Schneider-Kreuznach PA-Curtagon 35mm F/4

Shift lens • Film era • Discontinued

Abbreviations

PA Perspective Control lens.

Model history (2)

Features highlight

I/C mount
Shift 0..7mm
Lens rotation
MF
Manual
Compact
Lightweight
⌀49
filters

Specification

Production details
Announced:<No data>
Production status: Discontinued
Original name:Schneider-Kreuznach PA-Curtagon 1:4/35
System:-
Optical design
Focal length:35mm
Speed:F/4
Maximum format:35mm full frame
Mount and Flange focal distance:Interchangeable mount
Diagonal angle of view:63.4° (35mm full frame)
Lens construction:7 elements in 6 groups
Focusing
Closest focusing distance:0.3m
Maximum magnification:<No data>
Focusing modes:Manual focus only
Manual focus control:Focusing ring
Diaphragm mechanism
Diaphragm type:Manual
Aperture control:Aperture ring
Number of blades:5 (five)
Tilt and Shift mechanism
Shift range:0..7mm
Tilt range:Not available
Lens rotation:Yes
Tilt/Shift rotation:-
Physical characteristics
Weight:220g (mount not specified)
Maximum diameter x Length:⌀65×47.5mm (mount not specified)
Weather sealing:-
Fluorine coating:-
Accessories
Filters:Screw-type 49mm
Lens hood:<No data>
Teleconverters:<No data>
Sources of data
1. Schneider wechsel-objektive für einäugige Spiegelreflex-Kameras 24 x 36 mm mit Schlitzverschluß booklet (in German) (1970).
2. Schneider - Brooks price list (BB469).

Manufacturer description #1

With large format cameras it has long been known that it is best to move the lens out of the axis in order to suppress the foreground and thus get a high building on to the format without it appearing to be collapsing. The PA-CURTAGON 1:4.0 f=35mm (PA = Perspective Adjustment) offers the same advantages for 24x36mm single lens reflex cameras. This lens produces an image circle of 57mm. Of this, 43mm will be required for the exposure. The lens can, therefore, be moved 14mm out of the optical axis for perspective compensation.

Manufacturer description #2

The PA-CURTAGON 4/35 is a special wide-angle lens for small-format cameras. With its image circle diameter of 57mm, it covers a much larger format than 24x36mm. This image circle reserve allows the optical system to be displaced by 7mm to each side. And thus to capture image parts which are outside the camera format in the normal symmetry position of the lens. The shift of the optical system in PA-CURTAGON is achieved by simply turning a designated ring whose numbers from 0 to 7 indicate the amount of the respective lens shift. The direction of the displacement may be arbitrarily selected by rotating the entire socket of the optical system relative to the fixed terminal socket. Since in practice displacements are only of interest in the vertical or horizontal direction, these two preferential displacement directions are locked.

From the editor

According to the Schneider - Brooks price list (BB469), 11 interchangeable mounts were available for this lens: No. 2A - Pentax, Edixa, Praktica, Pentacon; 3A - Exacta-Varex, Exa IIa, Beseler-Topcon; 5A - Practina FX; 6A - Minolta S 2R, SR 1, SR 7; 7A - Miranda F, DR, Automax; 8A - Konica F, FS, FP; 9A - Yashica Penta S; 10A - Canonflex; 13A - Nikon F, Nikkorex; 14A - Leicaflex; 15A - Contarex.

The Schneider - Brooks price list (BB469) indicates the closest focusing distance of 0.35m and a filter size of 46mm. In fact, the minimum value on the distance scale is 0.3m.

Typical application

Class:

Slow full-frame shift lensProfessional model (Top class)

shift lens

Shift lenses are high-quality lenses, usually wide-angle, that provide a parallel shift facility like the sliding lens panel of professional large-format cameras for correcting converging vertical lines and manipulating the perspective especially for use in architectural and product photography.

Whereas normal lenses designed for 35mm full-frame cameras have an image circle diameter of 43.27mm so that all four corners of the image are inside the image circle, shift lenses provide much larger image circle (60mm or even more). Decentration of the lens is possible within this area.

Vertical shift is the most popular: upward when photographing high buildings, and downward for product shots, so that the camera does not have to be tilted. When the camera is tilted either upward or downward, perpendicular lines are not imaged as perpendicular, but rather converge upward or downward, which is very pronounced in wide-angle shots and can be very irritating.

