Meyer-Optik's Exakta wide — the retrofocus Orestegon 29mm f/2.8, forerunner of the Pentacon 29mm.
The Meyer-Optik Orestegon 29mm f/2.8 is a wide-angle prime from the Meyer-Optik Görlitz works, offered in the Exakta bayonet as the wide end of the maker's range. The Orestegon name marks a retrofocus wide design that later fed into the Pentacon-branded 29mm after the two East German firms merged. It gave Exakta owners a moderately wide alternative to the standard and the Zeiss Flektogon.
This is a manual-focus Exakta-mount lens with a 29mm focal length and a maximum aperture of f/2.8. It uses a retrofocus optical layout to clear the reflex mirror at this wide angle. The aperture is set on the barrel and, on Exakta variants, coupled through the mount's internal release lever. Element count, filter thread and weight are omitted here where they cannot be confirmed for the specific Exakta build.
The Orestegon 29mm gives a moderately wide field that suits landscape, architecture and street work, taking in more than a 35mm without the strong distortion of an ultra-wide. Wide open the corners are soft and improve markedly on stopping down to f/5.6 and beyond. Its rendering is characteristic of East German wides of the period, useful for travel and general wide-angle shooting.
Used Orestegon 29mm lenses appear on the collector market and overlap with the later Pentacon-branded version. Inspect the glass for haze, fungus and separation, and confirm the aperture blades are dry and the ring clicks. Check the coatings for cleaning marks, which affect flare resistance on a wide lens, and test the focus for smoothness. An Exakta adapter makes it usable on mirrorless bodies.