Vario-Sonnar T* 24–85mm f/3.5–4.5 (N)
Carl Zeiss · Contax N · 2000
Also known as: Contax N Vario-Sonnar 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 · Contax N Vario-Sonnar 24-85mm F3.5-4.5 · Contax N Vario Sonnar T* 24-85mm · Carl Zeiss N Vario-Sonnar T* 24-85mm F3.5-4.5 · Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 N · Vario-Sonnar T* 3,5-4,5/24-85 N · Vario-Sonnar 3.5-4.5/24-85 N · N Vario-Sonnar 24-85mm · Contax N1 24-85mm · Vario-Sonnar 24-85mm N mount · コンタックス N バリオゾナー 24-85mm F3.5-4.5 · CONTAX Nマウント バリオゾナー T* 24-85mm F3.5-4.5 · Nバリオゾナー 24-85mm
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carl Zeiss N Vario-Sonnar T* 3,5-4,5/24-85 for Contax N (2000–2005) | Contax N | 2000–2005 | — | — |
- The family's focal length and aperture are the wide end; the maximum aperture falls from f/3.5 at 24 mm to f/4.5 at 85 mm. Element and group count, closest focus, filter thread, weight, release month and list price are from Japanese Wikipedia's list of N-system lenses. Photozone's specification table agrees on 14 elements in 12 groups with two fluor-crown and two aspherical elements, 0.5 m (1:6.7 at 85 mm), 82 mm, and gives 570 g and 90 × 71 mm; search-engine snippets of Zeiss's datasheet give 14/12, 570 g and an M82 filter.
- Weight: 572 g (Japanese Wikipedia), 570 g (photozone; Zeiss datasheet snippet), 583 g for a converted copy (Shige's hobby), and 592 g measured by Mike Eckman, who weighed an N1 with it at 1,446 g against 854 g for the body.
- Aperture blades: seven, from photozone's specification table. Minimum aperture: f/22, from Mike Eckman's description of the aperture ring and Shige's specification table. Focus motor: ultrasonic, with full-time manual override in one-shot AF, according to photozone, which calls it the first N lens with an ultrasonic drive.
- 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: ¥125,000 is the Japanese list price at release (Japanese Wikipedia). Mike Eckman gives the N1's US retail price as about $1,300 body only or about $2,100 with this lens, with street prices typically about 25% lower; a May 2002 European list posted on dprforum put the lens alone at about 1,500 EUR.
- Condition: photozone warns that the dual-cam zoom draws in dust, so used samples are 'never in perfectly mint condition in this respect'; Shige's converted copy had a broken aperture control.
How to tell them apart
- The standard zoom of the Contax N system, sold as the N1's kit lens: engraved as a Vario-Sonnar 3,5-4,5/24-85 with the T* mark, 82 mm filter thread, supplied hood (Japanese Wikipedia; photozone)
- Not a Contax/Yashica Vario-Sonnar: the manual-focus 28–85mm f/3.3–4 MM shares the 82 mm filter but has 16 elements in 13 groups, focuses to 0.6 m and has the three-claw C/Y bayonet (Japanese Wikipedia); this lens has the electronic N bayonet and an autofocus motor
- Not the Sony/Zeiss Vario-Sonnar zooms (16–80, 24–70 ZA) or the Contax G Vario-Sonnar 35–70, which share the design name on other mounts
Carl Zeiss N Vario-Sonnar T* 3,5-4,5/24-85 for Contax N (2000–2005):
- A short, fat zoom: 90 mm across and 71 mm long with an 82 mm filter thread, about 570 g (photozone; Japanese Wikipedia 572 g). Supplied with a petal-shaped snap-on hood (photozone; Japanese Wikipedia フード付属)
- Three rings, from the mount forward: an aperture ring with strong click stops from f/3.5 to f/22, a rubberised manual focus ring, and the zoom ring (Mike Eckman)
- Two inner tubes extend from the front as the lens is zoomed toward 85 mm; focusing is internal, so the length does not change with focus and the filter does not rotate (photozone)
- Contax N bayonet with electrical contacts and no AF/MF switch on the barrel; a Conurus-converted copy has a Canon EF bayonet instead and reports itself as an 86mm f/5 lens at the long end (photozone)
- Carl Zeiss N Vario-Sonnar T* 3,5-4,5/24-85 for Contax N (2000–2005): The only version. Japanese Wikipedia dates its release to October 2000 at ¥125,000 and lists it as Kyocera-made; it was the standard zoom sold with the N1 and, photozone says, with the N Digital. 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 standard zoom, 14 elements in 12 groups with two aspherical and two anomalous-dispersion elements; internal focusing, dual-cam zoom
- Construction
- 14 elements / 12 groups
- Aperture range
- f/3.5–f/22
- Diaphragm blades
- 7
- Min. focus
- 0.5 m
- Dimensions
- 90 × 71 mm
- Weight
- 572 g
- Filter
- 82 mm
- Years manufactured
- 2000–2005
- Country
- Japan
- Coating
- Zeiss T* multicoating
- Original price
- ¥125,000 (October 2000, before tax); about $2,100 for the N1 with this lens against about $1,300 body only (US retail, c. 2001, Mike Eckman) (today ¥139,000)
What reviewers say
- Klaus Schroiff, photozone.de (Conurus-converted sample on Canon EOS) (blog) — "Not an Über-lens" but a rival to Canon's L zooms: generally very sharp, with moderate distortion and colour fringing and vignetting of no field significance; very good materials let down by a dual-cam design that draws in dust and a manual-focus mechanism that does not interlock instantly. Optical 3 of 5, mechanical 3 of 5 on his scale.