Professional model (Top class)

  • Specialized tool

Genres or subjects of photography (5):

Landscapes • Cityscapes • Buildings • Interiors • Travel photography

Recommended slowest shutter speed when shooting static subjects handheld:

1/40th of a second

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David Murray
David Murray
4 years ago

Having used Leica M3 equipment for many years, I was tempted by a Leicaflex SL body from Peter Loy in London for £65. The meter does not work and I rely on my Weston Master V. The Schneider Kreuznach P A Curtagon was the first Lens I bought for this camera. I used it exclusively for almost a year. Was very pleased with the results, even wide open. Have also used the shift capability on occasions, but mainly used the lens as a normal, if a little slow, 35. I’ve now added a 90 f2.8, 135 f2.8 and 250 f4 lenses to this outfit together with a Billingham Hadley Pro bag. I liked the quality of the Leicaflex SL so much that I approached Peter for a second body, with working meter. The 35 f4 is still my most used lens, the 90 & 135 are for portraits, the 250 is for cricket matches. Yes, I really do recommend the Schneider 35 f4 shift lens.

Copyright © 2012-2023 Evgenii Artemov. All rights reserved. Translation and/or reproduction of website materials in any form, including the Internet, is prohibited without the express written permission of the website owner.

35mm full frame

43.27 24 36
  • Dimensions: 36 × 24mm
  • Aspect ratio: 3:2
  • Diagonal: 43.27mm
  • Area: 864mm2

MF

Sorry, no additional information is available.

Lens rotation

By using rotation, the direction of the entire lens can be switched.

Tilt/Shift rotation

By using Tilt/Shift rotation, the relationship of the tilt and shift operation directions can be switched from right angle to parallel.

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Cannot compare the lens to itself.

Image stabilizer

A technology used for reducing or even eliminating the effects of camera shake. Gyro sensors inside the lens detect camera shake and pass the data to a microcomputer. Then an image stabilization group of elements controlled by the microcomputer moves inside the lens and compensates camera shake in order to keep the image static on the imaging sensor or film.

The technology allows to increase the shutter speed by several stops and shoot handheld in such lighting conditions and at such focal lengths where without image stabilizer you have to use tripod, decrease the shutter speed and/or increase the ISO setting which can lead to blurry and noisy images.

Original name

Lens name as indicated on the lens barrel (usually on the front ring). With lenses from film era, may vary slightly from batch to batch.

Format

Format refers to the shape and size of film or image sensor.

35mm is the common name of the 36x24mm film format or image sensor format. It has an aspect ratio of 3:2, and a diagonal measurement of approximately 43mm. The name originates with the total width of the 135 film which was the primary medium of the format prior to the invention of the full frame digital SLR. Historically the 35mm format was sometimes called small format to distinguish it from the medium and large formats.

APS-C is an image sensor format approximately equivalent in size to the film negatives of 25.1x16.7mm with an aspect ratio of 3:2.

Medium format is a film format or image sensor format larger than 36x24mm (35mm) but smaller than 4x5in (large format).

Angle of view

Angle of view describes the angular extent of a given scene that is imaged by a camera. It is used interchangeably with the more general term field of view.

As the focal length changes, the angle of view also changes. The shorter the focal length (eg 18mm), the wider the angle of view. Conversely, the longer the focal length (eg 55mm), the smaller the angle of view.

A camera's angle of view depends not only on the lens, but also on the sensor. Imaging sensors are sometimes smaller than 35mm film frame, and this causes the lens to have a narrower angle of view than with 35mm film, by a certain factor for each sensor (called the crop factor).

This website does not use the angles of view provided by lens manufacturers, but calculates them automatically by the following formula: 114.6 * arctan (21.622 / CF * FL),

where:

CF – crop-factor of a sensor,
FL – focal length of a lens.

Mount

A lens mount is an interface — mechanical and often also electrical — between a camera body and a lens.

A lens mount may be a screw-threaded type, a bayonet-type, or a breech-lock type. Modern camera lens mounts are of the bayonet type, because the bayonet mechanism precisely aligns mechanical and electrical features between lens and body, unlike screw-threaded mounts.

Lens mounts of competing manufacturers (Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony etc.) are always incompatible. In addition to the mechanical and electrical interface variations, the flange focal distance can also be different.

The flange focal distance (FFD) is the distance from the mechanical rear end surface of the lens mount to the focal plane.

Lens construction

Lens construction – a specific arrangement of elements and groups that make up the optical design, including type and size of elements, type of used materials etc.

Element - an individual piece of glass which makes up one component of a photographic lens. Photographic lenses are nearly always built up of multiple such elements.

Group – a cemented together pieces of glass which form a single unit or an individual piece of glass. The advantage is that there is no glass-air surfaces between cemented together pieces of glass, which reduces reflections.

Focal length

The focal length is the factor that determines the size of the image reproduced on the focal plane, picture angle which covers the area of the subject to be photographed, depth of field, etc.

