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

Vario-Sonnar T* 80–200mm f/4 (C/Y)

Carl Zeiss · Contax/Yashica · 1986

single source, unconfirmed

Also known as: Contax Vario-Sonnar 80-200mm f/4 · Contax Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 80-200mm F4 · Contax 80-200mm F4 MMJ · Vario-Sonnar T* 80-200mm f/4 MMJ · Vario-Sonnar 4/80-200 · Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 4/80-200 · Contax Zeiss 80-200 Vario-Sonnar · Vario-Sonnar 80-200 C/Y · コンタックス バリオゾナー 80-200mm F4 · Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 80-200mm F4 (MM) · CONTAX Vario-Sonnar T*80-200mm F4 MMJ · Contax 80-200 f4 zoom

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
MM (Japan, 1986–2005) Contax/Yashica 1986–2005 — —
  1. Family focal length and aperture are the wide end, 80 mm and f/4; the aperture is constant across the range. Element and group count (10群13枚), angle of view (30°30′ to 12°10′), aperture scale 4–5.6–8–11–16–22, 1.0 m close focus at 1:3.3 at 200 mm, 680 g, 67 × 160.5 mm, 55 mm filter, case No. 8 and the ¥128,000 list price are from Kyocera's archived product page of October 2002. Lenstip, English Wikipedia and Aperturepedia agree on 13/10, 680 g, 55 mm and f/22; lenstip and English Wikipedia round the length to 160 mm. RedShark gives 685 g.
  2. Year: 1986 rests on Aperturepedia's database alone, which cites no Zeiss or Kyocera document, hence the single-source flag. The lens is MM-only, so it cannot predate the 159 MM of 1984/85.
  3. Aperture blades: eight, on Aperturepedia alone, so the field is left empty.
  4. Zeiss's historical datasheet, 'Vario-Sonnar T* 4/80~200 mm', is the source English Wikipedia cites for its figures and describes the lens as a light, one-touch zoom with very good image quality over the entire focal-length range; the zeiss.com download now returns 404 and was not read for this page.
  5. Converters and hoods, from Kyocera's page: Mutar T* I usable with light fall-off and vignetting when stopped down, Mutar II and III not usable; adapter ring 55/86 with metal hood No. 5, or the 55 mm G-11 soft hood; cap K-51, 55 mm snap-on.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Engraved Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 4/80-200 T* on the front ring; a one-touch push-pull zoom with two rings only, the broad one turning to focus and sliding to zoom, the aperture ring behind it; the barrel extends as it zooms
  • 55 mm filter thread, the same as most C/Y primes and the 40–80 zoom; 680 g and 160.5 mm long, little more than half the weight of the German 70–210mm f/3.5
  • Green f/22 on the aperture ring (MM); Made in Japan on the barrel. Works in every exposure mode on the 159 MM and later bodies
  • Not the Yashica ML 80–200mm f/4 sold for the same mount, nor the Contax N or Sony Vario-Sonnar zooms, which are autofocus lenses without an aperture ring

MM (Japan, 1986–2005):

  • Smallest f-number (22) engraved in green, the MM mark, with the extra cam on the mount for Program and shutter-priority bodies; Japanese Wikipedia lists the lens in the MM table only
  • Made in Japan on the barrel: sellers write MMJ. No AE or German-built version is recorded

Specifications

Formula
Vario-Sonnar, 13 elements in 10 groups; constant-aperture one-touch push-pull tele zoom, 1:3.3 at 200 mm
Construction
13 elements / 10 groups
Aperture range
f/4–f/22
Min. focus
1 m
Dimensions
67 × 160.5 mm
Weight
680 g
Filter
55 mm
Years manufactured
1986–2005
Country
Japan
Coating
T*
Original price
¥128,000 with case, Kyocera's Japanese list price (メーカー希望小売価格) as published on kyocera.co.jp in October 2002, late in the lens's life; no launch price in any currency was found (today ¥145,000)

What reviewers say

History

The Vario-Sonnar T* 80–200mm f/4 is the light telephoto zoom of the Contax/Yashica range, thirteen elements in ten groups holding f/4 from 80 to 200 mm in a 680 g, 160.5 mm barrel with a 55 mm thread, the same filter size as most of the C/Y primes. It exists only as an MM lens built in Japan, so it cannot be older than the 159 MM of 1984/85; Aperturepedia’s database gives 1986, the only date found. Kyocera’s product page of October 2002 lists it with its No. 8 case at ¥128,000, 30°30′ to 12°10′, f/4 to f/22, focusing to 1.0 m throughout for 1:3.3 at 200 mm, with the Mutar T* I allowed (fall-off, and vignetting when stopped down) and the Mutar II and III not. Zeiss’s own datasheet, as cited by English Wikipedia, calls it a light one-touch zoom with very good image quality across the range. It stayed in the catalogue until Kyocera left the Contax business in 2005.

It is a two-ring lens: the broad front ring turns to focus and slides to zoom, and the aperture ring sits behind it. The barrel lengthens as it zooms. Craig Marshall at RedShark News, writing for video shooters in 2019, calls it one of the most overlooked classic zooms on the used market, a sleeper to be had for US$150–400: very low distortion across the range, little breathing, with the image position fixed as the focal length changes, a push-pull action that suits one-handed work and an iris that can be de-clicked like the rest of the Contax range. The one drawback he names is the extending front, which rules out a matte box. His footage was shot wide open at f/4, with the expectation that stopping down improves it further. On the Fred Miranda forum an owner preferred it to the Sonnar 180mm f/2.8 for landscape and found its drawing more three-dimensional at the short end than at 200 mm.

Among the C/Y telephoto zooms it sits between the German 70–210mm f/3.5 of 1980, nearly twice its weight, and the 100–300mm f/4.5–5.6 of the mid-1990s. Apotelyt puts its used price at US$150–300, the cheapest of the four; RedShark’s range reaches $400. Sellers write MMJ.

Still open: a Zeiss or Kyocera launch date beyond Aperturepedia’s 1986, the blade count (Aperturepedia’s eight is unconfirmed) and any production figure or serial table.

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 Vario-Sonnar T* 80–200mm 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: Vario-Sonnar T* 70–210mm f/3.5 (C/Y) · Vario-Sonnar T* 100–300mm f/4.5–5.6 (C/Y) · Vario-Sonnar T* 35–135mm f/3.3–4.5 (C/Y)

Sources (8)

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.