Skip to content
lensmount

Carl Zeiss · Contax/Yashica (C/Y) mount · Zoom lens

Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 28-85mm f/3.3-4 — adapter compatibility and body matches

The Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 28-85mm f/3.3-4 sits on the Contax flange geometry (45.5 mm) — below is every body mount it adapts onto, the autofocus / IS / aperture-control level you should expect, and the specific adapter SKUs that ship the path.

Lens specifications

Manufacturer
Carl Zeiss
Lens mount
Contax/Yashica (C/Y)
Focal length
28–85mm
Aperture
f/3.3 – f/22
Lens type
Zoom
Image stabilization
No
Weight
815 g
Filter thread
67 mm
Released
1985

Background & adapter context

Full-frame coverage. The standard C/Y zoom — a macro-capable Vario-Sonnar spanning moderate wide to short tele with the T* contrast that made Contax zooms unusually respected for their era. Big and heavy (≈815 g) all-metal build; it is the one common zoom in the C/Y catalogue and a practical single-lens travel option on an adapted mirrorless body, manual focus throughout with the aperture set on the lens ring.

Adapting the Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 28-85 onto other bodies

Every feasible body-mount destination for a Contax/Yashica (C/Y) lens, sorted by adapter feasibility. Curated adapter SKUs (linked below) cover the specific lens-side → body-side pairing — pick the row matching the body you own, then click the SKU for the full teardown.

Body mountResultAdapter examplesCaveats

Body mount

Canon RF
flange 20 mm
Mechanical
MFno ISAp. ring
  • generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)
  • Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between Contax/Yashica (C/Y) lens and Canon RF body.

Body mount

Canon FD
flange 42 mm
Mechanical
MFno ISAp. ring
  • generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)
  • Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between Contax/Yashica (C/Y) lens and Canon FD body.

Body mount

Canon EF-M
flange 18 mm
Mechanical
MFno ISAp. ring1.5× crop
  • generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)
  • Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between Contax/Yashica (C/Y) lens and Canon EF-M body.

Body mount

Nikon Z
flange 16 mm
Mechanical
MFno ISAp. ring
  • generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)
  • Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between Contax/Yashica (C/Y) lens and Nikon Z body.

Body mount

Sony E (incl. FE)
flange 18 mm
Mechanical
MFno ISAp. ring
  • Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between Contax/Yashica (C/Y) lens and Sony E (incl. FE) body.

Body mount

Fujifilm X
flange 17.7 mm
Mechanical
MFno ISAp. ring1.5× crop
  • generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)
  • Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between Contax/Yashica (C/Y) lens and Fujifilm X body.

Body mount

Fujifilm GFX (G-mount)
flange 26.7 mm
Mechanical
MFno ISAp. ringvignettes
  • generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)
  • Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between Contax/Yashica (C/Y) lens and Fujifilm GFX (G-mount) body.

Body mount

Micro Four Thirds
flange 19.25 mm
Mechanical
MFno ISAp. ring2× crop
  • generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)
  • Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between Contax/Yashica (C/Y) lens and Micro Four Thirds body.

Body mount

L-Mount
flange 20 mm
Mechanical
MFno ISAp. ring
  • generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)
  • Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between Contax/Yashica (C/Y) lens and L-Mount body.

Body mount

Leica M
flange 27.8 mm
Mechanical
MFno ISAp. ring
  • generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)
  • Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between Contax/Yashica (C/Y) lens and Leica M body.

Body mount

Canon RF (cine)
flange 20 mm
Mechanical
MFno ISAp. ring
  • generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)
  • Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between Contax/Yashica (C/Y) lens and Canon RF (cine) body.

Body mount

C-mount
flange 17.526 mm
Mechanical
MFno ISAp. ring2.7× crop
  • generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)
  • Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between Contax/Yashica (C/Y) lens and C-mount body.

