Schneider Curtagon 2.8/35 quick test shots

Mos6502 · Joined: 20 Jun 2011 Posts: 961 Location: Austin

I recently acquired this Curtagon in pretty good shape. Came with the original box and a receipt from 1971. The lens was made in 1958, so I assume the receipt is from a second hand purchase. Only issue is the DOF scale has detached from the focus ring and no longer turns when you focus.

I can only find a diagram showing a 5 element scheme, but I count 6 reflections and Schneider's website lists 6 elements in 6 groups. I know that the Exakta and Edixa (m42 version) used different optics. Not sure if there is a practical reason or if it had to do with price.

In any event I've not heard many praise this lens, and I don't think I will be doing much praising either going by my test shots on digital.

^ shot at f/2.8

^ shot at f/5.6

The lens is very soft wide open. No point in showing a crop because it's apparent even in the resize. It is also very susceptible to flare which one would expect of any early wide angle lens.

At 5.6 though it is plenty sharp, and from corner to corner (well on my digital sensor, I'll wait and see on full frame).

Boke' quality is pleasing (to me) showing some character without being distracting. It is actually a little less nervous than with the Xenon.

This is an astonishingly heavy lens, robustly made of brass - it feels like it almost weighs as much as the Exa! None of that lightweight alloy Zeiss stuff from Schneider. It leaves much to be desired for wide open performance, but at average apertures it is really pretty sharp, and the rendering for an early retrofocus design is decidedly smooth. One thing that I can already see myself falling for is the color rendering. The contrast and color stood out as soon as I got the images downloaded on my comp. Other wide angles from this era that I have used deliver rather soft colors and flat contrast, so I was surprised by how saturated and how crisp these images were even for the strong front and side lit conditions.

Mixed performance overall, but it looks good on my Exaktas.