Tele-Apotessar T* 300mm f/2.8 (C/Y)
Carl Zeiss · Contax/Yashica · 1985
single source, unconfirmed our own findingAlso known as: Contax Tele-Apotessar 300mm f/2.8 · Carl Zeiss Tele-Apotessar T* 300mm F2.8 · Contax Carl Zeiss Tele-Apotessar 300mm F2.8 AEG · Contax Zeiss Tele Apotessar 300mm f2.8 AE · Tele-Apotessar T* 2,8/300 · Tele-Apotessar 2.8/300 T* C/Y · Zeiss 300mm f/2.8 Tele-Apotessar C/Y · Contax 300mm 2.8 Tele-Apotessar · コンタックス テレアポテッサー 300mm F2.8 · CONTAX Carl Zeiss Tele-Apotessar T* 300mm F2.8 AEG · カールツァイス テレアポテッサー T* 300mm F2.8 · Tele Apotessar 300/2.8 Contax
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AE (West Germany) | Contax/Yashica | — | — | — |
- Element and group count: Japanese Wikipedia and apotelyt give 7群8枚 / 8 in 7; English Wikipedia and lenstip give 7 in 6. The Apo-Sonnar 200mm f/2, where Kyocera states the convention, is counted with and without its slide-in filter in the same way, so the 8/7 figure is taken as the count including the filter and used here.
- Weight and size: 2.73 kg and 120 × 244 mm (English Wikipedia; apotelyt gives 2730 g and the same dimensions); lenstip gives 100 × 244 mm and the same weight. Closest focus 3.5 m and the rear slide-in filter are Japanese Wikipedia's, confirmed by the others. The minimum aperture of f/22 is lenstip's alone.
- Launch year: no source consulted gives one. Japanese Wikipedia lists the lens in its AE table without a date, English Wikipedia and apotelyt give no years, and the Zeiss data sheet is a scan whose only date is that of the 1998 PDF conversion. The 1985 in the year field is a placeholder, not a sourced date: the AE-only barrel and the lens's absence from Japanese Wikipedia's dated 1975 launch entries put it somewhere between the late 1970s and the mid-1980s. It should be replaced as soon as a Zeiss or Kyocera document dates the lens, and the years field is left empty until then.
- The number of diaphragm blades is not given by any source consulted (lenstip's '0' is a blank, not a count); the field is left empty. No list price in any currency was found; English Wikipedia's remark that the lens was noted for its stratospheric price carries no figure and no citation; the only prices found are used examples reported on FredMiranda at around US$8,000.
How to tell them apart
- Engraved Carl Zeiss Tele-Apotessar 2,8/300 T* on the front ring; a 120 mm barrel 244 mm long weighing 2.73 kg, with a tripod collar and a slide-in filter drawer at the rear and no front filter thread
- Not the Tele-Tessar 300mm f/4 (1.2 kg, 82 mm thread, 88 mm barrel) nor the Contax 645 Tele-Apotessar 350mm f/4 and Contax N Tele-Apotessar 400mm f/4, which are autofocus lenses with contacts in their mounts; the Hasselblad Tele-Apotessar 500mm f/8 is a 6×6 lens engraved for the V bayonet
- AE only: white minimum-aperture numeral and no cam at the rear; 'Made in West Germany' on the barrel
AE (West Germany):
- Minimum-aperture numeral in white on the aperture ring and no MM cam at the rear flange: Japanese Wikipedia lists the lens only in its AE table, and no MM version is known
- Slide-in filter drawer at the rear, no front thread, tripod collar; 2.73 kg in a 120 mm barrel 244 mm long
- 'Made in West Germany' on the barrel
- AE (West Germany): The only version, sold as a limited-availability item (限定販売, Japanese Wikipedia) and never re-cammed for the MM bodies; one of the specialty lenses, with the Mirotars and the German-built zooms, that stayed AE after 1985. Absent from Kyocera's 2002 lens index.
Specifications
- Formula
- Apochromatic telephoto; 8 elements in 7 groups counting the slide-in filter (7 in 6 without it)
- Construction
- 8 elements / 7 groups
- Aperture range
- f/2.8–f/22
- Min. focus
- 3.5 m
- Dimensions
- 120 × 244 mm
- Weight
- 2730 g
- Filter
- Rear slide-in filters; no front thread
- Country
- West Germany
- Coating
- T*
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 Tele-Apotessar T* 300mm f/2.8 was the fast 300 of the Contax/Yashica range and its heaviest conventional lens: an apochromatic telephoto of eight elements in seven groups counting the slide-in filter, focusing to 3.5 m, with rear drop-in filters in place of a front thread, a tripod collar, and 2.73 kg in a barrel 120 mm across and 244 mm long. Japanese Wikipedia records it as a limited-sale item (限定販売) and lists it only among the AE lenses: it carries the white minimum-aperture numeral and no cam at the rear, and was never re-cammed for the program bodies, one of the specialty lenses, with the Mirotars and the two German-built zooms, that stayed AE after the 1985 changeover. It was made in West Germany. By the time of Kyocera’s 2002 site it had gone from the lens index.
When it was launched is not recorded in any source consulted. Japanese Wikipedia dates the 1975 launch lenses and the 1982 Sonnar 180 but gives this lens no year, English Wikipedia and apotelyt give none, and the Zeiss data sheet survives only as a scan converted to PDF in 1998. The 1985 in the year field is therefore a placeholder bounded by the AE barrel, to be replaced when a Zeiss or Kyocera document dates the lens. Sources also divide on the element count, 8 in 7 against 7 in 6, which is most likely the filter counted or not, as Kyocera’s page for the Apo-Sonnar 200mm f/2 makes explicit for that lens.
Nothing has been published about its performance beyond English Wikipedia’s uncited remark that it was noted for its sharpness and its stratospheric price, and no blog or video review was found. It is rare on the market; the FredMiranda thread that asked who uses one reported examples changing hands at around US$8,000. On a used copy the filter drawer and its filters, the tripod collar and the rear element are what to check, with the diaphragm and the front element behind its hood. No list price, serial table, production total or blade count has been found.
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 Tele-Apotessar T* 300mm f/2.8 (C/Y)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
Live listings
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Listings updated 2026-11-02. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.