Body mount

Konica AR
flange 40.5 mm
Mechanical
MFno ISAp. ring
  • generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)
  • Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between Contax/Yashica (C/Y) lens and Konica AR body.

Body mount

Minolta SR / MC / MD
flange 43.5 mm
Mechanical
MFno ISAp. ring
  • generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)
  • Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between Contax/Yashica (C/Y) lens and Minolta SR / MC / MD body.

Body mount

Canon EF
flange 44 mm
Speed booster
MFIS lens-onlyAp. wheel
  • Speed Booster / focal-reducer family
  • Flange clearance is only 1.5 mm — a plain mechanical adapter cannot reach infinity focus; a focal reducer (Speed Booster) with optical glass is required.
  • Speed Boosters typically widen the effective focal length (~0.71×) and add ~1 stop of light, which can be desirable on crop bodies.

Body mount

Canon EF-S
flange 44 mm
Speed booster
MFIS lens-onlyAp. wheel1.5× crop
  • Speed Booster / focal-reducer family
  • Flange clearance is only 1.5 mm — a plain mechanical adapter cannot reach infinity focus; a focal reducer (Speed Booster) with optical glass is required.
  • Speed Boosters typically widen the effective focal length (~0.71×) and add ~1 stop of light, which can be desirable on crop bodies.

Body mount

Nikon F
flange 46.5 mm
Speed booster
MFIS lens-onlyAp. wheel
  • Speed Booster / focal-reducer family
  • Flange clearance is only -1.0 mm — a plain mechanical adapter cannot reach infinity focus; a focal reducer (Speed Booster) with optical glass is required.
  • Speed Boosters typically widen the effective focal length (~0.71×) and add ~1 stop of light, which can be desirable on crop bodies.

Body mount

Sony A / Minolta A
flange 44.5 mm
Speed booster
MFIS lens-onlyAp. wheel
  • Speed Booster / focal-reducer family
  • Flange clearance is only 1.0 mm — a plain mechanical adapter cannot reach infinity focus; a focal reducer (Speed Booster) with optical glass is required.
  • Speed Boosters typically widen the effective focal length (~0.71×) and add ~1 stop of light, which can be desirable on crop bodies.

Body mount

M42 (Pentax / Praktica screw mount)
flange 45.46 mm
Speed booster
MFIS lens-onlyAp. wheel
  • Speed Booster / focal-reducer family
  • Flange clearance is only 0.0 mm — a plain mechanical adapter cannot reach infinity focus; a focal reducer (Speed Booster) with optical glass is required.
  • Speed Boosters typically widen the effective focal length (~0.71×) and add ~1 stop of light, which can be desirable on crop bodies.

Body mount

Pentax K
flange 45.46 mm
Speed booster
MFIS lens-onlyAp. wheel
  • Speed Booster / focal-reducer family
  • Flange clearance is only 0.0 mm — a plain mechanical adapter cannot reach infinity focus; a focal reducer (Speed Booster) with optical glass is required.
  • Speed Boosters typically widen the effective focal length (~0.71×) and add ~1 stop of light, which can be desirable on crop bodies.

Body mount

PL (Positive Lock)
flange 52 mm
Speed booster
MFIS lens-onlyAp. wheel
  • Speed Booster / focal-reducer family
  • Flange clearance is only -6.5 mm — a plain mechanical adapter cannot reach infinity focus; a focal reducer (Speed Booster) with optical glass is required.
  • Speed Boosters typically widen the effective focal length (~0.71×) and add ~1 stop of light, which can be desirable on crop bodies.

Body mount

Canon EF (cine)
flange 44 mm
Speed booster
MFIS lens-onlyAp. wheel
  • Speed Booster / focal-reducer family
  • Flange clearance is only 1.5 mm — a plain mechanical adapter cannot reach infinity focus; a focal reducer (Speed Booster) with optical glass is required.
  • Speed Boosters typically widen the effective focal length (~0.71×) and add ~1 stop of light, which can be desirable on crop bodies.

