Schneider's Exakta wide — the retrofocus Curtagon 35mm f/2.8 West German wide-angle.
The Schneider-Kreuznach Curtagon 35mm f/2.8 is a wide-angle prime from the West German maker Schneider-Kreuznach, offered in the Exakta bayonet. The Curtagon was Schneider's retrofocus wide-angle line for reflex cameras, and the 35mm gave Exakta users a high-quality West German wide alternative to the Zeiss Jena Flektogon. Schneider's reputation for precise optics carried into its 35mm SLR wides.
This is a manual-focus Exakta-mount lens with a 35mm focal length and a maximum aperture of f/2.8. It uses a retrofocus wide-angle layout, the Curtagon design, to clear the reflex mirror. The aperture is set on the barrel and coupled through the Exakta mechanism on supporting bodies. Element count, filter thread and weight are omitted here where they cannot be confirmed for the specific Exakta build.
The Curtagon 35mm renders with good contrast and even correction, giving crisp central results wide open that firm up further across the frame on stopping down. The moderate wide field suits landscape, architecture, street and travel work. Its West German rendering leans toward clean, controlled correction rather than the softer character of some East German wides of the period.
Used Schneider Curtagon 35mm lenses are respected and appear on the collector market, priced above the more common East German wides. Inspect the glass for haze, fungus and separation, and confirm the aperture blades are dry and the ring clicks. Check coatings for cleaning marks, which affect flare on a wide, and test the focus for smoothness. On mirrorless via an Exakta adapter it is a capable manual wide.