Contax C/Y Sonnar 180mm/f2.8 · T*

{"overview":"The Contax 180mm f\/2.8 Sonnar T* is a medium telephoto prime in the Contax\/Yashica bayonet system, built around the classic Sonnar optical concept and carrying the multi-coated T* treatment. It was aimed at portrait, sports and available-light work on 35mm SLRs, offering a fast aperture in a focal length favoured for compressed perspective.","market_narrative":"At UK auction, hammer prices for this lens have been modest: recent results sit at £162 (October 2022) and £188 (March 2023), with an older 2006 sale at £300 marking the high end of the recorded data. The median hammer is around £188, and as of today in 2026 clean, fungus-free copies are what the market will pay for — these are wholesale saleroom figures rather than dealer retail, so a tidy example is typically worth a little more when bought from a shop. Buyers asking what a 180mm f\/2.8 Sonnar T* sells for should expect most honest examples to trade in the mid-to-high £100s at the hammer.","buying_guide":"Inspect the front and rear groups under a torch for fungus and haze, as long teles in this class commonly suffer from internal bloom after decades of storage. Check the aperture blades for oil migration, confirm the focus helicoid turns smoothly without stiffness or grittiness, and look along the element edges for any sign of separation or balsam discolouration. Coating scratches on the large front element, dented filter threads and a sluggish aperture stop-down lever are the other faults that most affect value.","specs":"Key specifications from the supplied data are limited to the model designation: a 180mm focal length, f\/2.8 maximum aperture, Sonnar optical layout and T* multicoating in the Contax bayonet mount.","faq":[{"q":"How much does a Contax 180mm f\/2.8 Sonnar T* sell for at UK auction?","a":"Recent hammer prices have been £162 and £188, so most copies sell for somewhere in that range before commission is added."},{"q":"What is a Contax 180mm f\/2.8 Sonnar T* worth today?","a":"Based on the available sales history the lens is worth roughly £160–£190 at the hammer, with cleaner examples pushing toward the upper end of that price band."},{"q":"Does condition change the value of this lens?","a":"Yes — fungus, haze, oily aperture blades or a stiff focus ring will push the price below the median, while a clean, smooth-focusing copy tends to achieve the higher hammer results recorded."}],"confidence":45,"reasoning":"Only three auction records are available and no SPECS or variant data were supplied, so the response is constrained to general Contax\/Sonnar context plus the limited sales evidence."}