Carl Zeiss

Earlydays

In1846,attheageof30,CarlZeissestablishedaprecisionopticalinstrumentfactoryinJenaandproduceditin1847Outofhisfirstmicroscope.Since1866,withtheassistanceofErnstAbbeandOttoSchott,theZeissfactoryhasgraduallydevelopedinthefieldofmicroscopesandbegantoproduceopticalglass.

In1888,Zeissbegantogetinvolvedinthephotographyindustry.Inthesameyear,theZeissFoundationwasestablishedundertheauspicesofErnstAbbe.In1891,theZeissFoundationbecamethesoleowneroftheZeissfactory.

Duringthewar

ZeisshasbeenproducingmilitaryopticalproductsfortheGermanarmyduringthewar,includingarmyandnavytelescopes,rangefindersandshootingsights,aswellasbombingsightsusedbytheairforceTool.blcistheproductcodeusedbyZeissduringWorldWarIItopreventthelocationofthemanufacturerfrombeingascertainedbytheenemy.

In1935,ZeissmodifiedtheBritishHaroldDennisTaylor'santi-reflectivecoatingformulaandinventedtheworld-famousTcoating.BecausetheGermanmilitaryscopesandrangefindersuseT-coating,thelenswillnotbeexposedduetoreflection.T-coatingbecameanimportanttechnologicalsecretoftheGermanmilitaryduringWorldWarII.

Despitethefiercebombing,Zeiss’splantsinDresden,StuttgartandJenahavenotbeenseverelydamaged.

Theperiodofsecession

AlthoughtheUnitedStatesandtheSovietUnionhadnegotiatedtheconditionsfordividingGermanyintheYaltaSecretAgreement,JenaislocatedinEastGermanyandshouldbeoccupiedbytheSovietarmy.ButtheThirdArmyofGeneralPattoncrossedtheborderandinvadedEastGermany:Dresden,wheretheJenaandZeissfactoriesarelocated.UnderthecoercionofGeneralPatton,inthenameof"assistance",sometechnicalpersonnelandequipment,andatthefastestspeed,weremovedovernightandtransferredtotheirownterritory-WestGermany.Asaresult,126scientistsandengineersfromJena,EastGermany,werelootedtoOberkochen(locatedinsouthwestGermany)andBraunschweigandotherGerman,WesternandAmericanoccupiedterritories.Atthesametime,theCarlZeissFoundationwasmovedtoStuttgart(Stuttgart)intheGerman,WesternandAmericanoccupationarea,andCarlZeissAGwasestablished.ThisZeissisknownasthebluelabelCarlZeissAG.

WhentheSovietarmytookoverJena,therewereonlyemptyworkshopsandsomefirst-classopticalglassandproductionequipmentthattheUSmilitarycouldnottakeaway.Onthegroundsofwarreparations,theSovietUnionshippedtheremainingresourcesplunderedbacktotheSovietUnion,Ukraine,andKiev.AftertheSovietUnionarrivedinJena,itimmediatelyseizedallthemachinesintheZeissfactoryaswarcompensationmaterials,andtransportedsomeoftheremainingscientistsbacktoRussiabyplanetoservetheRussianopticalindustryforseveralyears.

AlthoughtheywerecompletelyplunderedbytheUnitedStatesandtheSovietUnion,JenaandDresdenhavebeenimportantopticalequipmentproductioncentersfornearlyacentury.TheZeisscompanyfactorywasrestoredinJena,EastGermany,calledtheCarlZeissJenaPeople’sEnterprise(VEBCarlZeissJena),todistinguishitfromCarlZeissAGinWestGermany.

Intheearlydaysofthesplit,thetwoZeisscompanieswerestillcooperatingcloselytojointlydevelopproducts.Until1953,theEastGermangovernmentannouncedtheprohibitionofanyfurthercooperationbetweenthetwocompanies.ZeissJenaevenlosttherighttoexportandwasreplacedbytheDeutscherInnenundAußenhandel(DIA,DeutscherInnenundAußenhandel)agency.ZeissandZeisscompletelysplit.

TheZeissAGofWestGermanyre-registeredtheCarlZeisstrademarkimmediatelyafterthecompletedivisiontopreventEastGermancompaniesfromusingit.Thetrademarkdisputebetweenthetwopartieslasteduntil1971.Bothpartiessignedanagreementthatyear,agreeingonthetrademarksofbothparties.ZeissJenawillusetheclassicZeisstrademarkofthepast,whileZeissAGwillusetheangularZEISStrademarkplacedinabluebox.

