History: The Steinheil company is very well known for the optical and built quality. This speciman is a good example for the Aplanat (or RR) layout lens. It was introduced 1866 and very fast became the to go landscape lens, since it offered a lightweight and compact design combined with an absolute corrected image field.

The very interesting part here is that the Variable distance Aplanat offers the possibility to change the distance between the front and the rear cell. The result changes the image field: when extended it produces a flatter field, useable for landscape or still life, while when comperessen it offered a slightly curved field, which is more usebale for group portraits.


Condition: The brass is in great shape, only the lenshood shows some signs of wear. The glass is a good condition, beeing  clear with only the tiniest hint of seperation at the edges and some cleaning marks.

With its focal lenght of about 420mm and an image circle of about 500mm it will cover formats up to 30cm x 40cm (or 12"x15"). The lens is overall corrected (aplanat design) and shows a remarable sharpness all throughout the image field.

The lens comes with a fitting flange!



height: 10cm
width: 8cm
weight: 600gr

Insured and tracked shipping cost:

Germany - 10 eur
EU* - 20 eur
Worldwide - 70 eur

*(the site offers only 2 shipping variations, DE and worldwide. buyers from EU please either contact me beforehand for a reduced EU cost, or after buying so i can send a refund over the difference)

Importent Note: This item comes from my private collection and is around 100 years old (antique). I try my best to describe all the faults and major damage which are relevant for the function of this item. But the actuall item can show signs of wear and also some cosmetic blemishes/damage which is not described in the auction text! When buying this item the buyer agrees to this terms.