Vario-Sonnar T* 17–35mm f/2.8 (N)
Carl Zeiss · Contax N · 2002
single source, unconfirmedAlso known as: Contax N Vario-Sonnar 17-35mm f/2.8 · Contax N Vario-Sonnar 17-35mm F2.8 · Contax N Vario Sonnar T* 17-35mm f2.8 · Carl Zeiss N Vario-Sonnar T* 17-35mm F2.8 · Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 17-35mm f/2.8 N · Vario-Sonnar T* 2,8/17-35 N · Vario-Sonnar 2.8/17-35 N · N Vario-Sonnar 17-35mm · Contax N1 17-35mm f/2.8 · Vario-Sonnar 17-35mm F2.8 N mount · コンタックス N バリオゾナー 17-35mm F2.8 · CONTAX Nマウント バリオゾナー T* 17-35mm F2.8 · Nバリオゾナー 17-35mm F2.8
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carl Zeiss N Vario-Sonnar T* 2,8/17-35 for Contax N (2002–2005) | Contax N | 2002–2005 | — | — |
- The family's focal length and aperture are the wide end; the aperture is constant across the range. 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 give the same 15 elements in 10 groups, an angular field of 104° to 63°, apertures f/2.8 to f/22, three aspheric surfaces, an M95 × 0.75 filter thread and 900 g; the datasheet itself (zeiss.es, vario-sonnar-281735) returned 404 on 1 November 2026.
- Dimensions of 102 × 96 mm come from a KEH listing seen only as a search snippet (the page returned 403). Weight: 910 g (Japanese Wikipedia), 900 g (Zeiss datasheet snippet), 'about 1 kg' (dprforum, May 2002).
- Aperture blades: no source reached gives a count; the field is left empty. Focus motor: every N lens has a motor of its own (photozone); no source reached names the type on this lens.
- 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: ¥250,000 is the Japanese list price at release (Japanese Wikipedia). A May 2002 European list posted on dprforum put it at about 2,700 EUR. No US price was found.
How to tell them apart
- The widest lens of the Contax N system and, in Casual Photophile's words, 'the only fast constant aperture zoom in the system'; the only N zoom with a 95 mm filter thread (the 24–85 and 85mm f/1.4 take 82 mm, the 70–200 and 50mm f/1.4 67 mm, the 70–300 72 mm, the 28–80 55 mm, per Japanese Wikipedia)
- Not a Contax/Yashica Vario-Sonnar: Zeiss made no 17–35 for the manual-focus mount, and this lens has the electronic N bayonet with an autofocus motor
- Not the Sony/Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 16–35mm f/2.8 ZA or the Contax G Vario-Sonnar 35–70mm, which share the design name on other mounts
Carl Zeiss N Vario-Sonnar T* 2,8/17-35 for Contax N (2002–2005):
- The largest front of any N zoom: a 95 mm filter thread on a barrel about 102 mm across and 96 mm long, weighing about 910 g (Japanese Wikipedia; KEH listing; Zeiss datasheet snippet). The hood was sold separately (Japanese Wikipedia)
- Contax N bayonet with electrical contacts, an aperture ring marked to f/22, and no AF/MF switch on the barrel, as on every N lens (Zeiss datasheet snippet for the aperture range; photozone on the N lenses)
- A Conurus-converted copy has a Canon EF bayonet and no longer fits an N body (photozone)
- Carl Zeiss N Vario-Sonnar T* 2,8/17-35 for Contax N (2002–2005): The only version. Japanese Wikipedia dates its release to January 2002 at ¥250,000 and lists it as Kyocera-made; the system was sold until Kyocera left cameras in 2005, and no separate end date for the lens was published. No optical revision, finish change or edition is known.
Specifications
- Formula
- Vario-Sonnar wide-angle zoom, 15 elements in 10 groups with three aspheric surfaces and special glass
- Construction
- 15 elements / 10 groups
- Aperture range
- f/2.8–f/22
- Min. focus
- 0.5 m
- Dimensions
- 102 × 96 mm
- Weight
- 910 g
- Filter
- 95 mm
- Years manufactured
- 2002–2005
- Country
- Japan
- Coating
- Zeiss T* multicoating
- Original price
- ¥250,000 (January 2002, before tax) (today ¥283,000)
What reviewers say
- Guest author, Casual Photophile (Contax N1 review) (blog) — Calls it "the only fast constant aperture zoom in the system" and was determined to own one; gives no lens-specific findings beyond the qualities shared across the N line, which the author sums up as the same colour rendering and micro-contrast, well-controlled flare and fringing, and smooth, layered bokeh.
History
The Vario-Sonnar T* 17–35mm f/2.8 was the wide-angle zoom of Kyocera’s Contax N autofocus system and, in Casual Photophile’s words, “the only fast constant aperture zoom in the system”. Japanese Wikipedia dates its release to January 2002 at ¥250,000, the highest list price of any N lens below the 400 mm, and lists it as Kyocera-made, with fifteen elements in ten groups, focusing to 0.5 m, a 95 mm filter thread, 910 g and the hood sold separately. Search-engine snippets of Zeiss’s own datasheet, no longer on Zeiss’s sites, give the same construction with three aspheric surfaces and special-glass elements, an angular field of 104° to 63°, apertures from f/2.8 to f/22 at every focal length, an M95 × 0.75 thread and 900 g. A KEH listing gives 102 × 96 mm. A European price list posted in May 2002 put it at about 2,700 EUR and about 1 kg.
Mechanically it follows every other N lens: an electronic bayonet with a larger throat than the Contax/Yashica mount, an autofocus motor in the lens, an aperture ring that reports its setting to the camera, and no AF/MF switch on the barrel. Zeiss made no 17–35 for the manual-focus C/Y mount, so there is no older lens to confuse it with; the Sony/Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 16–35mm f/2.8 ZA that followed in 2008 is a different lens on a different mount. No source reached gives the blade count or the type of its focus motor.
Little has been published about it in use. Casual Photophile’s N1 reviewer owned one and describes the N lenses collectively as sharing the same colour rendering and micro-contrast, with flare and fringing well controlled, but gives no findings specific to this zoom. A multi-part comparison with Nikon’s AF-S 17–35mm f/2.8 at 17, 24 and 35 mm exists on fredmiranda.com, where commenters call the lens rare and treat $2,000 and more as reasonable for a mint copy, but that site blocks fetchers and its conclusions could not be read. As with the other N lenses, many surviving copies were converted to the Canon EF mount by Conurus and no longer fit an N1 or NX; a buyer for a Contax body should check the bayonet in the photographs.
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* 17–35mm f/2.8 (N)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
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