Speed

The largest opening or stop at which a lens can be used is referred to as the speed of the lens. The larger the maximum aperture is, the faster the lens is considered to be. Lenses that offer a large maximum aperture are commonly referred to as fast lenses, and lenses with smaller maximum aperture are regarded as slow.

In low-light situations, having a wider maximum aperture means that you can shoot at a faster shutter speed or work at a lower ISO, or both.

Closest focusing distance

The minimum distance from the focal plane (film or sensor) to the subject where the lens is still able to focus.

Closest working distance

The distance from the front edge of the lens to the subject at the maximum magnification.

Magnification ratio

Determines how large the subject will appear in the final image. For example, a magnification ratio of 1:1 means that the image of the subject formed on the film or sensor will be the same size as the subject in real life. For this reason, a 1:1 ratio is often called "life-size".

Manual diaphragm

The diaphragm must be stopped down manually by rotating the detent aperture ring.

Preset diaphragm

The lens has two rings, one is for pre-setting, while the other is for normal diaphragm adjustment. The first ring must be set at the desired aperture, the second ring then should be fully opened for focusing, and turned back for stop down to the pre-set value.

Semi-automatic diaphragm

The lens features spring mechanism in the diaphragm, triggered by the shutter release, which stops down the diaphragm to the pre-set value. The spring needs to be reset manually after each exposure to re-open diaphragm to its maximum value.

Automatic diaphragm

The camera automatically closes the diaphragm down during the shutter operation. On completion of the exposure, the diaphragm re-opens to its maximum value.

Fixed diaphragm

The aperture setting is fixed at F/4 on this lens, and cannot be adjusted.

Number of blades

As a general rule, the more blades that are used to create the aperture opening in the lens, the rounder the out-of-focus highlights will be.

Some lenses are designed with curved diaphragm blades, so the roundness of the aperture comes not from the number of blades, but from their shape. However, the fewer blades the diaphragm has, the more difficult it is to form a circle, regardless of rounded edges.

At maximum aperture, the opening will be circular regardless of the number of blades.

Weight

Excluding case or pouch, caps and other detachable accessories (lens hood, close-up adapter, tripod adapter etc.).

Maximum diameter x Length

Excluding case or pouch, caps and other detachable accessories (lens hood, close-up adapter, tripod adapter etc.).

For lenses with collapsible design, the length is indicated for the working (retracted) state.

Weather sealing

A rubber material which is inserted in between each externally exposed part (manual focus and zoom rings, buttons, switch panels etc.) to ensure it is properly sealed against dust and moisture.

Lenses that accept front mounted filters typically do not have gaskets behind the filter mount. It is recommended to use a filter for complete weather resistance when desired.

Fluorine coating

Helps keep lenses clean by reducing the possibility of dust and dirt adhering to the lens and by facilitating cleaning should the need arise. Applied to the outer surface of the front and/or rear lens elements over multi-coatings.

Filters

Lens filters are accessories that can protect lenses from dirt and damage, enhance colors, minimize glare and reflections, and add creative effects to images.

Lens hood

A lens hood or lens shade is a device used on the end of a lens to block the sun or other light source in order to prevent glare and lens flare. Flare occurs when stray light strikes the front element of a lens and then bounces around within the lens. This stray light often comes from very bright light sources, such as the sun, bright studio lights, or a bright white background.

The geometry of the lens hood can vary from a plain cylindrical or conical section to a more complex shape, sometimes called a petal, tulip, or flower hood. This allows the lens hood to block stray light with the higher portions of the lens hood, while allowing more light into the corners of the image through the lowered portions of the hood.

Lens hoods are more prominent in long focus lenses because they have a smaller viewing angle than that of wide-angle lenses. For wide angle lenses, the length of the hood cannot be as long as those for telephoto lenses, as a longer hood would enter the wider field of view of the lens.

Lens hoods are often designed to fit onto the matching lens facing either forward, for normal use, or backwards, so that the hood may be stored with the lens without occupying much additional space. In addition, lens hoods can offer some degree of physical protection for the lens due to the hood extending farther than the lens itself.

Teleconverters

Teleconverters increase the effective focal length of lenses. They also usually maintain the closest focusing distance of lenses, thus increasing the magnification significantly. A lens combined with a teleconverter is normally smaller, lighter and cheaper than a "direct" telephoto lens of the same focal length and speed.

Teleconverters are a convenient way of enhancing telephoto capability, but it comes at a cost − reduced maximum aperture. Also, since teleconverters magnify every detail in the image, they logically also magnify residual aberrations of the lens.

Lens caps

Scratched lens surfaces can spoil the definition and contrast of even the finest lenses. Lens covers are the best and most inexpensive protection available against dust, moisture and abrasion. Safeguard lens elements - both front and rear - whenever the lens is not in use.