Planar T* 85mm f/1.2 anniversary editions (C/Y)
Carl Zeiss · Contax/Yashica · 1982
Also known as: Contax Planar 85mm f/1.2 · Carl Zeiss Planar T* 85mm F1.2 · Contax Planar 85mm F1.2 60 Years · Contax Planar 85mm F1.2 50 Years · Planar T* 1,2/85 · Planar 1.2/85 60 Jahre · Planar 1.2/85 50 Jahre · Zeiss 85mm f/1.2 Contax anniversary · Contax 85 1.2 MMG · コンタックス プラナー 85mm F1.2 · プラナー T* 85mm F1.2 60周年 · カールツァイス プラナー 85mm F1.2 50周年
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AE '50 Jahre Contax' (West Germany, 1982) | Contax/Yashica | 1982–1982 | — | 1,500 (English Wikipedia); one dealer says 1,000 |
| MM '60 Jahre Contax' (West Germany, 1992) | Contax/Yashica | 1992–1992 | — | 1,503 (English Wikipedia) |
- Element and group count, closest focus 1.0 m, 77 mm filter, 874 g and 80 × 73 mm are from English Wikipedia's Contax lens table and apotelyt's catalogue; the close-range (floating) correction is Japanese Wikipedia's. Alexandra Shapiro's piece repeats 874 g, f/1.2–16 and 1 m for her 50 Years copy. Kyocera never listed this lens on its 2002–03 product pages, so there is no maker's spec sheet among the sources consulted.
- Batch sizes: English Wikipedia gives 1,500 for the 1982 lens and 1,503 for the 1992 lens; one dealer gives 1,000 for the first. Wikipedia's figures are used, with the dealer's as the dissent. No serial ranges are published for either batch.
- Years: 1982 and 1992 are the anniversary years and the years every source consulted gives for the two batches. Each batch is treated as a single-year run; no source gives shipping dates either side.
- Price: no list price in any currency was found. Used asking prices recorded in 2024–25 run from about US$1,900 to US$2,900 at US sellers and ¥340,000 at a Japanese dealer for a 60 Years copy; fleckintosh puts it at 'a few thousand dollars'.
- Number of diaphragm blades is not given by any source consulted.
How to tell them apart
- Engraved Carl Zeiss Planar 1,2/85 T* with an anniversary legend (50 Jahre / 50 Years, or Contax 60 Years) on the barrel; 77 mm filter thread against the 67 mm of the Planar 85mm f/1.4, and 874 g against 595
- Both batches 'Made in West Germany'; no Japanese-made copies are reported
- The 50 Years lens is AE (white 16, no rear cam), the 60 Years lens MM (green 16, rear cam)
- Not the Planar 55mm f/1.2 '100 Jahre Planar' of 1996, the other f/1.2 anniversary lens of the system, nor the Contax 645 Planar 80mm f/2
AE '50 Jahre Contax' (West Germany, 1982):
- '50 Jahre' or '50 Years' anniversary engraving on the barrel; AE-type aperture ring with a white 16 and no MM cam
- 'Made in West Germany' on the barrel (Alexandra Shapiro's copy)
MM '60 Jahre Contax' (West Germany, 1992):
- 'Contax 60 Years' engraving on the barrel (Mark Wu's copy); MM-type aperture ring with a green 16 and the MM cam at the rear
- 'Made in West Germany': dealers list it as MMG
- AE '50 Jahre Contax' (West Germany, 1982): The first batch, issued for the fiftieth anniversary of the Contax name in 1982 as an AE lens (English and Japanese Wikipedia; apotelyt). Kamerastore's product page for a copy describes it as the 1982 fiftieth-anniversary edition in a small run.
- MM '60 Jahre Contax' (West Germany, 1992): The second batch, for the sixtieth anniversary in 1992, in the MM barrel with the same seven-group, eight-element optics (Japanese Wikipedia). Flashback Camera in Japan listed one as an MMG, that is West German made.
Specifications
- Formula
- Planar, 8 elements in 7 groups, with close-range (floating) correction
- Construction
- 8 elements / 7 groups
- Aperture range
- f/1.2–f/16
- Min. focus
- 1 m
- Dimensions
- 80 × 73 mm
- Weight
- 874 g
- Filter
- 77 mm
- Years manufactured
- 1982–1992
- Country
- West Germany
- Coating
- T*
What reviewers say
- Mark Wu (guest post, Steve Huff Photo) (blog) — A 60 Years copy on a Sony a7: 'already quite sharp at f1.2', corners included, with little gain past f/2; chromatic aberration obvious wide open and gone by f/2.8, clear vignetting, smooth bokeh with corner ellipses he takes as character. A 'huge piece of glass' that unbalances the a7, built to a standard he puts level with Leica. 'The results are just amazing.'
- Alexandra Shapiro (guest post, Steve Huff Photo) (blog) — A 1982 50 Years copy shot only at f/1.2 on a Leica M10, M246 and Nikon Z7: 'very smooth bokeh' from a large, well-built metal barrel; no sharpness verdict is offered. 'This is an amazing lens.'
History
The Planar T* 85mm f/1.2 was never a catalogue lens. Carl Zeiss made it twice, in West Germany, as a limited edition for anniversaries of the Contax name: a batch of 1,500 in the AE barrel marked “50 Jahre” for the fiftieth anniversary in 1982, and a batch of 1,503 in the MM barrel marked “Contax 60 Years” for the sixtieth in 1992, by English Wikipedia’s count. It is an eight-element, seven-group Planar with close-range correction, a third of a stop faster than the Planar 85mm f/1.4 and considerably bigger: a 77 mm filter thread in place of 67, 874 g in place of 595, 80 mm across and 73 mm long, focusing to 1 m and stopping down to f/16. Japanese Wikipedia says the 1992 lens kept the 1982 optics. Kyocera’s 2002–03 product pages do not list it, and no list price in any currency has been found.
The two batches differ as the AE and MM generations of any Contax lens differ: a white or green minimum-aperture numeral and, on the 60 Years lens, the rear cam that lets the 159 MM and later bodies set the aperture in program and shutter-priority modes. Both read “Made in West Germany”; Japanese dealers list the 1992 lens as MMG. The only other f/1.2 lens of the system, the Planar 55mm f/1.2 of 1996, was likewise an anniversary edition, for the centenary of the Planar design.
The reviews found are enthusiast accounts on adapted digital bodies rather than tests. Mark Wu, using a 60 Years copy on a Sony a7 in 2015, found it already quite sharp at f/1.2 into the corners and gaining little past f/2, with chromatic aberration obvious wide open and gone by f/2.8, clear vignetting, and smooth bokeh whose corner ellipses a commenter attributes to mechanical vignetting; the lens unbalanced the small body. Alexandra Shapiro, shooting a 1982 lens only at f/1.2 on Leica M and Nikon Z bodies in 2019, reports very smooth bokeh and a large, well-built metal barrel and offers no sharpness verdict. Both call it amazing.
Buying: the lens is scarce and priced accordingly. Asking prices recorded in 2024–25 run from roughly US$1,900 to US$2,900 at US sellers and ¥340,000 at a Japanese dealer for a 60 Years copy. The anniversary engraving, the 77 mm thread and the weight separate it from the Planar 85mm f/1.4 at a glance; the aperture-ring numeral and the rear cam separate the two batches. No serial ranges, blade count or launch price are published by the sources consulted, and the batch size of the 1982 run is disputed between 1,500 and 1,000.
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* 85mm f/1.2 anniversary editions (C/Y)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
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