Steinheil's Exakta portrait tele — the Culminar 85mm f/2.8, a classic West German short tele.
The Steinheil Culminar 85mm f/2.8 is a short-telephoto portrait prime from the West German maker Steinheil München, offered in the Exakta bayonet. The Culminar line was Steinheil's telephoto range, and the 85mm gave Exakta users a classic portrait focal length from a West German maker. It served as an alternative to the East German short teles of the same era.
This is a manual-focus Exakta-mount lens with an 85mm focal length and a maximum aperture of f/2.8. It uses a Culminar-type optical layout. Earlier Culminars used a preset aperture ring rather than automatic stop-down. The aperture is set on the barrel. Element count, filter thread and weight are omitted here where they cannot be confirmed for the specific Exakta build.
The Culminar 85mm sits at a classic portrait focal length, placing subjects at a flattering working distance with pleasant subject separation at f/2.8. It renders with the softer, classical character of older West German glass, sharpening in the centre as it is stopped down. It suits portraits above all, and doubles for general and travel work where a short tele is wanted.
Used Steinheil Culminars are collectible and appear occasionally, sometimes with preset apertures to check. Inspect the glass for haze, fungus and separation, and confirm the aperture ring or preset mechanism operates correctly. Check coatings for wear and test the focus helicoid for smoothness. On mirrorless via an Exakta adapter it makes a characterful, less common vintage portrait lens.