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The Carl Zeiss company is a German manufacturer of optical systems, industrial measurements and medical devices originally founded in Jena in 1846 by Carl Zeiss, Ernst Abbe and Otto Schott. Due to the results of World War II there are currently two parts, the Carl Zeiss AG located in Oberkochen with important subsidiaries in Aalen, Göttingen and Hallbergmoos (near Munich) and Carl Zeiss GmbH located in the foundation city Jena.
The organization is named after one of its founders, the German optician Carl Zeiss (1816-1888).
Carl Zeiss is the premier company of the Zeiss Gruppe, one of the two large divisions of the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung. The Zeiss Gruppe is located in Heidenheim and Jena.
The other division of the Carl Zeiss Foundation, the glass manufacturer Schott AG and Jenaer Glaswerk, is located in Mainz and Jena.
Zeiss Ikon history
The history of Carl Zeiss AG begins in Jena before World War II, then the world's largest location of camera production. Zeiss Ikon represented a significant part of the production along with dozens of other brands and factories.
The destruction of the war caused many companies to divide into smaller subcompanies and others to merge together. Nevertheless, there was an enormous amount of respect for the innovation and engineering that came out of Dresden—before the war, Dresden had been responsible for the world's first SLR camera (the Kine Exakta) and the first miniature camera with good picture quality.
After the war, Zeiss moved to Oberkochen (in southwestern Germany), and Braunschweig. In 1973, Carl Zeiss AG entered a licensing agreement with the Japanese camera company Yashica to produce a series of high-quality 35mm film cameras and lenses bearing the Contax and Zeiss brand names. This collaboration continued under Yashica's successor, Kyocera, until the later ceased all camera production in 2005. Zeiss later produced lenses for the space industry, and more recently, has again entered into production of high-quality 35mm camera lenses.
Following German reunification, Zeiss GmbH Jena has returned to the marketplace. Since the 1990s the companies of the Zeiss Gruppe in and around Dresden have branched into new technologies: screens and products for the automotive industry, for example. Zeiss nonetheless still continues to be a camera manufacturer, and still produces the Pentacon, Praktica*, and special-use lenses (e.g., Exakta).
Today, there are arguably three companies with primarily Zeiss Ikon heritage: Zeiss Germany, the Finnish/Swedish Ikon (which bought the western German Zeiss Ikon AG), and the independent eastern Zeiss Ikon. Jenoptik produces cameras in the same city as Zeiss Germany (Jena), but is not related.
Innovations
Carl Zeiss AG has been responsible for a number of optical innovations since the early 20th century.
- Tessar lens: from the Greek 'tessara' ('four' *) (Carl Zeiss's daughter was also called Tessa) and patented in 1902, this lens was invented by Dr. Paul Rudolph and featured four glass elements. Tessars were originally fixed focal length and are otherwise typically normal lenses. Further development yielded longer focal length telephoto lenses, and in 2002 Kyocera produced the T4 Zoom 35mm camera, equipped with the 28-70mm Vario-Tessar® T* f/4.5-8.0 lens, the first zoom Tessar.
- T Coating: a multi-layered anti-reflective coating for lenses. Pioneered by Zeiss, the technology was further expanded in a joint venture with Rollei to yield 'HFT' lenses, sold under the Rollei name. Zeiss claims that there is no detectable difference between the two and that HFT was developed in response to the low output volume the Zeiss plant was capable of at the time.
Reputation
Now over 100 years old, Zeiss continues to be associated with expensive and high-quality optical lenses. Zeiss lenses are generally thought to be elegant and well-constructed, yielding high-quality images. Even old lens designs such as the Tessar demonstrate engineering elegance and in the modern age of plastic parts, many Zeiss lenses are still made with predominantly metal components.
Although many lenses of other manufacturers commonly generate the sharpest images in the middle aperture range, Zeiss maintains that their lenses deliver high resolution at all apertures.
Zeiss licenses its technology to be manufactured by third-party companies and indeed, many have done so. Notable names include Hasselblad, a famous name in medium format professional cameras. Rollei, Yashica, Sony, and Alpa amongst others, have used or manufactured lenses under Zeiss license. The Contax line of 35mm cameras produced by Yashica are perhaps the most well-known to fit Zeiss lenses, with their renowned design and proprietary T* lens coatings. Notably absent from this list are the Japanese companies Canon and Nikon, who by and large produce their own lenses. However on January 18, 2006 Zeiss announced that it plans to independently market a series of fixed focal length lenses designed primarily for Nikon film cameras.
On April 27, 2005 the company announced a collaboration with Nokia in the camera phone market. The first product to emerge out of this collaboration is the Nokia N90. Outside the world of cameras and imaging, Zeiss also produce superb spectacle lenses - particularly those with high refractive indices that allow patients with higher eyeglass prescriptions to enjoy thinner, more visually attractive lenses.
Zeiss Ikon Camera
The Zeiss Ikon is a Rangefinder camera by Zeiss similar to Leica M series cameras. And fully compatible with Leica and other lenses with Leica M Mount.
Lenses
ZF Lenses
Lens line for Nikon F Mount.Planar T* 1,4/50 ZF
Planar T* 1,4/85 ZF
ZM Lenses
The ZM line are lenses made for the Leica M Mount and for the new Zeiss Ikon Camera with M Mount.Distagon® T* 1:2.8 15mm
Biogon® T* 1:2.8 25mm
Zeiss made a milestone in resolution with this lens. 400 Lines per Millimeter.Biogon® T* 1:2.8 28mm
Biogon® T* 1:2 35mm
Planar® T* 1:2 50mm
Sonnar® T* 1:2 85mm
C Sonnar® T* 1:1.5 50mm
ZS Lenses
Lenses for Pentax Screw Mount (M-42)Planar T* 1,4/50 ZS
See also
External links
Official sites
Other links
Lens manufacturers | Companies of Germany
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