DISTAGON 35 for CONTAX 645

Compact wide-angle lens for 645 format cameras

A review and photo examples of DISTAGON 35mm, a medium format/wide-angle lens manufactured by Kyocera/Contax

Gallery

Photo example by LEICA S Typ007

Review

Usage
Lens overview
Comparison with competitors

1．Usage

The Distagon 35mm F3.5 is a 35mm wide-angle prime lens released by Kyocera in 1999 for the Contax 645 medium-format camera. When used with a Leica S, the focal length is 28mm in 35mm format, multiplied by 0.8 to the sensor size. When used with a Contax 645 film camera, the focal length is 0.6x in 35mm format, making it a wide-angle lens equivalent to 22mm.

The lens is well-balanced when attached to a Leica S, and when I checked the first results on the monitor, I was pleasantly surprised by the sharpness of the images taken with the aperture slightly narrowed.

The autofocus (AF) focusing speed is faster than the SONNAR 140mm and DISTAGON 45mm, as it uses a rear focus method that is advantageous for AF speed. Like other Contax 645 lenses, it is not as fast as the high-speed AF of 35mm cameras, but it is still at a level that can be used practically.

Like other Contax 645 lenses, this lens has a slight lag before it can be used with the LEICA S typ007.

Perhaps due to lens deterioration, when used without a hood, ghosts or flares can appear in backlit conditions, and the contrast of the captured image can be reduced. For this reason, it is safe to use a hood when shooting outdoors. If it is difficult to obtain the dedicated GB-101 hood, you can also use the GB-104 for the Vario-Sonnar 45-90mm if you are using it with a LEICA S. The GB-101 is also difficult to obtain, but the GB-104 is more difficult to obtain.

Distortion is not noticeable with subjects such as landscapes, but barrel distortion can be noticeable at the periphery when shooting a grid-like subject at a distance of about 1 to 3 meters. In the case of such subjects, correction is required using software.

The three wide-angle lenses for the Contax 645 are 35mm, 45mm, and 55mm, each with its own characteristics: 35mm prioritizes resolution, 45mm provides soft depiction, and 55mm provides a middle-of-the-road depiction.

The starting focal length of standard zoom lenses for 35mm cameras in the 2000s was 24mm or less, so the 28mm focal length used with the Leica S is not a particularly short focal length. However, it is a focal length that provides a good balance of the shooting range and makes it easy to decide the composition when shooting with a medium-format digital sensor (45mm x 30mm).

2．Lens overview

The Distagon 35mm F3.5 is made up of 11 elements in 8 groups and weighs about 900g, but the slender barrel makes it feel light. The filter diameter is 95mm, the same as the CONTAX 645 lens VARIO SONNAR 45-90 and TELE APO TESSAR 350.

The lens is equipped with an aperture ring, but when used with a Leica S using 16038 [Leica S Adapter C], the aperture ring is ignored and the aperture value is set on the camera. The focus ring in the center of the lens can be used to interrupt autofocus.

The lens hood is a special GB-101. The bayonet shape of the hood connection part is compatible with the GB-104 used with the VARIO SONNAR 45-90.

3．Comparison with competitors

The Distagon 35mm can be compared to the Hasselblad HC35mm and the Leica Elmarit S f2.8/35mm ASPH. (Order no. 11077 | CS: 11078).

Unfortunately, the Elmarit S 35mm costs nearly 1 million yen, so it is unlikely that one can purchase and use it with personal income. As of 2023, the Elmarit S 35mm lens is no longer available, so you will have to search for it on the used market. As shown in the specifications and comparison, the Elmarit S is heavy and large, but it has an aperture value of F2.5, which is one stop brighter, a luxurious lens configuration of 9 groups and 12 lenses, and aspherical lenses.

The Elmarit S uses a rear focus method that moves the small rear group of glass to focus quickly, just like the Distagon 35mm and HC 35mm.

In the MTF chart comparison, Leica lists up to 27mm, while ZEISS lists up to 35mm, and the display range is different, but when comparing the Elmarit S and Distagon up to 27mm, the Elmarit wins by a landslide in the graph line.

The Elmarit S was released recently and uses the latest design, so it is understandable why it is more expensive.

The HC35mm has the same filter diameter of 95mm and almost the same maximum lens diameter, but the Distagon 35mm has a shorter lens length, a thinner and slimmer focus section, and is about 100g lighter.

This is because the HC35mm has a slightly more complex lens structure and a shutter mechanism.

When using the HC35mm with the HASSELBLAD X2D, Phocas corrects it well and the roughness is not noticeable, but when using it with the LEICA S to develop DNG, depending on the shooting distance, a little barrel distortion may be noticeable.

Although no quantitative evaluation has been performed, the same distortion as the Distagon 35mm occurs.

The Distagon 35mm F3.5 was a relatively rare lens in the 2010s and was expensive, but in 2023, a large number of them were supplied to the used market, and depending on the condition of the lens, you can find one at a bargain price. The lens I’m introducing here was purchased with a hood (GB-101) for about 80,000 yen.

I ended up selling this lens after using it for about a month, and the main reason for this was that I already had the HC35mm. Since the LEICA S Typ007 can use the HC35mm with AF, I decided to get rid of the Distagon 35mm, which has the same lens function.
If I were a Fujifilm GFX user, I might have kept the Distagon 35mm and got rid of the HC 35mm.

Specification

Items	Spec1	Spec 2	Spec3
Lens name	CONTAX Distagon 35mm	LEICA SUMMARIT-S 45mm	HASSELBLAD HC35mm
Focal length(mm)	35.5	35	35.8
Max aperture	3.5	2.5	3.5
Min aperture	32	22	32
Lens Construction	9elements in 7groups	12elements in 9groups	11elements in 10groups
Min distance(m)	0.5	0.6	0.5
Lens length(mm) Distance from mount flange	108	122	124
Lens Max dia.(mm)	108	88	100
Filter Size(mm)	95	82	95
Weight(g)	877	930/1030(CS)	975
Release date	1999	2013/10/10
Price	¥287,000- Y2023 Uesd price ¥80,000〜	Non shutter ¥847,000- With shutter ¥979,000-	Y2023 Uesd price ¥150,000〜