Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 (N)

Carl Zeiss · Contax N · 2001 · Planar double-Gauss, 7 elements in 6 groups

single source, unconfirmed

Also known as: Contax N Planar 50mm f/1.4 · Contax N Planar 50mm F1.4 · Contax N Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 · Carl Zeiss N Planar T* 50mm F1.4 · Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 N · Planar T* 1,4/50 N · Planar 1.4/50 N · N Planar 50mm f1.4 · Contax N1 Planar 50mm · Planar 50mm F1.4 N mount · コンタックス N プラナー 50mm F1.4 · CONTAX Nマウントプラナー T* 50mm F1.4 · Nプラナー 50mm F1.4

Variants & identification

Variant	Mount	Years	Serial ranges	Production
Carl Zeiss N Planar T* 1,4/50 for Contax N (2001–2005)	Contax N	2001–2005	—	—

Element and group count, closest focus, filter thread, weight, release month and list price are from Japanese Wikipedia's list of N-system lenses. Search-engine snippets of Zeiss's historical datasheet (catalogue number 10 22 32) give the same 7 elements in 6 groups; the datasheet itself was no longer on zeiss.com, zeiss.de or zeiss.es when tried on 1 November 2026. No second full specification sheet was reached, so the figures rest on one page.
Aperture blades, minimum aperture and dimensions: no source reached gives them. The lenstip.com specification page shows the blade count as 0, a placeholder, and is not used. The fields are left empty.
Focus motor: Japanese Wikipedia says some N lenses have an ultrasonic motor, and photozone found ultrasonic motors in the 85mm f/1.4 and 24–85mm; no source reached names the motor type of this lens. Every N lens focuses with a motor of its own (photozone).
Where it was made: Japanese Wikipedia marks every N-system lens 京セラ製, Kyocera-made; no other source reached says where the N lenses were built.
Price: ¥68,000 is the Japanese list price at release (Japanese Wikipedia). A May 2002 European list posted on dprforum put it at about 1,000 EUR. No US price was found.

How to tell them apart (expand)

The standard lens of the Contax N system: the only 50 mm and, by its weight, the lightest lens Zeiss made for the mount (320 g against 380 g for the 28–80 kit zoom, Japanese Wikipedia). Engraved as a Planar 1,4/50 with the T* mark
Not the C/Y Planar 50mm f/1.4 of 1975: that lens is manual-focus, takes 55 mm filters and has the three-claw Contax/Yashica bayonet, while this one autofocuses, takes 67 mm filters and has the larger electronic N bayonet (Japanese Wikipedia)
Not the Contax G Planar 45mm f/2, the Contax 645 Planar 80mm f/2 or the modern ZF, ZE and ZM Planars, all of which share the name

Carl Zeiss N Planar T* 1,4/50 for Contax N (2001–2005):

Contax N bayonet with electrical contacts and no mechanical aperture or focus coupling: the lens carries its own autofocus motor, and there is no AF/MF switch on the barrel, focus mode being set on the camera (photozone on the system's lenses; Japanese Wikipedia on the mount)
An aperture ring on the barrel, as on every N lens, that sends its setting to the camera electrically rather than moving the diaphragm itself (Shige's hobby on the 24–85; Mike Eckman on the 24–85)
67 mm filter thread and no hood in the box (Japanese Wikipedia); the manual-focus C/Y Planar 50mm f/1.4 takes 55 mm filters (Japanese Wikipedia, C/Y lens list)
A copy converted to Canon EF by Conurus has an EF bayonet and no longer fits an N body (photozone)

Carl Zeiss N Planar T* 1,4/50 for Contax N (2001–2005): The only version. Japanese Wikipedia dates its release to February 2001, the month the N1 went on sale, and lists it as Kyocera-made; the system was sold until Kyocera's exit from cameras in 2005, and no separate end date for the lens was published. No optical revision, finish change or edition is known.

Specifications

Formula: Planar double-Gauss, 7 elements in 6 groups
Construction: 7 elements / 6 groups
Aperture range: f/1.4
Min. focus: 0.45 m
Weight: 320 g
Filter: 67 mm
Years manufactured: 2001–2005
Country: Japan
Coating: Zeiss T* multicoating
Original price: ¥68,000 (February 2001, before tax) (today ¥76,000)

What reviewers say

Guest author, Casual Photophile (Contax N1 review) (blog) — Names the 50 and 85 Planars the standouts of the N line: not the sharpest wide open, but with bokeh of "a dreamy vintage quality" for portraits, and the colour rendering and micro-contrast shared across the Zeiss N lenses. Saw mint copies asking as much as $1,000 in 2020.

History

The Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 was the standard prime of Kyocera’s Contax N system, the autofocus 35 mm SLR mount announced with the N1 in 2000 and sold from 2001. Japanese Wikipedia dates the lens to February 2001 at ¥68,000 and lists it as Kyocera-made, with seven elements in six groups, focusing to 0.45 m, a 67 mm filter thread, 320 g and the hood sold separately. Search-engine snippets of Zeiss’s own datasheet, catalogue number 10 22 32, give the same construction, but the sheet has gone from Zeiss’s sites. A European list posted in May 2002 priced it at about 1,000 EUR. With the 24–85 and 70–300 zooms of October 2000 it was among the first lenses on sale for the N1, and it was the only 50 mm Zeiss made for the mount.

Mechanically it follows every other N lens. The bayonet is fully electronic, with a larger throat than the Contax/Yashica mount and no compatibility with the manual-focus lenses; the autofocus motor is in the lens, and there is no AF/MF switch on the barrel, the focus mode being chosen on the camera. The aperture ring sends its setting to the body, which closes the diaphragm electrically. Both construction and close focus match the C/Y Planar 50mm f/1.4 of 1975, also seven elements in six groups focusing to 0.45 m, and a photrio poster calls the two lenses optically “pretty much like” each other; the N lens is nonetheless a different barrel, with a 67 mm thread against the older lens’s 55 mm. No source reached gives its blade count, minimum aperture, dimensions or the type of its focus motor.

The one published account of it in use is Casual Photophile’s N1 review of 2020, whose author owned most of the line and singles out the 50 and 85 Planars: not the sharpest wide open, but with bokeh of “a dreamy vintage quality” and the colour and micro-contrast the Zeiss N lenses share. The reviewer found mint copies asking up to $1,000 in 2020 and attributes such prices partly to scarcity. A large share of the surviving N lenses was converted to the Canon EF mount by Conurus between about 2006 and 2010; a converted copy carries an EF bayonet and no longer fits an N1 or NX, so a buyer for a Contax body needs to check the mount in the photographs.

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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* 50mm f/1.4 (N)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $720 across 3 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-02 (middle half $650–$720). Tracked since 2026-11-01, 2 days: unchanged from $720.

By day

Date	Median	Middle half	Listings
2026-11-02	$720	$650–$720	3
2026-11-01	$720	$650–$720	3

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

[Near MINT+] CONTAX Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm F1.4 N AF Lens for N1 From JAPAN — $649.99 · eBay
[Top MINT] CONTAX Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm F/1.4 AF Lens For N1 NX From JAPAN — $719.99 · eBay NEW
Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm F1.4 - Contax N — SN 12717668 — HK$5,800.00 · Fotopia Gallery & Camera Equipment · likely Contax-N
[Unused in Box] Contax Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm F1.4 N Mount AF Lens From JAPAN — $949.90 · eBay

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Listings updated 2026-11-02. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.