APO MAKRO PLANAR 120 for CONTAX645

Review and Photo example of APO MAKRO PLANAR 120mm for CONTAX 645 with a LEICA digital camera.

Gallery

Photo example for APO MAKRO PLANAR 120mm from Leica S typ007

Review

Apo Macro Planar 120mm is a macro lens with a focal length of 120mm released by Kyocera for the medium format camera Contax 645.

It stands out among the many macro planers out there, and uses a standard focal length of 120mm for medium-sized macro lenses. As the lens name suggests, the APO specification suppresses chromatic aberration, so you won’t notice any color blurring in your shots, and Zeiss’s coating technology provides good backlight resistance, so I’ve never had any problems shooting without a hood. When the lens is set to infinity, the total length of the lens is 104mm, making it very compact and easy to carry, but when the focus ring is turned to the shortest focusing distance, the total length of the lens increases to 200mm. Weighing less than 800g, it is extremely lightweight for a medium format lens.

When using the LEICA S TYP007, if the camera is in autofocus (AF) mode, the shutter cannot be released unless the center single point focus of the Leica S becomes in focus, so if you move the camera to the focus plane at the corner of the screen. You may feel inconvenienced. Of course, if you set the camera to manual focus (MF) mode and take a picture, the shutter will be released exactly as you intended, but if you use it in conjunction with another AF lens, you will have to change the focus mode each time you change lenses, which can be a bit of a hassle. .

I was interested in this lens because of its unique lens configuration.
The overall lens has 9 elements in 6 groups, with 6 elements in 4 groups in the front group having a normal planar configuration, and 3 elements in 2 groups in the rear group to correct aberrations and improve magnification. The medium format HASSELBLAD V lens macro planar has a general planar configuration with 6 elements in 4 groups, and is thought to have evolved to compensate for the drawback of low magnification as it is a macro lens that relies on the amount of lens extension. This lens configuration has been developed into the ZEISS brand Makro Planar T* 2/100 and Milvas 2/100M (9 elements in 8 groups) manufactured by Cosina. This lens is the only MAKRO PLANAR lens that clearly states APO in the lens name.

The front and rear groups are designed to extend in opposite directions when focusing, and because of this special focusing method, the CONTAX 645 itself supports AF, but this lens does not have an AF drive mechanism and is an MF lens. Hasselblad’s HC120mm, which was featured in the specification comparison, is designed to extend only the front lens group, making AF shooting possible with HASSELBLAD H series cameras and LEICA S series cameras (however, HASSELBLAD X series only uses MF). The HC120mm has a lens shutter unit and an AF unit added for enhanced functionality, making it weigh 1.4kg, which is slightly less than twice the weight of the Apo Macro Planar.

As mentioned above, it is the only Zeiss Macro Planar lens with the word APO in its lens name, and its design is unique.The long flange back of the CONTAX 645 mount allows it to be used flexibly with other mounts, making it ideal for medium telephoto lenses. I think it would be a good candidate to own as a macro. The image circle of the lens is compatible with the 645 format, so it easily covers 44x33mm sensors and 35mm full-frame sensors.
When using with the LEICA S typ007, this lens is MF, but the HC 120mm has the advantage of being able to use AF, so you may have trouble deciding which one to bring.

The composition is different from YASHICA CONTAX’s Makro Planar®T* f/2.8 – 100 mm (7 elements in 7 groups) for macro planar single-lens reflex cameras, and I think it’s an interesting lens as well, so I’ll give it a try sometime. I would like to try it.

Specification

Items	Lens1	Lens2
Lens name	APO MAKRO PLANAR	HC120II
Focal length(mm)	120	120
Max aperture	4	4
Min aperture	32	45
Lens Construction	8elements in 5group	9elements in 9group
Min distance(m)	0.3	0.39
Lens length(mm)	104	166
Lens Max diameter(mm)	86	96
Filter Size(mm)	72	67
Weight(g)	796	1410
Release year	1999