Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

PA-Curtagon-R 35mm f/4

Leica · Leica R · 1970

our own finding

Also known as: PA-Curtagon-R 35mm f/4 · PA-Curtagon-R 35mm f4 · PA-Curtagon-R 4/35 · PA-Curtagon-R 1:4/35 · PA Curtagon R 35mm · PA-Curtagon-R · Curtagon-R 35mm · Leica PA-Curtagon-R 35mm f4 · Leitz PA-Curtagon-R 35mm · Schneider PA-Curtagon-R 35mm f/4 · Schneider PA-Curtagon 35mm f/4 Leica R · PA-Curtagon 35mm f/4 Leica R · PA-Curtagon 4/35 Leica R · PA-Curtagon 35mm f4 Leicaflex · PA-Curtagon 4/35 Leicaflex · PA-Curtagon 35mm f/4 · PA-Curtagon 4/35 · PA Curtagon 35mm f4 · Curtagon 35mm f4 shift · シュナイダー PA-Curtagon-R 35mm F4 ライカR用

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Leitz-catalogued PA-Curtagon-R (11202), Leitz-numbered Leica R (Leitz: R bodies and Leicaflex SL/SL2; see the notes for the original Leicaflex) 1970–1996 — About 5,500 made between 1970 and 1996, as Christian Schroeder (35mmc) reports without naming his source; Leitz numbers lenses in batches, so serial blocks are allocations, not counts
Schneider-numbered PA-Curtagon in Leicaflex mount Leica R (Leicaflex bayonet) — — Unpublished
  1. Body fit is a conflict. Leitz's 1978 catalogue lists the 11202 among the lenses for all its reflex bodies, from the Leicaflex to the R3, and adds no restriction, though it marks other lenses 'only for' the SL2 or R3. The July 1982 handbook also lists it without a restriction. The December 1989 handbook names the R models and the Leicaflex SL and SL2, and not the original Leicaflex. Camera-wiki's Leica R lens list says 'SL2 and later only'. Kamerastore's model page calls it a '3rd Cam' lens that has only the stepped R cam and 'will not fit the Leicaflex cameras'. Against that, a reader commenting on Christian Schroeder's 35mmc article writes that he used the lens on a Leicaflex SL and then on an original Leicaflex, both with meters that did not work. This page links the SL and later bodies, as the 1989 handbook does, and not the original Leicaflex. No source describes a rear element reaching the mirror. Look at the back of the mount: two sloped cams mean a lens that Leitz built to fit Leicaflex bodies, and a stepped cam alone means an R-only lens.
  2. Weight: 0.29 kg in the 1978, 1982 and 1989 Leitz/Leica catalogues and 290 g at Kamerastore; 310 g at Apotelyt, Foto Köberl and the Cine Lens Wiki. The table follows Leitz.
  3. Closest focus: 0.3 m in every Leitz catalogue and at Kamerastore; 0.35 m in Burleigh Brooks's Schneider table for the PA-Curtagon in general. Brooks also gives 76°, an M46 × 0.75 thread and 'Auto & Man'l' diaphragm for the PA-Curtagon in general; Leitz gives 63–78°, Series 8 in the hood with an M 60 × 0.75 internal thread, and no preset diaphragm for the 11202.
  4. Shift: Leitz gives 7 mm in every direction. Brooks's text says the 57 mm image circle lets the lens move 14 mm out of the axis; 14 mm is the difference between the circle and the 43 mm frame diagonal, which leaves 7 mm on each side.
  5. Dates: 1970 and 1996 come from dealers and a user article (Kamerastore gives 1970 as the introduction; Foto Köberl and Christian Schroeder give 1970–1996), not from a Leitz document. The lens is in the Leitz catalogues of 1978, 1982 and December 1989. The Leica Handbook of 2000/2001 names it only in its ROM and accessory tables.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • PA-CURTAGON-R in Leitz's catalogues; dealers and auctions title it 'PA-Curtagon-R 4/35', 'Schneider PA-Curtagon 4/35mm' or 'PA-Curtagon für Leicaflex'. The bayonet is what tells it from the Contarex, Alpa and M42 lenses of the same name
  • A ring marked 0 to 7 next to the mount moves the optics off the axis, and the whole lens rotates with clicks every 90°; it is not the PC-Super-Angulon-R 28mm f/2.8 (order 11812), which shifts up to 11 mm and turns in 45° steps
  • Manual diaphragm with its own ring, f/4 to f/22: there is no automatic diaphragm, and the camera meters stopped down

