How the Absurd Contax 1000mm f/5.6 Lens From the 1970s Performs Today

Japanese photo retailer Map Camera, best known for its monthly and annual camera sales charts, recently tested a truly absurd lens, the Contax Mirotar 1000mm f/5.6.

As Map Camera explains in its YouTube video below, this ultra-telephoto mirror lens is extremely rare, having been manufactured by Contax only on a made-to-order basis. Sony Alpha Rumors says that fewer than 30 units of this lens are believed to have been made.

When one of these lenses was available in the 46th Leitz Photographica Auction last year, it sold for €19,200, or nearly $22,400 at current exchange rates. The Leitz Photographica Auction clarifies the previous “less than 30” number by saying only 22 were ever manufactured.

“Extremely rare and impressive mirror lens by Carl Zeiss,” Leitz Photographica Auction wrote. “Only 22 lenses were made between 1976 and 1978 to special order in Contax/Yashica mount.”

The auction house said that the lens has integrated ND filters on a turret to stop it down to the equivalent of f/8 and f/11, and that it shipped with rear color filters and came in a wooden box.

While the lens sold for auction for over $22,000, which is undoubtedly a very large sum and higher than Leitz Photographica’s pre-auction estimate, Map Camera notes that the lens was around 4.7 million yen in the late 1970s when Contax built them to order. At today’s exchange rates, that’s nearly $30,000, not accounting at all for inflation.

With its f/5.6 aperture, the catadioptric lens is extremely fast for its focal length. Unsurprisingly, this speed comes with an extra size and weight. The lens has five elements across five groups. It is 16.5 inches (41.9 centimeters) long and weighs a back-breaking 36.4 pounds (16.5 kilograms). That’s over eight Nocts! The manual focus lens can focus as close as 472 inches (about 12 meters), so it’s a far cry from a macro lens.

Map Camera tested the camera with an adapter on a Sony a7R V, finding that the humongous, heavy lens is super tedious to use but optically pretty good. The Map Camera team lauded the lens for its sharpness and contrast, while appreciating the distinct donut-shaped bokeh inherent to catadioptric lens designs.

Map Camera sample photos

The retailer sold the lens as part of its 32nd anniversary “Premium Collection,” although it is not clear precisely when it will be sold and for how much. It is listed as “sold out” on Map Camera and does not include a price. The retailer’s Premium Collection also includes many other great pieces of photographic history, including rare and beautiful Leica cameras.

Image creditsMap Camera unless otherwise noted.