Joseph Schneider lenses for the Exakta 66

The Pentacon Six System
by TRA

Lens Data Summary

Joseph Schneider lenses for the Exakta 66

A comprehensive Exakta 66 outfit:
From the left: carrying strap & cradle with locking nut, 4 auto extension tubes
60mm Curtagon (at back) with 2× converter in front of it
75-150mm Variogon with 40mm Curtagon in front, 140-280mm Variogon with 80mm Biometar “III” in front
Mk III body with metering prism, angle finder, bellows and 80mm Xenotar MF lens, with two close-up
bellows lenses in front, Mk II body with plain prism and 80mm Exakta lens, with waist-level finder in front
On the far right: 250mm Tele-Xenar at the back, with 150mm Tele-Xenar in front
Front row: interchangeable focussing screen, eye cup, shutter extension, WLF lens and flash bracket
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Joseph Schneider of Bad Kreuznach in western Germany is another of the great manufacturers of superb lenses, and many of their medium format lenses are made for a range of prestigious cameras, including Rolleis and Hasselblads. They announced the following lenses for the Exakta 66, and all of them are reported as having been seen at some point, although I believe that the 40mm Curtagon lens may have never entered serial production.

Lens name	Max aperture & focal length	Angle of view degrees	Closest focus m	Filter thread	Dimensions (Diameter × length) mm	Weight g	Comment
Curtagon MF	f/4 / 40	89	0.5	104mm dia outer bayonet	104 × 109	700	There are doubts whether this lens ever entered serial production. See more information here.
Super-Angulon MF	f/4.5 / 55	71	0.5	104mm dia outer bayonet	104 × 157	1650	PCS Perspective control & shift/swing
Curtagon MF	f/3.5 / 60	66.5	0.6	M 67 × 0.75	81 × 84	570	.
Xenotar MF (1)	f/2.8 / 80	52	0.6	M 67 × 0.75	84 × 72	500	.
Biometar (1)	f/2.8 / 80	54	1.0	M 67 × 0.75	82 × 68	440	.
Xenotar E (1)	f/2.8 / 80	54	1.0	M 67 × 0.75	82 × 68	440	.
Exakta (1)	f/2.8 / 80	52 (?)	0.95	M 67 × 0.75	83 × 74	450	.
Tele-Xenar MF	f/4 / 150	29.5	1.5	M 67 × 0.75	84 × 101	760	.
Tele-Xenar MF	f/5.6 / 250	18	3.0	M 67 × 0.75	84 × 168	900	.
Variogon MF (2)	f/4.5 / 75-150	56.3-30	1.8	M 95 × 1	98 × 171	1770	Zoom
Variogon MF (2)	f/5.6 / 140-280	31.3-16	2.5	M 86 × 1	95 × 240	2070	Zoom

Notes

(1) 80mm lenses for the Exakta 66

There is much debate about the origin of these four 80mm lenses for the Exakta 66. The amount of information involved merits consideration on a separate page, which can be found here.

(2) The lens designations are taken from the original Exakta 66 publicity brochure, from about 1984. The only Variogon lenses that I have seen in the Exakta 66 mount in fact have the designation “M”, not “MF”, on the actual lens name ring. The revised colour brochure from about 1990 does not give any letter designation for any of the lenses. To see a “square” filter system mounted on the two Variogon lenses, plus closer views of these two lenses, click here.

2× converter

Item name	Multiplication factor	Optical construction	Aperture operation	Dimensions (Diameter × length) mm	Weight g	Comment
Tele-Converter	× 2	7 lenses in 5 groups	Automatic	74 × 100	700	Full transmission of lens aperture value to the Exakta 66 TTL prism

This is an item with the maximum optical quality, as one would expect from Schneider. Further details of its operation can be found here and here. General information on the use of tele-converters is here.

Bellows (macro) lenses

As well as the above lenses, which can (of course!) be fitted directly to the Exakta 66 (or to the bellows unit), Schneider made versions of some of their famous lenses exclusively for use on the bellows unit. Here are the details:

Lens name	Max aperture & focal length mm	Angle of view degrees	Magnifi- cation range	Filter thread	Dimensions (Diameter x Length) mm	Weight g	Comment
Symmar-SF	f/5.6 / 135	32	.	M 49 × 0.75	59 × 50.5	250	.
Symmar-S	f/5.6 / 180	24.5	.	M 62 × 0.75	61 × 64	350	.
M-Componon	f/4 / 28	.	2.7-5.54	.	39 × 25	65	Macro lens
M-Componon	f/4 / 50	.	1.04-2.54	.	39 × 28	75	Macro lens

The two Symmar lenses already have a world-wide reputation, and Exakta GmbH claimed that when they were attached to the Exakta 66 bellows it would be possible to focus them from infinity to ultra close up, although this turns out not to be the case! Componon is the name on Schneider’s top range of enlarging lenses, and the macro versions of these lenses are designed to give the greatest possible magnification of the tiniest objects. I understand that in the macro versions of these lenses the elements are mounted in reverse, as compared to the enlarger versions.

To see a review of the bellows – or “macro” – lenses click here.

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The data in the tables above are based on published sources. I do not have examples of all of these lenses (!), and I have not measured or weighed all of those that I do have.

I note that Pentacon GmbH Foto- und Feinwerktechnik in Dresden has two much newer products that use Joseph Schneider lenses in the Pentacon Six / Exakta 66 mount: their scan 3000 and scan 5000 professional scanners. The 3000 brochure that they were distributing at Photokina 2002 showed the 60mm Curtagon MF on a scanner. It’s great seeing these lenses living on into new technology, and an indication of the high quality images that they produce.

For further details of the lenses – number of elements and grouping of elements, variations of the lenses, etc, I refer you to Nathan Dayton’s excellent website, www.commiecameras.com

Most of these lenses are illustrated and tested in the Lens Test section of this website. To go to the lens test section, click here.

To go on to the next section, click below.
Next section (80mm Lenses for the Exakta 66)

To go back to the beginning of the Lens Data section, click below and then choose the range of lenses that you want to read about.
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