Leitz-catalogued PA-Curtagon-R (11202), Leitz-numbered:

  • A seven-digit serial number in Leitz's own sequence: 2452145 (Foto Köberl), 2452858 (GearFocus), 2889303 (Leitz Auction 34, dated 1978) and 3261330 (Leitz Auction 14, dated 1983) are recorded
  • Sold by Leitz under order number 11202, with lens hood, lens cap and rear cover in the set (1978, 1982 and 1989 Leitz/Leica catalogues)
  • A shift ring right next to the bayonet moves the optics up to 7 mm, and the whole lens turns in its mount with click stops every 90° (Leitz handbooks; the ring's position from Christian Schroeder, 35mmc)
  • No automatic diaphragm: the aperture ring, clicked to f/22, closes the diaphragm directly (Leitz: 'without preset diaphragm')

Schneider-numbered PA-Curtagon in Leicaflex mount:

  • An eight-digit Schneider serial number instead of a Leitz seven-digit one: 10502683 (Leitz Auction 13) and 10878267 (Leitz Auction 15, dated 1968) are recorded
  • Auction titles name it only 'Schneider PA-Curtagon 4/35mm', the same words Leitz Auction uses for Contarex and M42 examples; the mount in the photographs is the check

Serial-range notes

2452145, 2452858
Two Leitz-numbered lenses about 700 numbers apart: 2452145, offered by Foto Köberl in Graz for €299 (dealer asking price, margin scheme, no VAT shown), and 2452858, sold through GearFocus for US$366.18. Neither seller gives a year. Foto Köberl gives the model's production years as 1970–1996.
2889303
Leitz Auction 34 dated this lens to 1978 and described it as from a batch of 300 made that year. It went unsold against an estimate of €600–700; VAT would have been charged on hammer price and premium within the EU.
3261330
Leitz Auction 14 dated this lens to 1983. It sold, in its original box with caps and instructions, for €288 including buyer's premium (margin scheme).
10502683, 10878267
Schneider's own numbers, not Leitz's, on two lenses that Leitz Auction described as in Leica R mount. 10502683 sold for €360 including buyer's premium (auction 13). 10878267, dated 1968, went unsold against €500–600 (auction 15). For comparison, Leitz Auction dated a Contarex example, no. 11275674, to c.1966 (auction 10) and an M42 example, no. 10601123, to 1967 (auction 14).

Specifications

Formula
Seven elements in six groups; the whole optical unit shifts up to 7 mm off the axis
Construction
7 elements / 6 groups
Aperture range
f/4–f/22
Diaphragm blades
5
Min. focus
0.3 m
Dimensions
70 × 51 mm
Weight
290 g
Filter
Series 8, held in the lens hood 12514; M 60 × 0.75 internal thread (Leitz handbooks)
Years manufactured
1970–1996
Country
Germany (made by Schneider-Kreuznach)
Material
Black-finished metal barrel with a bright decorative ring (Leitz handbooks)

What reviewers say

Optical Ratings

Aggregated from the reviews above — follow the links for the full picture.

Distortion
Visible barrel

History

The PA-Curtagon-R 35mm f/4 is Schneider-Kreuznach’s shift lens in the Leica reflex bayonet. Leitz sold it under order number 11202 from about 1970, and dealers and Christian Schroeder of 35mmc give 1996 as the last year. PA stands for perspective adjustment. Leitz’s 1978 catalogue describes it as a special wide-angle for architectural photography: the optical system can be moved up to 7 mm off the axis by turning a ring, so a tall building can be taken without converging verticals. The whole lens also turns in its mount, with click stops every 90°, so the shift can go up, down or sideways. It was the R system’s only perspective-control lens in the 1978 and 1982 catalogues; the PC-Super-Angulon-R 28mm f/2.8, another Schneider design, joined it by the December 1989 handbook.