- Mike Eckman, mikeeckman.com (Contax N1 review) (blog) — The lens on his N1 for the review: a "monster 82mm filter ring" and 592 g that make the combination heavy at 1,446 g, with an aperture ring whose strong click stops recall professional systems. The camera "makes excellent photos", but "just don't put yourself into a situation where you need to depend on it."
- Guest author, Casual Photophile (Contax N1 review) (blog) — Expected little from "the 20-year-old, slow and variable zoom" that came with a $400 N1 and found instead "great color rendition, clarity and contrast".
- shige_yuki, Shige's hobby (converted copy on Sony, Leica, Canon and Hasselblad bodies) (blog) — On a 12-megapixel Sony α7S II the image is "impeccable even in the corners", and an APS-H Canon crops away the wide-end vignetting he saw on full frame; but its performance "cannot match that of the latest zoom lenses", so it is not worth buying unless it is cheap including the adapter, and the aperture ring is "just decorative" on most adapted cameras.
History
The Vario-Sonnar T* 24–85mm f/3.5–4.5 was the standard zoom of Kyocera’s Contax N autofocus system and the lens sold with the N1 as a kit; photozone says it was also the kit lens of the N Digital. Japanese Wikipedia dates its release to October 2000 at ¥125,000 and lists it as Kyocera-made, with fourteen elements in twelve groups including two aspherical and two anomalous-dispersion elements, focusing to 0.5 m, an 82 mm filter thread, 572 g and the hood supplied. Mike Eckman gives the N1’s US retail price as about $1,300 body only or about $2,100 with this lens, street prices running about a quarter lower, and a European list posted in May 2002 put the lens at about 1,500 EUR. The maximum aperture falls from f/3.5 at 24 mm to f/4.5 at 85 mm; on a converted copy Canon bodies read it as 86 mm f/5 at the long end.
Photozone’s specification table gives seven aperture blades, 90 × 71 mm, 570 g and a petal-shaped snap-on hood, and describes the construction: focusing is internal and the front does not turn, but the zoom is a dual-cam design in which two inner tubes extend toward 85 mm, which limits build tolerances and draws in dust, so that used samples are “never in perfectly mint condition in this respect”. It was, photozone says, the first N lens with an ultrasonic motor, with full-time manual override in one-shot AF, though the manual mechanism does not engage instantly and the zoom ring is a little stiff. Mike Eckman describes the three rings from the mount forward, an aperture ring with strong click stops from f/3.5 to f/22, a rubberised focus ring and the zoom ring, and notes that the AF/MF choice is a switch on the back of the camera, not the lens. As on every N lens the aperture ring reports a value to the body rather than moving the diaphragm; Shige’s hobby found it “just decorative” on adapted cameras that cannot read it. Eckman weighed the lens at 592 g and the N1 with it at 1,446 g, a heavy package that nonetheless balances well.
In use, Klaus Schroiff’s 2007 test of a Conurus-converted copy on an APS-C Canon found it “not an Über-lens” but a rival to Canon’s L zooms: generally very sharp, with moderate distortion and colour fringing and vignetting of no field significance, rated 3 of 5 for both optics and mechanics. Casual Photophile’s N1 reviewer expected little from “the 20-year-old, slow and variable zoom” that came with a $400 N1 and found “great color rendition, clarity and contrast”. A dprforum user in 2002 called it outstanding, with slight vignetting at 24 mm wide open and good behaviour with the sun in the frame. Shige’s hobby, using a converted copy with a broken aperture on Sony, Leica, Canon and Hasselblad bodies, found it impeccable to the corners on a 12-megapixel Sony but judged that it cannot match current zooms and is worth buying only cheaply, quoting about ¥30,000 for an unconverted copy in Japan. Being the kit lens it is the commonest and cheapest N lens on the used market, and Eckman notes that most of the others start at $600 and up. Many surviving copies are Conurus conversions and no longer fit an N body; a buyer for a Contax should check the bayonet in the photographs and, on any copy, the inside of the front tubes for dust.
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.
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