Body mount

Exakta
flange 44.7 mm
Speed booster
MFIS lens-onlyAp. wheel
  • Speed Booster / focal-reducer family
  • Flange clearance is only 0.8 mm — a plain mechanical adapter cannot reach infinity focus; a focal reducer (Speed Booster) with optical glass is required.
  • Speed Boosters typically widen the effective focal length (~0.71×) and add ~1 stop of light, which can be desirable on crop bodies.

Body mount

T-mount (T2)
flange 55 mm
Speed booster
MFIS lens-onlyAp. wheel
  • Speed Booster / focal-reducer family
  • Flange clearance is only -9.5 mm — a plain mechanical adapter cannot reach infinity focus; a focal reducer (Speed Booster) with optical glass is required.
  • Speed Boosters typically widen the effective focal length (~0.71×) and add ~1 stop of light, which can be desirable on crop bodies.

Body mount

Praktica B
flange 44.4 mm
Speed booster
MFIS lens-onlyAp. wheel
  • Speed Booster / focal-reducer family
  • Flange clearance is only 1.1 mm — a plain mechanical adapter cannot reach infinity focus; a focal reducer (Speed Booster) with optical glass is required.
  • Speed Boosters typically widen the effective focal length (~0.71×) and add ~1 stop of light, which can be desirable on crop bodies.

Body mount

Olympus OM
flange 46 mm
Speed booster
MFIS lens-onlyAp. wheel
  • Speed Booster / focal-reducer family
  • Flange clearance is only -0.5 mm — a plain mechanical adapter cannot reach infinity focus; a focal reducer (Speed Booster) with optical glass is required.
  • Speed Boosters typically widen the effective focal length (~0.71×) and add ~1 stop of light, which can be desirable on crop bodies.

About the Contax/Yashica (C/Y) mount

The bayonet introduced on the 1975 Contax RTS, born from the Carl Zeiss / Yashica partnership and built by Kyocera through 2005. Its claim to fame is the glass: Carl Zeiss T* Planar, Sonnar, Distagon, and Tessar lenses — manufactured both in Oberkochen, Germany (AEG / MMG code) and in Japan under Zeiss licence (AEJ / MMJ code) — alongside the budget Yashica ML line that shares the exact mount. Pure mechanical interface: manual focus, an aperture ring on every lens, and no electrical contacts in any iteration. The 45.5 mm flange clears every mirrorless mount with a plain glassless adapter (infinity preserved), which is why C/Y Zeiss glass — the Planar 50 mm f/1.4, Planar 85 mm f/1.4, Distagon 28 mm f/2.8, and Sonnar 135 mm f/2.8 in particular — is among the most-adapted vintage glass on Sony α, Fujifilm X, Canon RF, and Nikon Z bodies.

See every adapter that touches the Contax mount →

Common questions

What's the best body to adapt the Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 28-85mm f/3.3-4 onto?
Two strong destinations. First choice: a Sony E (incl. FE) body via the K&F Concept C/Y-NEX preserves the most of the Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 28-85's native behaviour (autofocus, in-lens IS where present, electronic aperture). Second choice: a Canon RF body via a generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors) — solid fallback when the first body family is unavailable. The /matrix and /picker pages let you compare every feasible adaptation side-by-side.
Will autofocus work when the Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 28-85 is adapted onto another body?
No — adapters in our catalogue route the Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 28-85 through a mechanical path on the best-supported body (Canon EF). Focus is fully manual; rely on the body's focus peaking and magnify-to-focus aids to nail focus.
Does the Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 28-85's in-lens image stabilization still work through an adapter?
The Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 28-85 has no in-lens IS / VR / OS unit — there's no in-lens stabilisation to pass through. Bodies with IBIS (most modern mirrorless) still stabilise the captured frame, but stabilisation is body-side only.

Keep exploring