The optics are not specific to Leica. Schneider sold the same PA-Curtagon in other mounts. This site’s Contarex and Alpa pages cover two of them, and Burleigh Brooks, Schneider’s US agent, offered it with interchangeable mounts from Pentax and Exakta to Canonflex, Nikon F, Leicaflex (No. 14A) and Contarex. Brooks’s table and Leitz’s catalogues agree on seven elements in six groups but differ on the rest. Leitz gives a Series 8 filter held in the hood, focus to 0.3 m, 63–78° and no preset diaphragm. Brooks gives an M46 thread, 0.35 m, 76° and an automatic diaphragm for the PA-Curtagon in general. The Leitz lens has a plain manual diaphragm that is not coupled to the camera (Kamerastore), so every body meters it stopped down. Leica’s 1989 handbook recommends aperture priority or manual mode on the R bodies. It weighs 0.29 kg by Leitz’s figure (Apotelyt and some dealers give 310 g), is 51 mm long and 70 mm across, and takes hood 12514, which it shares with the 60mm Macro-Elmarit-R.

There are two kinds. Most recorded examples carry a seven-digit Leitz serial number and were sold by Leitz as the 11202, with hood, cap and rear cover. Leitz Auction described one, no. 2889303, as from a batch of 300 made in 1978. Two recorded examples carry Schneider’s own eight-digit numbers. Leitz Auction offered them, nos. 10502683 and 10878267, as rare in Leica R mount and dated the second to 1968, before the Leitz catalogue lens. They may be Brooks-style interchangeable-mount lenses, but no source says so.

Which bodies it fits is the open question. Leitz’s 1978 catalogue lists it for the whole range from the Leicaflex to the R3 without restriction. The 1989 handbook names the R bodies and the Leicaflex SL and SL2, but not the original Leicaflex. Camera-wiki says SL2 and later only. Kamerastore calls it an R-cam-only lens that will not fit any Leicaflex. A reader of Schroeder’s article reports using one on an SL and on an original Leicaflex, both with dead meters. This page links the SL and later bodies, following the 1989 handbook. With the sources split, the back of the mount decides it. Two sloped cams mean a lens made to fit the Leicaflex bodies. A single stepped cam means an R-only lens for the R3 and later, which should not be forced onto a Leicaflex. Leica’s R9 instructions, as this site’s body pages quote them, say a Leicaflex lens without the R cam must have one fitted before use on any R body from the R3. Leica’s 2000/2001 handbook lists ROM conversion of the 11202 as ‘not possible’, so on the R8 and R9 it never passes lens data to the body.

Schroeder found the image quality ‘okay-ish’, with barrel distortion that grows the further the lens is shifted. He passes on the common advice to stop down to f/11 when shifting, and he found that the easy-turning shift ring next to the mount gets moved when the lens is fitted or removed. When buying, run the shift across the full 0–7 scale and turn the lens through all four click positions; check that the aperture ring works cleanly; and check the serial number and the cams against the body it is for. At Leitz Auction, no. 3261330 (1983, boxed with instructions) made €288 and Schneider-numbered no. 10502683 €360, both hammer prices including buyer’s premium. No. 2889303 and no. 10878267 went unsold. In 2026 Foto Köberl asked €299 for no. 2452145 (margin scheme), and no. 2452858 is marked sold on GearFocus at a listed US$366.18. Brooks’s undated Schneider catalogue gives US$249 suggested list for the PA-Curtagon with one interchangeable mount, plus $10 for each extra mount.

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This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.

Example photos

More sample photos elsewhere

These photographers keep all rights to their work — enjoy it at the source.

Sample photo wanted — shot with a PA-Curtagon-R 35mm f/4? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $550 across 10 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-10 (middle half $450–$650). First day tracked.

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

Show 14 more listings

Listings updated 2026-11-10. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: PA-Curtagon 35mm f/4 (Contarex) · Schneider Alpa PA-Curtagon 35mm f/4 · PC-Super-Angulon-R 28mm f/2.8

Sources (12)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this lens, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.