PA Curtagon

No, I only tried the 28 mm PC lens, and I´am still looking for a

reasonably priced s/h one until now. The 35 mm PA would not be wide

enough for me.

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From what I heard it is a well crafted piece of equipment made by

Schneider, Kreuznach. From the looks it quite different from the

usual LEITZ/ LEICA lens.

I have gotten good results with the Curtagon (though it does not shift

as much as the comparable 35mm Nikon PC). Since I got the 28mm PC

Super Angulon, I have hardly used it, however.

Not having used any Leica shift lens i cannot comment on them, but i

have experience with Nikkor shift lens. Please do not get the 35, it's

just not wide enough. If you need the shift, then a 28mm lens is the

way to go. Cheers.

Neil

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Erwin Puts is rather unhelpful in his account of the Curtagon, but he

implies that is not all that good. But as his report is very cursary,

one is left feeling not much wiser. His report about the 28mm PC is

rather similar, except that he thinks it better than the 35mm. His

report is along the lines as "as this is a special purpose lens it is

meant to be used stopped down, so has different criteria to other

lenses tested here..." Anyway, my suspicion is that if you want a 35mm

shift lens it is probably worth getting, but it will not rival the

other 35mm lenses in terms of raw performance, but when stopped down

vigorously should work fine. I tend to agree that the 28mm seems to me

more useful, but equally it is much more pricey. Of course the

Curtagon is a Schneider design (in fact I think its optical cell may

even be made by Schneider). Schneider are a very well respected lens

maker, but the lens is getting long in the tooth and of course was

discontinued at least 5 years ago. As they are not pricey then it

might be worth trying out. I have no actual experience of

photography with the lens, but I have handled one and it is a nicely

made lens.

I had one, rather briefly. The amount of shift is not great (wehther

the 35 is wiode enough is another question), but the shift advantage

(I think it is 7 mm) is a fraction of the focal length, so a 7/35 or

20% shift os not huge (though ok). Handled well, just no direct

ocmparison of quality