This Sonnar lens is a "speed giant" among the telephoto lenses for the Contax system. The combination of its speed and the telephoto angular field of 14o has proved particularly useful in press and sports photography. Delightful

photographs of children can be taken, as the playing child does not take any notice of the camera at a 3 - 4 m distance. With the diaphragm fully open, the depth of field range is relatively small, making the principal subject stand out distinctly from a distracting fore- or background. Landscapes are appreciably compressed by the telephoto perspective.

The optical design is based on a new computation which guarantees excellent image quality and remarkable image field illumination. The compact design makes this Sonnar lens ideal for freehand shots. The distance between the exit pupil and the image plane is only about half the focal length. This is essential for good illumination of the finder image field when using any Fresnel-type focusing screen. A further feature is the automatic aberration correction during focusing. The useful range was thus extended to a short-range limit of 1.4 m, where an object field of only 145 x 220 mm fully covers the 35 mm format.