CONTAX G SONNAR T* 90mm(Ms-optics)

Review and Photo example the Kyocera CONTAX G mount 90mm.

Gallery

Camera:Leica M-P

Camera:HASSELBLAD X2D

Camera:SONY α7Sii

Review

The Sonnar 90mm is a telephoto lens with a focal length of 90mm for the Contax G series.
In terms of lens construction, it is an advanced version of the Ernostar format, with the last two lenses glued together. The 50mm F1.5, which is famous for its Sonnar type, is also a development of the Ernostar type, so it’s not all that strange that Zeiss calls this lens a Sonnar.

The lens I own was modified by Ms-optics to work with a LEICA M mount rangefinder.
At first, I modified the titanium gold lens, but it was difficult to use because it was a straight helicoid.
When I got the black lens barrel version of the Sonnar 90mm, I requested a second modification, and the new double helicoid lens barrel came out at the same time, making it easier to use than the first modified lens.
Mr. Miyazaki, the representative of Ms-optics, also said that he recommends the new model.
This lens is also one that Mr. Miyazaki loves very much, and he happily talked about how he often used this lens when he requested modifications.

For modified lenses, the genuine screw-in hood GG-3 can be used as is.
It is a specification of MS-Optics lenses that there is no click stop on the aperture.
The ring you put your finger on when focusing and the aperture ring have the same diameter and are close to each other, and the aperture ring is loose, so the aperture may move during focus, which can be confusing if the shutter speed changes while shooting.

As for the depiction of the lens, the focus plane is clearly depicted even when the aperture is wide open, and you can enjoy both the front and back blurs that melt into your mouth. I also like the way highlights and shadows fall off when underexposed. Shooting with a slight undertone seems to work well with the SONY α7Sii sensor, and the way the shadows are rendered in various ways, such as the example of the cat, is quite dramatic.

When this lens was used with the Contax G1 and G2, the focal length of 90mm was taken using the G camera’s autofocus (hereinafter referred to as AF), which had poor accuracy, so there were often problems with the focus position of the shooting results. .
It was quite difficult to use with the Contax G1, so I shot one roll of film and gave up on using it after that.
The Contax G2’s AF method has been improved, so the hit rate of the focus position has improved somewhat, but will it be possible to use half of it with 36 shots? The yield was as follows. It may be possible to improve it by improving the photographer’s skill and attentiveness, but it may also be due to the fact that back in the day, when automatic winding allowed for crisp shots and film prices were low, people didn’t think much about using it.

As a countermeasure to the problem of focus accuracy, if you narrow down the aperture to widen the focusing range, the drawback of the trade-off is that the shutter speed will decrease and the risk of blurred photos will increase, so it is difficult to use it in a well-balanced manner. It was a lens. In the end, the Contax G’s viewfinder changes size to match the focal length, but due to the mechanism of the viewfinder, there was no way to check the focus after focusing, which was a lens that had many drawbacks.

No matter which lens you use, you will be satisfied with the 90mm fixed focal length lens, so in the past I have used Apo Summicron M 90mm, Summicron M 90mm, Elmarit M 90mm, Macro Elmar M 90mm, etc. This lens is the only one left. The R mount remains the APO SUMMICRON R 90mm, and the depiction of this lens is wonderful and different from this lens.

These are the only two 90mm focal length lenses I have left, but I feel they are sufficient.
The extremely expensive SUMMILUX 90mm F1.5 and the recently popular Chinese-made 90mm F1.25 are of interest.

When used with HASSELBLAD X2D, 11045 horizontal pixels (about 98%) remained in the 3:2 crop. This is a usable impression for most parts of the image.

Specification

Name	HOLOGON	BIOGON	BIOGON	PLANAR	PLANAR	SONNAR	VARIO SONNAR
Focal length(mm)	16.5	21	28	35	45	90	35-70
Max aperture	8(fixed)	2.8	←	2	←	2.8	3.5-5.6
Min aperture	16(Attached filter)	22	←	16	←	22	←
Lens Construction	5elements in 3groups	9elements in 7groups	7elements in 5groups	←	6eleme0nts in 4group	5elements in 4groups	13elements in 8groups
Min distance(m)	0.3	0.5	0.5 0.8(*2)←	0.5	←	1.0	←
Lens length(mm)	11	35.5	30.5	31.5	38.5	63.0	54.0
Max diameter(mm)	57	59	56	56	56	56	60
Filter size(mm)	– Dedicated ND filters are available. Changes to f/8 > 16 to alleviate peripheral light attenuation.	55	46	46	46	46	46
Weight(g)	120	200	150	160	190	240	290
Weight(g) M-mount	124	151	194 (222)*1	115	161	219 (259)*1	–
Release date	1994	1996	1994	1996	1994	1994	1999