Intermsofproducts,ZeissAGinWestGermanyhasasmallerproductioncapacity.EastGermany’sZeissJenaismorefocusedontelescopesandcameras,anditsoutputandscalehavealwaysbeenlargerthanZeissAG.In1965,ZeissJenabecameacorporategroup.

Re-mergedtopresentday

In1989,thetwoGermanymerged.ZeissJena,oneofthelargestcompaniesinEastGermany,wasintroublebecauseofthecommunistsystem.In1991,somecompaniesundertheZeissJenaGroupmergedintoZeissAG.MostoftheoriginalEastGermanZeisstechnologywasinheritedandretained,andthebrandwasabandonedorsold.

Sincethe1990s,CarlZeissAG'scompaniesinDresdenandsurroundingareashavetriedtheirbesttodevelopsomenewtechnologies.

Products

Telescopes

Zeisshasbeenproducingexcellenttelescopesinthe19thcentury.ZeisshasprovidedmilitarytelescopesandrangefindersfortheGermanmilitaryduringthetwowars.Afterthewar,thetelescopesproducedbyZeissinWestGermanyweremostlyusedforcivilianpurposes.ThebinocularsproducedinEastGermanyaremostlyusedformilitarypurposes,andtheyarelicensedtomanufacturersintheSovietUnionandChina.

In1897,Zeissproducedthefirstastronomicaltelescope.Inthe1920s,Zeissjoinedthetrendofreflectingtelescopesatthattimeandbegantoproducelarge-scaleastronomicaltelescopes.Themorefamousoneisthe1-metertelescopeoftheHamburgObservatoryinGermany.

AfterthedivisionofGermany,ZeissJenaofEastGermanyhasbeenproducingmedium-sizedrefractingtelescopes.ZeissAGofWestGermanyonlyrestartedproductionoflargeastronomicaltelescopeswithgovernmentsupportinthe1960s.In1971,Zeissproducedthefirstdigitalastronomicaltelescopewithadiameterof1.23meters.

TheNationalOpticalObservatoryofItalyandtheEuropeanSouthernObservatoryalsousetelescopesproducedbyZeiss.

ZeissalsodesignsandproduceslensesfortheJamesWebbSpaceTelescope.

Camera

Contax

ZeissbeganproducingContaxbrandedrangefindercamerasin1932.AftertheseparationofthetwoGermanys,ZeissAGofWestGermanycontinuedtoproducetheContaxbrandoflinkedrangefindercameras,whileZeissJenaofEastGermanyusedthisbrandforSLRcameras.

WestGermany’sKangtaicamerawasdiscontinuedin1961,andEastGermanylaterrenamedthebrandPentacon(Pentacon).

In1971,ZeissAGinWestGermanylicensedtheContaxbrandtoKyocera'sYashicainJapan.Basedonitsowntechnology,KyocerahasdevelopedvariousmountingsystemssuchasContax645/Contax/YashicaMount(C/Ymount)/NMount(Nmount)/GMount(Gmount),etc.Later,theworld'sfirstfull-framedigitalSLRwith135film,ContaxNDigital,waslaunched.

In2004,theKyoceraGroupannouncedthereductionofitsdigitalcamerabusiness,andinSeptember2005itagainterminatedthebusinessofKangtai.

Pentacon

PentaconisaSLRcamerabrandbelongingtoEastGermanZeissJenaVEBCarlZeisJena.

ZeissJenaofEastGermanyinventedtheContaxSLRcameraContaxSusingapentaprismin1946,andreleaseditattheLeipzigSpringFairin1949,sureThebasicstructureofmodernSLRcameras.However,theContaxcamerasmadeinEastGermanywereintroubleinWestGermanyandWestBerlin,becauseWestGermany’sZeissAGhadregisteredtheContaxtrademarkinWestGermany,andin1950,ZeissJena’sVEBZeissIkonwasinTheregistrationofthetrademarksZeiss·IkonandContaxinWestGermanyendedinfailure,soZeissJenahadtodevelopnewbrandstocopewithsalestotheWest.

OnMay25,1952,ZeissJenaappliedforregistrationofPentax(PENtaprismconTAX)OnOctober16thofthesameyear,itappliedfortheregistrationofthePentacon(PENTAprismCONtax潘太康)trademark.Amongthem,PentaprismContaxmeans"Contaxcamerawithpentaprism",whichisdistinguishedfromthewaist-levelContaxSLRproducedinWestGermanyandtheContaxlinkagerangefindercamera.PanTaikangcamerasweresoldinWestGermanyin1953.ThesamemodelsofcamerasthatusedthepreviousKangtaitrademarkscontinuedtobesoldinEastGermanyandtheSovietUnion.

