace says the aperture ring clicks at full stops from f/2 to f/22 and that there is no floating element.
  5. Generation dates: AE from 1980, MM from 1985 with the 159 MM; the AE's 1985 end is the year the MM replaced it and the MM's 2005 end is the close of Kyocera's Contax business. Where each generation was made is not documented beyond the engravings dealers report.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Engraved Carl Zeiss Planar 2/100 T* with the serial on the front ring; 67 mm filter, non-rotating front, a whole-barrel rubber focusing grip; 670 g, noticeably denser than the Planar 85mm f/1.4 it otherwise resembles in diameter
  • Not the Makro-Planar 100mm f/2.8 (C/Y), which focuses to 1:2 with a long helicoid, nor the ZF/ZE Makro-Planar 2/100 of 2006 on, a Cosina-era design engraved with its mount name; the Contax 645 Planar is an 80mm f/2 with gold contacts
  • AE or MM: white or green 22 on the aperture ring and the MM cam at the rear; country engraved on the barrel

AE (1980–):

  • Minimum-aperture numeral 22 in white; no MM cam at the rear flange
  • 'Made in West Germany' on the AEG copies dealers list; the period of any move to Japan is not documented

MM (1985–2005):

  • Minimum-aperture numeral 22 in green; MM cam at the rear flange
  • 'Made in Japan' MMJ and 'Made in West Germany' MMG copies both appear in dealer listings

Specifications

Formula
Planar, 6 elements in 5 groups, no floating element; angle of view 24°30'
Construction
6 elements / 5 groups
Aperture range
f/2–f/22
Min. focus
1 m
Dimensions
70 × 84 mm
Weight
670 g
Filter
67 mm
Years manufactured
1980–2005
Coating
T*
Original price
¥178,000 with case (Kyocera's Japanese list price as still shown in 2002–03 for the MM lens; no 1980 launch price found) (today ¥202,000)

What reviewers say

History

The Planar T* 100mm f/2 was announced in 1980, five years after the Contax/Yashica system launched, as a fast short telephoto between the two 85s and the Planar 135mm f/2. It is a six-element, five-group Planar without a floating element, T* multicoated, focusing to 1 m, with a 67 mm filter thread that does not rotate, an aperture scale from f/2 to f/22 and, by Kyocera’s figures, 670 g in a barrel 70 mm across and 84 mm long. Kyocera’s product page claims contrast nearly uniform from centre to edge at every stop and singles out the Mutar T* III 1.4× teleconverter as especially good with it, with the Mutar II usable and the Mutar I good but prone to fall-off or vignetting at small stops.

The AE barrel of 1980 and the MM barrel of 1985 share the glass; the MM adds the rear cam and green minimum-aperture numeral that let the 159 MM and later bodies set the aperture in program and shutter-priority modes. Dealers list German and Japanese copies of both generations, and no source consulted records when or whether production moved. Kyocera was still listing the MM lens in 2002–03 at ¥178,000 with case, the dearest of the three fast portrait lenses it still carried, against ¥109,000 for the Planar 85mm f/1.4. No launch price has been found.

PebblePlace, the one stand-alone review found, calls it sharp at f/2 with strong micro-contrast but says sharpness is only a small part of what makes the lens special: a quick, pulse-like transition from sharp to unsharp, strong separation even at f/5.6, and shadows that roll off more gently than Canon’s L lenses. The reviewer found MM copies a little sharper at f/2 and suspects the AE glass is leaded, with denser out-of-focus contrast, both as personal impressions. The lens is all metal, dense at 670 g, nose-heavy on small mirrorless bodies, and its focus grease can stiffen with age; stop-down metering through adapters is the practical drawback with moving subjects. A user on mflenses reports it sharper at f/2 than the Planar 85mm f/1.4 at the same stop, a second-hand claim.

Buying: the generation is read from the colour of the 22 on the aperture ring and the MM cam at the rear flange, the country from the barrel engraving. The whole rubber grip is the focusing ring, so check that it turns smoothly through its travel. The blade count, any serial-to-year table and a production total are not published by the sources consulted; a US dealer asked about US$1,099 for a used copy in 2025.

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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 Planar T* 100mm f/2 (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: Planar T* 85mm f/1.4 (C/Y) · Planar T* 85mm f/1.2 anniversary editions (C/Y) · Sonnar T* 85mm f/2.8 (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.