{"id":12610,"date":"2018-04-10T07:13:07","date_gmt":"2018-04-10T06:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/?p=12610"},"modified":"2026-01-14T09:28:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T08:28:42","slug":"carl-zeiss-tele-tessar-zm-t-4-85-a-detailed-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/carl-zeiss-tele-tessar-zm-t-4-85-a-detailed-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Carl Zeiss Tele-Tessar (ZM) T* 4\/85: A Detailed Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Carl Zeiss Tele-Tessar T* 4\/85 lens was released in late 2008. It is a ZM lens designed for Leica rangefinders, with a very pure long-focus five element three group construction. 85mm lenses may well not suffer from any issues on unmodified Sony sensors, and it’s light and compact for a high quality short tele. It has a reputation for being a wonderfully sharp and contrasty: is it good enough to be a great companion to your Sony, despite being relatively slow? This review may tell you.<\/p>\n

Specifications<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Diameter<\/td>\n54 mm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Length<\/td>\n85 mm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Filter Thread<\/td>\n43 mm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Weight (w\/o adapter)<\/td>\n310 g<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Max. Magnification (w\/o close focus adapter)<\/td>\n1:9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Close Focusing Distance from the sensor (w\/o CFA)<\/td>\n0.9 m<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Number of aperture blades<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Elements\/ Groups<\/td>\n5\/3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
The Carl Zeiss Tele-Tessar T* 4\/85 can be purchased via our affiliate links at Amazon.com<\/a>\u00a0or else\u00a0B&H Photo Video<\/a>. You can get it new on eBay.com<\/a> here, or you can get it used on eBay.com<\/a> here.<\/address>\n
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Image Samples<\/h3>\n

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Build quality and handling<\/h3>\n

Like most ZM lenses it’s tight and precise, and as far as I know has only a little \u00a0copy-to-copy variation. I has a nice luxurious mechanical finish. I have a had my copy for a couple of years, and it’s come on many long wilderness trips with no blemish to the finish, so I can say that the anodising is pretty impressive.<\/p>\n

Focusing Ring<\/strong><\/h5>\n

It focuses from .9 metres to infinity in about 85 degrees, with a beautifully damped helicoid. The focusing ring is made of metal, and is ribbed in a way which makes it very easy to find and grip<\/p>\n

Aperture<\/strong><\/h5>\n

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The aperture ring is a nice metal ring at the front of the lens, and stops down from f4 to f22 in 1\/3 stop increments, with a very precise click. There are also easy to see 1\/3 stop markings. The aperture ring is nicely ribbed except for the smooth area with these 1\/3 stop markings illustrated above.<\/p>\n

Hood<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The Zeiss hood is a very nice piece of metal which spring connects to the bayonet at the front. It is, however, absurdly expensive at over USD 100! You can pick up a cheap metal hood with a 46mm thread on eBay for almost nothing.<\/p>\n

Adapting the lens to Sony<\/h5>\n

I recommend the latest version of the Hawk’s Factory helicoid adapter for this lens. The lens performs so well at close distances, that adding some extension will do no harm so a helicoid adapter makes sense. The Hawks adapter has two features no other helicoid adapter has both of. It’s very light for a helicoid, at around 50g, and it has infinity tuning, which is fantastic: you can adjust the lens so that infinity is exactly at the hard stop when the helicoid is not extended. That’s a real convenience for landscape. You can get one via our affiliate link at B&H<\/a><\/p>\n

Size and Weight<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Size and weight are the reason this lens is so interesting. As Jim Kasson has shown, small light teles often give better performance hand held than larger ones, even when the larger ones are optically superior and this shows on a tripod. We are not talking visible camera shake here: just subtle degradation of sharpness that takes a superior lens like the Apo Sonnar 2\/135 down to level of excellent, but clearly not-as-good-on-a-tripod, lenses when they are hand held. At 310 grams, or 360 with a decent close focus adapter, this lens is a hikers friend. I for one don’t often want longer lengths for landscape\u2014not enough to want to carry them along with food and shelter anyway. And if you want a prime kit rather than a zoom, this lens augments nicely at the tele end.<\/p>\n

Optical performance<\/h1>\n

These results are based on use with a Sony Alpha A7rIII.<\/p>\n

Flare Resistance<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Flare resistance is usually very impressive. There three images show the sun in the frame with heavy shadow lifting in three positions. In every location the result is outstanding.<\/p>\n