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

Tele-Tessar T* 300mm f/4 (C/Y)

Carl Zeiss · Contax/Yashica · 1975

Also known as: Contax Tele-Tessar 300mm f/4 · Carl Zeiss Tele-Tessar T* 300mm F4 · Contax Carl Zeiss Tele-Tessar 300mm F4 MMJ · Contax Carl Zeiss Tele-Tessar 300mm F4 MMG · Contax Zeiss Tele Tessar 300mm f4 AEG · Tele-Tessar T* 4/300 · Tele-Tessar 4/300 T* C/Y · Zeiss 300mm f/4 Tele-Tessar C/Y · Contax 300mm 4 Tele-Tessar · コンタックス テレテッサー 300mm F4 · CONTAX Carl Zeiss Tele-Tessar T* 300mm F4 MMJ · カールツァイス テレテッサー T* 300mm F4 · Tele Tessar 300/4 Contax

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
AE (West Germany, 1975–85) Contax/Yashica 1975–1985 — —
MM (1985–2005) Contax/Yashica 1985–2005 — —
  1. Element and group count (5群5枚), angle of view 8°15', closest focus 3.5 m, 1200 g, 88 × 205 mm, 82 mm screw-in filter and the aperture scale 4–32 are Kyocera's own figures for the MM lens from its product page archived 2002–03. The same page lists adapter ring 82/86 with metal hood No. 5, no soft hood or gelatin holder, an 85 mm slip-on cap and case No. 6, says the tripod mount switches easily from horizontal to vertical, and rates the Mutar T* I as mountable with light fall-off and vignetting when stopped down and the Mutar T* II and III as especially good. Japanese Wikipedia, English Wikipedia and apotelyt give the same 5/5, 3.5 m, 82 mm, 88 × 205 mm and 1200 g.
  2. Kyocera's text: flat and very high rendering performance from full aperture, 'an ideal telephoto lens'. Zeiss's data sheet sold it on long focal length, remarkably high speed and compact design; the sheet itself is a scan without extractable text, and the phrase is taken from its search abstract.
  3. The number of diaphragm blades is not given by Kyocera, apotelyt or either Wikipedia; the field is left empty.
  4. Price: ¥195,000 with case is Kyocera's Japanese list price as still shown in 2002 for the MM lens; no 1975 launch price was found.
  5. Generation dates: Japanese Wikipedia gives 1975 for the AE lens and lists an MM lens with the same construction; 1985 is the year the MM barrels arrived across the range; 2005 is the year Kyocera announced it would no longer produce Contax cameras (English Wikipedia). Kamerastore's '(I)' and '(II)' labels for the AE and MM lenses are the dealer's, and nothing consulted documents a change beyond the MM cam and the green numeral.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Engraved Carl Zeiss Tele-Tessar 4/300 T* with the serial on the front ring; an 88 mm barrel 205 mm long with a rotating tripod collar, an 82 mm thread and an 85 mm slip-on cap; 1.2 kg
  • Not the Tele-Apotessar 300mm f/2.8 (2.73 kg, 120 mm barrel, slide-in filters) nor the Vario-Sonnar 100–300mm zoom; the Hasselblad and Rollei Tele-Tessars are 350 and 500 mm lenses engraved for their own mounts, the Contax 645 Tele-Apotessar is a 350 mm autofocus lens, and the ZM Tele-Tessar is an 85 mm f/4
  • AE or MM: white or green 32 on the aperture ring and the MM cam at the rear; country engraved on the barrel

AE (West Germany, 1975–85):

  • Minimum-aperture numeral 32 in white on the aperture ring; no MM cam at the rear flange
  • 'Made in West Germany' on the barrel
  • Rotating tripod collar, 82 mm filter thread, 88 mm barrel 205 mm long, as on the MM

MM (1985–2005):

  • Minimum-aperture numeral 32 in green; MM cam at the rear flange for program and shutter-priority bodies
  • Country engraved on the barrel; both MMJ and MMG are offered by sellers, and no source gives the changeover

Specifications

Formula
Tele-Tessar telephoto, 5 elements in 5 groups; angle of view 8°15'
Construction
5 elements / 5 groups
Aperture range
f/4–f/32
Min. focus
3.5 m
Dimensions
88 × 205 mm
Weight
1200 g
Filter
82 mm
Years manufactured
1975–2005
Country
West Germany (AE); MM origin not stated by any source consulted
Coating
T*
Original price
¥195,000 with case (Kyocera's Japanese list price as still shown in 2002 for the MM lens; no 1975 launch price found) (today ¥221,000)

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 Tele-Tessar T* 300mm f/4 was the long lens of the Contax RTS launch range of 1975 and stayed in the catalogue to the end: five single elements in five groups with T* multicoating, an 8°15’ field, focusing to 3.5 m, an 82 mm filter thread, an aperture scale from f/4 to f/32, a tripod collar that turns from horizontal to vertical, and, by Kyocera’s figures, 1.2 kg in a barrel 88 mm across and 205 mm long. Kyocera’s product page claimed flat and very high rendering from full aperture and called it an ideal telephoto; Zeiss’s data sheet sold it on long focal length, remarkably high speed and compact design. Every source consulted agrees on its figures, which is rare among the C/Y telephotos.

The AE barrel of 1975, made in West Germany, was followed in 1985 by the MM barrel with the green 32 and the rear cam for the program and shutter-priority bodies; the optics did not change, and nothing consulted documents any other alteration, though Kamerastore sells the two generations as the (I) and the (II). Both West German and Japanese MM lenses are offered by dealers, so the engraving on the barrel gives the country. Kyocera was still listing the MM lens in 2002 at ¥195,000 with case, the Mutar T* II and III rated as especially good with it and the Mutar I as mountable with some fall-off and vignetting when stopped down, and the lens went out of production with Kyocera’s withdrawal from Contax cameras in 2005.

No blog or video review was found. The one owner account located, on dprforum in 2002, calls it a brilliant and quite sharp lens whose slides were good enough to be published in a Dutch nature magazine, while finding the owner’s other Zeiss lenses sharper on film and blaming mirror and shutter vibration at 300 mm: his advice is a sturdy tripod and fast shutter speeds.

Buying: the generation check is the colour of the 32 and the cam at the rear; the tripod collar should turn and lock, the long helicoid should be even, and the 82 mm front element should be looked at for cleaning marks, since the lens takes the large No. 5 metal hood on an 82/86 adapter ring and is often sold without it. No serial table, production total, blade count or 1975 launch price has been found for either generation.

Expand Collapse

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-Tessar T* 300mm f/4 (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: Tele-Apotessar T* 300mm f/2.8 (C/Y) · Tele-Tessar T* 200mm f/3.5 (C/Y) · Tele-Tessar T* 200mm f/4 (C/Y) · Vario-Sonnar T* 100–300mm f/4.5–5.6 (C/Y)

Sources (7)

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.