Re: [Leica] Pentacon

[Javier Perez <summarex@yahoo.com>]

Are you saying I can still buy genuine Meyer lenses!
Are these standard camera lenses or view camera
lenses?
Javier

- --- Marc James Small <msmall@infi.net> wrote:
> At 02:55 PM 2/23/03 -0800, Javier Perez wrote:
> >They are still making industrial gadgetrs but their
> >camera production is dead. The lenses they sell are
> >relabeled stuff, possibly samyang. They may still
> make
> >binoculars though. And while I'm not sure they may
> be
> >affiliated with an outfit called jenoptik.
> 
> Javier
> 
> Please get your facts right.
> 
> First, Pentacon was bought out by Carl Zeiss Jena in
> 1985, though I am
> uncertain how one Bolshevik enterprise could ever
> buy out another.  But
> such is the case here.
> 
> Second, the binocular end of CZJ was sold to Doctor
> Optics in Wetzlar and,
> with it, the Eisfeld and Saalfel (formerly, OAS)
> plants.  Doctor was
> reorganized when its owner died, but the current
> enterprise is quite
> happily cranking out sports optics, including the
> 8x,21 TURMON moncular
> (introduced in 1921) and the ASPECTUM 65mm and 80mm
> binoculars, first
> introduced in 1931.  Take that for 'longevity',
> Leica!
> 
> Third, the Jena plant itself was taken over by the
> State government and
> rented to Carl Zeiss, who, of course, claim
> ownership.  Zeiss now has
> dedicated the Jena plant to optical research and the
> production of
> professional astronomical gear.
> 
> Fourth, those portions of the Penttacon concern
> which could be identified
> were returned to the Noble family (an ex-German US
> family) who now produce
> the Noblex panoramic camera.  The Noble family had
> owned the KW firm.  The
> current head of the family lost the business to a
> consortium of banks some
> years back.  (He refers to himself as 'Sir John'
> Noble due to membership in
> the Knights of Malta.  I know a couple others of
> this ilk and I do not
> regard them as exactly on plumb with the rest of the
> universe.)
> 
> Fifth, Herr Mandermann, he of Schneider fame,
> purchased large chunks of the
> camera works and made 35mm and 6cm by 6cm cameras
> until the last year under
> the name of 'Feinmechanik-Schneider-Dresden AG'.  I
> am not certain just
> what these guys are doing right now.
> 
> Sixth, the remnants of Pentacon tried to have an
> independent existence but
> this failed miserably several years back, and they
> entered into a
> consortium with Carl Zeiss to produce high-end
> industrial, scientific, and
> night-vision optics.  
> 
> Seventh, the East German remnants of the Schott
> glassworks were taken over
> by the State Government under the name of Jenoptik,
> and Carl Zeiss is a
> large minority owner in this (I believe that the
> split is 51/49).  The
> Schott glassworks in Jena were assigned to
> Schott-Mainz for operational
> control, and they now use this plant to produce
> consumer glassware.  I own
> some egg coddlers from this "Jenaer Glasswerke",
> sold in the US by, of all
> people, our most suspect MS Martha Stewart.
> 
> Eights, Hugo Meyer was hived off and retains an
> independent existence.  It
> is still producing lenses.
> 
> So, the original Carl Zeiss Jena and Zeiss Ikon
> legacy has been fractured
> but, in the end, there are really only the
> following:
> 
> Doctor Optics:		sports optics (binoculars,
> telescopes)
> Carl Zeiss		Jena (optical research, astronomical
> gear)
> Schott			Jenaer Glasswerke
> Pentacon		Part of a Zeiss consortium for
> electro-optical equipment
> Schneider-Dresden	I don't know what they are doing,
> now that they have
> killed camera production
> 
> Marc
> 
> 
> msmall@infi.net  FAX:  +276/343-7315
> Cha robh bąs fir gun ghrąs fir!
> 
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