CONTAX-N VARIO SONNAR 24-85
Standard zoom lenses for the digital camera era
A review and photo examples of Contax N mount standard zoom lens Vario Sonnar 24-85mm
Table of contents
Gallery
The sample photos were taken with the SONY α7Sii
Review
1．Overview
The CONTAX-N VARIO SONNAR 24-85 is a high-spec version of the standard zoom lens for the CONTAX N mount, covering focal lengths from 24-85mm. The maximum aperture is F3.5 at the wide-angle end and F4.5 at the telephoto end.
The original mount of this lens, the CONTAX N mount, was released as a lens for Kyocera Contax’s N system cameras, along with the CONTAX N film camera. This lens has a fully electrified mount, designed for use with the CONTAX N Digital, a digital camera equipped with a 35mm full-frame sensor that was released later.
2．Usability
The CONTAX-N VARIO SONNAR 24-85 I own is a lens that has been modified to fit an EOS mount with broken aperture control, and I bought it at a camera shop on the outskirts of Shinjuku.
I bought it to use with a LEICA M-P typ240 with a LEICA-M / EOS mount adapter that does not have electronic contacts, so I knew I could only shoot with the aperture wide open, so the fact that the aperture did not move was not a problem.
After that, when I got an EOS-1Ds MKIII and started using it, I found it inconvenient that the aperture could not be narrowed down, as it limited the expression.
The wide-angle 24mm to 85mm covers a slightly wider range in both wide-angle and telephoto than the 28mm to 70mm, and I can shoot reasonably well with just this one lens, so although it’s a shame that the aperture does not work, I find it useful.
An unmodified CONTAX N mount can be purchased for around 30,000 yen, so if you are a Sony mirrorless/α user and have a CONTAX N mount adapter, this lens is worth considering, but it is not a wise choice to purchase an expensive α-N mount adapter just for this lens.
Also, although the lens has an aperture ring, it is not an actual aperture but is apertured by an electrical signal, so when using a mount adapter, the aperture is controlled by the camera, so the aperture ring is just decorative.
・Trial with SONY-E camera
Since this lens has been modified to an EF mount, I used it with my α7Sii and NEX-7 via an EF mount adapter with electronic contacts, and it worked with autofocus without any problems. As with other EF lenses, the autofocus accuracy is not very good and the focus is often unclear, so I mostly use it with manual focus.
The following three types of mount adapters were used:
- VILTROX MOUNT ADAPTER EF-NEX IV (plain mount adapter)
- SIGMA MOUNT CONVERTER MC-11 CANON EF-E (plain mount adapter)
- Metabones Body side: Sony E / Lens side: Canon EF T Speed Booster ULTRA 0.71 (focal reducer adapter)
・Trial with medium-format digital camera
After selling a body that could use EOS lenses, I came across a second-hand TECHART TCX-01 adapter for using Canon EF mount lenses with a HASSELBLAD X camera at a map shop near Shinjuku Station, so I bought it hoping that I could use this lens with the HASSELBLAD X2D.
When an AF-enabled lens is attached to the X2D, autofocus (AF) can be selected in the focus mode, but when I attached this lens to the X2D via the TECHART TCX-01 (firmware 6.0.0), AF could not be selected in the X2D menu screen with this combination.
The focus operation of this lens is sparse due to the autofocus focus ring, but since the focus part is a physically operated lens, it can be used in manual focus (MF) mode.
In order to check the operation of the TECHART TCX-01 and a genuine Canon lens with the X2D, I tried a genuine Canon EF mount lens with the kind permission of a local camera shop. I found that lenses with old lens motors and USM (lenses that focus physically) cannot select AF mode, just like the VARIO SONNAR 24-85, but can operate in MF.
I found that the latest STM lenses, which operate the focus motor electrically, cannot select AF mode, and even if you select MF and turn the focus ring, the focus position does not move, so they are completely unusable.
According to the Focus Studio announcement in June 2023, firmware V7.0.0 is compatible with “Hasselblad X2D 100C (Ver. 2.0.0) (Release date: 2023-06-13)”, so AF may work. However, I disposed of the mount adapter before the firmware update. Also, the X2D firmware was updated to 3.1.0 in December 2023.
When I tried it with manual focus on an X2D, there was vignetting in the corners at the wide-angle end of 24mm, and as I moved towards the telephoto end of 85mm the vignetting got better but wasn’t completely eliminated.
The vignetting at 24mm is as follows, with the purple areas being completely missing data.
When using a 44mmx33mm sensor, cropping 1:1 discards the sides but leaves almost the entire vertical image usable. When cropping 3:2, 9648 pixels remain out of the 11227 pixels wide, so about 14% is lost, and 37mm of the 44mm sensor is usable, showing that this lens is designed correctly to target 35mm film and 35mm full-frame sensors.
3．Summary
In conclusion, to sum up the CONTAX-N VARIO SONNAR 24-85, its performance cannot match that of the latest zoom lenses, so unless it is cheap including the mount adapter, it is not a lens that you would want to buy.
・Digression
The CONTAX N Digital was launched on the market with a 35mm full-frame sensor at a time when most consumer interchangeable lens digital cameras, except for professional cameras such as Kodak, were equipped with APS-C size sensors.
This sensor was made by bonding together multiple small sensors to reduce costs, and false colors at the seams were avoided by image processing. This method is not a problem for normal photography, but the borders that appear when overexposed significantly damaged the camera’s reputation.
At the time, this camera was a rare camera with a 35mm full-frame sensor, and although it was cheaper than professional cameras, it was still quite expensive, so I remember being a little disappointed when users who didn’t actually use it were finding flaws that were not noticeable in normal photography and complaining about them.
I can’t say much about the Contax N because I haven’t actually used it, but it’s a real shame that Kyocera/Contax, which introduced the 35mm full-frame sensor early on, has gone out of the camera business, and the Contax brand, which currently has a certain reputation in the used market, is gone.
Specification
| Items | Value | Note |
| Focal length(mm) | 24〜85 | |
| Max aperture | 3.5〜4.5 | |
| Min aperture | 22 | |
| Lens Construction | 14elements in 12groups | |
| Min distance(m) | 0.5 | |
| Lens length(mm) | 71 | Distance from mount surface |
| Max diameter(mm) | 85 | |
| Filter Size(mm) | 82 | |
| Weight(g) | 583 | EOS mount modified product |
Reference links
Update history
- 2024.9.8
- 2024.02.12:First draft
Affiliate Link
- Amazon Affiliate link for CONTAX
- Amazon Affiliate link for CONTAX645
- Amazon Affiliate link for CONTAX books
Leave a Reply