Steinheil Culminar 85mm f/2.8 VL

Steinheil Culminar 85mm f/2.8 VL

Among the West German telephotos that filled out the Leica screw-mount system in the 1950s, the Culminar 85mm f/2.8 stands out as a budget alternative rather than a Leitz competitor on price. It was made by Optische Werke C. A. Steinheil Söhne of Munich, one of Germany's older optical houses, which applied the Culminar name to a four-element, three-group Tessar-type formula [1]. In the United States these Steinheil lenses were sold cheaply, and JE Labs notes that they were offered through Sears Roebuck in the 1950s as lower-cost alternatives to Nikkor optics for the company's Tower rangefinders, which were rebadged Nicca cameras [2]. Within the Leica telephoto picture, the 85mm Culminar occupied a useful slot: collectors on the Leica forum point out that Leitz did not field a 90mm f/2.8 until the Elmarit of 1959, so an f/2.8 short telephoto from a third party sat between the fast Summarex 85mm and the slower Elmar 90mm [3].

Optically the lens is a simple, classic design, with its four elements arranged in three groups in the Tessar manner. It carries a 16-blade diaphragm and a 40mm filter thread, and in LTM form it focuses from one metre to infinity, a range one forum owner compared directly to the Leitz 90mm Elmarit. As an LTM lens it threads onto Leica screw bodies and, with an LTM-to-M adapter, onto M cameras; the version recorded here is not rangefinder coupled, so focusing is by scale rather than through the camera's rangefinder. The barrel is a silver-finished metal assembly whose lens head unscrews from the focusing mount, a construction JE Labs found straightforward to service during a cleaning.

Several details complicate identification. According to discussion on the Leica forum, the Culminar 85mm appeared first in the late 1940s in Casca mount, and after that camera project failed Steinheil issued M39 versions for both Leica thread and for other systems such as Neidig/DeJur/Paxette, alongside bayonet versions for Exakta and various leaf-shutter cameras. Some screw-mount examples were built for cameras like the Paxette and may be too short to reach infinity on a Leica, so the exact provenance of a given barrel matters. Steinheil did not keep the kind of meticwell-published serial records that Leitz did, which is part of why precise dating is difficult; published number lists exist in collector references such as the Lens Collector's Vademecum, but they are described as imprecise.

Optical qualities

Rendering Documented impressions of this lens are limited and come mainly from users rather than formal testing. As a four-element Tessar derivative from the early postwar period, it is a modest design rather than a high-speed exotic. The most concrete observation comes from JE Labs, whose example showed a tendency toward flare and muted color, though the author attributed this largely to internal haze on a heavily used sample rather than to the design itself, with results improving after cleaning.

Flare resistance On a hazed example, susceptibility to flare and reduced color saturation was noted, and this improved once the haze was removed during a CLA. This points to coating and condition being significant factors in how the lens performs.

History

Development and Launch Steinheil traces its origins to a Munich optical workshop established in the 19th century, trading by the 1950s as Optische Werke C. A. Steinheil Söhne GmbH; the firm's trademark filings stated the Steinheil name had been used in commerce since 1884. Camera lenses were only one part of a broad optical business. The Culminar trademark denoted a Tessar-type four-element, three-group lens, and the 85mm f/2.8 was Steinheil's short telephoto offering in this line. Forum research indicates the 85mm Culminar began life in the late 1940s built for Steinheil's own Casca camera, with interchangeable-mount versions including LTM following later.

Production Evolution The lens was produced in multiple mounts over its life, reflecting the fragmented West German camera market. Beyond the Leica thread version, Steinheil supplied the same optic for systems such as Paxette/DeJur/Neidig and in Exakta bayonet, among others. Because the Leica-thread barrels were sometimes shared with or adapted from other-camera fittings, focus range and infinity registration can vary between examples.

Special editions No widely documented factory special or commemorative editions of the 85mm Culminar are recorded. The notable variation is by mount rather than by finish, with the lens distributed under Steinheil's own name and sold through resellers such as Sears for use on Tower rangefinders.

Collector Notes Condition is the main concern with these lenses. Internal haze is commonly reported and directly affects contrast, color and flare resistance, as JE Labs documented; the lens head separates from the focusing mount for cleaning, which makes servicing feasible. Buyers should confirm that a screw-mount example is actually a Leica-thread (LTM) unit and reaches infinity, since some Steinheil barrels were cut for other cameras and may not focus to infinity on a Leica. Serial-number dating is unreliable given Steinheil's incomplete published records, so collectors are advised to treat any date derived from number lists as approximate. For distribution context, Steinheil lenses were handled in the U.S. by Ponder & Best in the early 1960s, and the company was substantially acquired by the Elgeet Optical Company in 1962.