Schneider Kreuznach Lenses

Est. 1913 · Bad Kreuznach, Germany · 18 lenses

Schneider was founded on January 18, 1913 in Bad Kreuznach by Joseph Schneider as Optische Anstalt Jos. Schneider & Co. The company began producing photographic lenses for plate cameras in 1919 — the symmetrical Symmar standard lens and the Tessar-derivative Xenar were among its earliest catalog entries. Through the interwar period Schneider built a reputation for view-camera optics: the Symmar (1920) and its modern descendants the Symmar-S, Apo-Symmar, and Apo-Symmar L; the Angulon (1930) and Super-Angulon (1956) wide-angles; the Tele-Xenar telephotos; and the Componon and Componar enlarging lenses that dominated darkroom workflows for decades.

For 35 mm photography Schneider partnered with Kodak from the 1930s onward, producing Retina-Xenon, Retina-Xenar, and Retina-Curtagon lenses for the Kodak Retina folding and Reflex S SLR cameras. Independent SLR-mount lenses for Edixa, Exakta, M42, and (later) Leica R were sold under the Curtagon (retrofocus wide), Xenon (fast standard), Tele-Xenar, and Variogon (zoom) names. The Xenotar — a five-element high-speed normal lens — appeared on Rollei TLR cameras and a number of medium-format bodies. The PC-Super-Angulon 28 mm and 35 mm shift lenses for Leica R and Canon EF set early benchmarks for perspective-control optics on small-format cameras.

Today Schneider Kreuznach designs and manufactures large-format Apo-Sironar and Apo-Symmar view-camera lenses, the Cine-Xenar III and Xenon FF cinema prime series, and a broad range of industrial, machine-vision, aerial-reconnaissance, and broadcast optics. Schneider acquired the German-American Isco-Optic group in 2002, gaining the Iscorama anamorphic-attachment line, and in 2011 acquired Linhof, the Munich-based large-format camera maker — complementing its view-camera optics with a body line.

Notable designs: Super-Angulon 90mm f/8, Symmar-S 150mm f/5.6, Apo-Symmar L 240mm f/5.6, Cine-Xenar III 35mm T2.1, PC-Super-Angulon 28mm f/2.8, Componon-S 50mm f/2.8

SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH ANGULON 210mm f/6.8— 6 ELEMENTS / 2 GROUPS, MODEL EFL 210.021 mm, F/6.8SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH APO-SYMMAR 100mm f/5.6— 6 ELEMENTS / 4 GROUPS, f ≈ 103.0 mm (d-line), F/5.6SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH CINE-XENON 25mm f/1.4— 7 ELEMENTS / 4 GROUPS, f ≈ 25.015 mm, F/1.4SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH CINEGON 10mm f/1.8— 9 ELEMENTS / 5 GROUPS, f = 10.02055 mm (MODELED), F/1.8SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH CINEGON 6.5mm f/1.9— 8 ELEMENTS / 6 GROUPS, ALL-SPHERICAL, 50° FULL FIELDSCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH CURTAGON 35mm f/2.8— 6 ELEMENTS / 6 GROUPS, 35mm NOMINAL / 36.6mm EFFECTIVE, f/2.8–22SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH RETINA-CURTAGON 28mm f/4— 7 ELEMENTS / 6 GROUPS, 28.001 mm DESIGN EFL, F/4 CALIBRATED MODELSCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH RETINA-XENON C 50mm f/2 (Kodak Retina IIIc)— 6 ELEMENTS / 4 GROUPS, f = 50.003 mm, f/2SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH SUPER-ANGULON 75mm f/5.6— 8 ELEMENTS / 4 GROUPS, f ≈ 75.1 mm, F/5.6SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH SUPER-ANGULON 90mm f/8— 6 ELEMENTS / 4 GROUPS, f = 90.3 mm, F/8SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH SUPER-SYMMAR HM 120mm f/5.6— 8 ELEMENTS / 6 GROUPS, f = 121.6 mm (SCALED PATENT MODEL), f/5.6SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH SUPER-SYMMAR XL 110mm f/5.6 ASPHERIC— 6 ELEMENTS / 5 GROUPS (PATENT), f ≈ 110.6 mm (e-line), F/5.6SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH TECHNIKA SUPER-ANGULON 75mm f/8— 6 ELEMENTS / 4 GROUPS, f = 76.51 mm (75 mm nominal), F/8SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH VARIOGON 10-40mm f/2.8— 13 ELEMENTS / 9 GROUPS, 10-40mm, f/2.8SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH VARIOGON 45-100mm f/2.8— 14 ELEMENTS / 10 PATENT MEMBERS, DESIGN 48-96 mm, MARKETED 45-100 mmSCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH VARIOGON 8-40mm f/1.8— 12 LENSES + REFLEX PRISM, 8-40mm f/1.8, SUPER-8 FRAME 4.22 × 5.69 mmSCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH XENAR 50mm f/2.8— 5 ELEMENTS / 4 GROUPS, DESIGN f = 50.0 mm, PATENT f/2.9 / MARKETED f/2.8SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH XENON 50mm f/1.9— 6 ELEMENTS / 4 GROUPS, f ≈ 50.003 mm, DESIGN f/2.0 (marketed f/1.9)