SONNAR 210 for CONTAX 645

Telephoto lens compatible with teleconverter

A review and photo examples of Kyocera/Contax medium format/telephoto lens, SONNAR 210mm

Gallery

Photo example from LEICA S Typ007

Review

Overview
Usability
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1．Overview

The Sonnar 210mm F4 has a lens configuration of 7 elements in 4 groups, and the image circle of the lens is compatible with the 645 format, so it can easily cover the 45x30mm sensor of the Leica S and the 35mm full-frame sensor.

When the Sonnar 210mm is attached to the LEICA S Typ007 via the 16038 [Leica S Adapter C], it weighs about 2.7kg and feels quite heavy. When used with the LEICA S series, the teleconverter Mutar T* 1.4x can also be used, but when the Mutar is attached, an additional 510g is added, making the total weight over 3kg. When using this Mutar, the focal length is 294mm (235mm in 35mm equivalent) and the maximum aperture is 5.6, making it a lens known as a Sangoro (300mm F5.6). The lens is equipped with an aperture ring, but when used with a Leica S, the aperture ring is ignored and the aperture value is set on the camera side.

A dedicated lens hood (GB-74) is available.

2．Usage

The Sonnar 210mm is a telephoto lens with a focal length of 210mm released by Kyocera for the medium-format camera Contax 645. When used with the Leica S series, it is equivalent to a 170mm lens in 35mm format (0.8x). With the original Contax 645 film camera, it is equivalent to a 126mm lens (0.6x).

With a modest aperture of F4, it is possible to confirm that it has sufficient resolution even at full aperture. The bokeh in front and behind the subject is also beautiful and without any quirks.

One of the features of this lens is its short minimum shooting distance, which is comparable to the Sonnar 140mm (1.3m), which is the next focal length below it in the CONTAX 645 lens line. Combined with the focal length of 210mm, you can get quite close to the subject.
The autofocus (AF) focusing speed is almost the same as the Sonnar 140mm, and the focusing accuracy is also the same, which is not very good. When shooting close up or with a low contrast subject, the lens may pass the focus point and go back and forth, so it is less stressful to use manual focus (MF) or use MF from the beginning.

The price of the used Sonnar 210mm has dropped drastically, so if you are looking for a high-performance telephoto lens, you can probably get it cheaply even with a mount adapter. For the SONY E, there is also an AF-compatible adapter with a built-in focal reducer (0.7x), so you can enjoy an angle of view close to the original with a 35mm sensor.

3．Comparison with competitors

The Sonnar 210mm has similar specifications to the Hasselblad HC 210mm, so we’ve compared them here. The Sonnar 210mm has a lens configuration of 7 elements in 4 groups, which is a simpler configuration than the Hasselblad HC210’s 9 elements in 6 groups. Compared to the HC210mm, the outer diameter and weight are about 10% smaller and lighter, but as you can see from the comparison photo, the Sonnar 210mm has a longer lens barrel than the HC210mm.

The HC210mm feels larger due to its thickness, and since it contains a shutter unit, the system weight is heavier than the Sonnar. The HC 210mm that I own can be used with the Hasselblad X2D without any problems, but it cannot be used with the LEICA S. I don’t know why it can’t be used.

Specification and Competitor

Item	Spec1	Spec2
Lens name	SONNAR 210mm	HASSELBLAD HC210
Focal length(mm)	210	211.1
Max. aperture	4	4
Min. aperture	45	45
Lens Construction	7elements in 4group	10elements in 6group
Min. distance(m)	1.4	1.8
Lens length(mm)	177	168
Max. diameter(mm)	81	86
Filter Size(mm)	72	77
Weight(g)	1178	1320
Release year	1999 later	–
Price(Japanese Yen)	¥250,000- 2023 Used prices range from ¥30,000 to	2023 Used prices range from ¥100,000 to

Reference links

ZEISS History product for CONTAX645 Sonnar210mm

Update history

2024.9.2
2024.2.11:Update
2022.05.11:First draft

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