ThelensesproducedbyEastGermanyforPantaikangcamerasaremarkedwithCarlZeissJena(somearealsomarkedwithDDR),whichisquiteeasytodistinguish.AndithasitsownsetofM42mountsystemcamera,andanothersetofPentaconSix(P6)mediumformatsystem.

ThePentaxtrademarkwassoldtoJapan'sAsahiOpticsin1957.AndPanTaikang'scamerafactorywasbankruptandliquidatedduringthemergerofZeiss.AnditceasedproductiononJune30,1991.ThebrandwassoldtoSchneiderGroup.NowPanTaikangcamerasandlensesaremadebySouthKorea.

ZeissIkon

In1926,ZeissmergedfourGermancameramanufacturerstoformZeissIkonAG.ZeissIkonproducedContaxcamerasintheearlydays.AfterthedivisionofGermany,itbecameasubsidiaryofCarlZeissAG.In1969itmergedwithVoigtlander.

In2004,Zeissannouncedthelaunchofafilm-linkedrangefindercameraundertheZeissIkonbrand,usingLeicaMmounts.Andthenlaunchedaseriesofcorrespondinglenses.ThiscameraisproducedbyaJapanesefoundry.

IkonisacombinationofIcaandContessa-Nettel.

Lens

Zeisshasledaseriesoflensdesigns,includingthefamousPlanar,TessarandSonnar.EastGermany’sZeissJena(VEBCarlZeissJena)focusedontheproductionofM42mountlensesforPantaikangcamerasintheeraofinterchangeablelenses.WestGermany'sCarlZeissAG(CarlZeissAG)oncedevelopeditsownfork-knifeadaptersysteminthe1950s,butitdisappearedwiththediscontinuationofContaxcameras.ThecurrentZeissadapterisdominatedbythecooperatingJapaneseCosina,sothereisnocompletesetofmountandbody.TheelectronictechnologyoftheproductsunderthenameofCarlZeissAGofWestGermanyisdevelopedbyJapan.CarlZeissAGinWestGermanycanonlymeasurelightatmost,andeventheautofocustechnologyisdevelopedbyJapan'sKyoceraGroup,itsYasushiOpticsandSonyCorporation.CarlZeissAGhasnotmasteredthesetechnologies.

DuetothecooperationwithJapanesemanufacturers,CarlZeissAG'sfactoryonlyproducesapartofLeicaandHasselbladmountlensesandnewprototypes.AlmostallothersaredesignedandmanufacturedbyCOSINAinJapan.

Externalcooperation

Zeisslicensesthetechnologytoathird-partycompanytomanufacture.NotablenamesincludeHasselblad,Rollei,Yashica,Sony,LogitechandAlpa.ThemostfamousContax35mmcamerawasproducedbyYashicaandKyocerauntilitwasdiscontinuedin2005.

Zeissitselfrarelyproducesconsumer-gradecameralenses,andmostlyprovidesopticalandmechanicaldesignstoJapaneseOEMsforlocalproduction,andinstallsJapanese-designedelectronicmodulesandcameraadapters.

OnApril27,2005,ZeissannouncedthatitandNokia(Nokia)willgranttherighttousethetrademarkinthecameramobilephonemarket.ThefirstproducttohavesuchacollaborationistheNokiaN90.

Achievements

SpaceProgram

OnOctober3,1962,theAmericanastronautWalterSchirraperformedthefirstMercuryProject-Hercules8Forthefirsttimeonthemission,amodifiedHasselblad500ccamerawithZeissPlanar80mmlenswascarriedintospace.

ZeisshasbeenprovidingopticalcomponentsfortheearlylunarexplorationprogramandtheApolloprogramintheUnitedStates,includingthelargeaperturelensdesignedforthemoonorbitmission,andtheHasselbladmountlensusedwhenlandingonthemoon.Atotalof12ZeisslensesplannedforApollowereleftonthemoon.

Untilthe1980s,whenitwasreplacedbythecheaperandeasy-to-useJapanesecameraNikon,thecombinationofHasselbladcamerasandZeisslenseswasalwaysaspecialcameraforNASAtoshootspacemissions.Zeissalsoproducedaspacecamera,Contax137MDNASA,forNASA.