Carl Zeiss (German pronunciation: [kal tsas]) is a German manufacturer of

optical systems, industrial measurements and medical devices, founded in Jena,

Germany in 1846 by optician Carl Zeiss. Together with Ernst Abbe (joined 1866)
and Otto Schott (joined 1884) they built a base for modern optics and
manufacturing. There are currently two parts of the company, Carl Zeiss AG
located in Oberkochen with important subsidiaries in Aalen, Gttingen and
Munich, and Carl Zeiss GmbH located in Jena.

Carl Zeiss AG 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. Also controlled by the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung are the glass manufacturers
Schott AG and Jenaer Glas, located in Mainz and Jena respectively. Carl Zeiss is
one of the oldest existing optics manufacturers in the world.
Carl Zeiss opened an optics workshop in Jena in 1846. By 1847 he was making
microscopes full-time. By 1861 Zeiss was considered to be among the best
scientific instrument makers in Germany with about 20 people working under him
with his business still growing. By 1866 the Zeiss workshop sold their 1,000th
microscope. In 1872 physicist Ernst Abbe joined Zeiss and along with Otto Schott
designed greatly improved lenses for the optical instruments they were
producing. After Carl Zeiss's death in 1888, the business was incorporated as the
Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung in 1889.

By World War I,[4] Zeiss was 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, and also had major works at Dresden.

In 1928 Hensoldt AG was acquired by Carl Zeiss and has produced the Zeiss
binoculars and riflescopes since 1964,[5] occasionally resulting in twin products
being offered under both the Hensoldt and Zeiss brand names. The Hensoldt
System Technology division (resulting from a merger of the military optics
operations of Leica and Hensoldt) was continued by Zeiss under the Hensoldt
name until 2006.

As part of Nazi Germany Zwangsarbeiter program, Zeiss used forced labour

during the Second World War.[6][7] The destruction of the war caused many
companies to divide into smaller subcompanies and others to merge. There was
great respect for the engineering innovation that came out of Dresdenbefore
the war the world's first 35 mm single-lens reflex camera, the Kine Exakta, and
the first miniature camera with good picture quality were developed there.

At the end of the war Jena was occupied by the US Army. When Jena and Dresden
were incorporated into the Soviet occupation zone, later East Germany, some
parts of Zeiss Jena were relocated by the US army to the Contessa manufacturing
facility in Stuttgart, West Germany, while the remainder of Zeiss Jena was
reestablished by the (Eastern) German Democratic Republic as Kombinat VEB
Zeiss Jena.[8] As part of the World War II reparations, the Soviet army took most
of the existing Zeiss factories and tooling back to the Soviet Union as the Kiev
camera works.

The western business was restarted in Oberkochen (in southwestern Germany) as

Opton Optische Werke Oberkochen GmbH in 1946, which became Zeiss-Opton
Optische Werke Oberkochen GmbH in 1947, but was soon renamed to Carl Zeiss.
West German Zeiss products were labelled Opton for sale in the Eastern bloc,
while East German Zeiss products were labelled "Zeiss Jena" or simply "Jena" for
sale in Western countries.

In 1973, the Western Carl Zeiss AG entered into a licensing agreement with the
Japanese camera company Yashica to produce a series of high-quality 35 mm film
cameras and lenses bearing the Contax and Zeiss brand names. This
collaboration continued under Yashica's successor, Kyocera, until the latter
ceased all camera production in 2005. Zeiss later produced lenses for the space
industry and, more recently, has again produced high-quality 35 mm camera
lenses. The eastern Zeiss Jena was also well known for producing high-quality
products

Following German reunification, VEB Zeiss Jenareckoned as one of the few East
German firms that was even potentially able to compete on a global basis
became Zeiss Jena GmbH, which became Jenoptik Carl Zeiss Jena GmbH in 1990.
In 1991, Jenoptik Carl Zeiss Jena was split in two, with Carl Zeiss AG (Oberkochen)
taking over the company's divisions for microscopy and other precision optics
(effectively reuniting the pre-war Carl Zeiss enterprise) and moving its
microscopy and planetarium divisions back to Jena. Jenoptik GmbH was split off
as a specialty company in the areas of photonics, optoelectronics, and
mechatronics.[9][10]

The Hensoldt AG was renamed Carl Zeiss Sports Optics GmbH on 1 October 2006.
[11]

The companies of the Zeiss Gruppe in and around Dresden have branched into
new technologies: screens and products for the automotive industry, for example.

Today, there are arguably three companies with primarily Zeiss Ikon heritage:
Zeiss Germany, the Finnish/Swedish Ikon (which bought the West German Zeiss
Ikon AG), and the independent eastern Zeiss Ikon.

On 28 June 2013, Carl Zeiss officially announced its plan to rename the brand
from "Carl Zeiss" to simply "Zeiss". All the products will be standardized under
the Zeiss brand.[12]

Innovations[edit]
The Zeiss company was responsible for many innovations in optical design and
engineering. Early on, Carl Zeiss realised that he needed a competent scientist so
as to take the firm beyond just being another optical workshop. In 1866, the
service of Dr Ernst Abbe was enlisted. From then on novel products appeared in
rapid succession which brought the Zeiss company to the forefront of optical
technology.

Abbe was instrumental in the development of the famous Jena optical glass.
When he was trying to eliminate astigmatism from microscopes, he realised that
the range of optical glasses available was insufficient. After some calculations, he
realised that performance of optical instruments would dramatically improve, if
optical glasses of appropriate properties were available. His challenge to glass
manufacturers was finally answered by Dr Otto Schott, who established the
famous glassworks at Jena from which new types of optical glass began to appear
from 1888 to be employed by Zeiss and other makers.

The new Jena optical glass also opened up the possibility of increased
performance of photographic lenses. The first use of Jena glass in a photographic
lens was by Voigtlnder, but as the lens was an old design its performance was
not greatly improved. Subsequently the new glasses would demonstrate their
value in correcting astigmatism, and in the production of apochromatic lenses.
Abbe started the design of a photographic lens of symmetrical design with five
elements, but went no further.

Zeiss' domination of photographic lens innovation was due to Dr Paul Rudolph. In

1890, Rudolph designed an asymmetrical lens with a cemented group at each
side of the diaphragm, appropriately named "Anastigmat". This lens was made in
three series: Series III, IV and V, with maximum apertures of f/7.2, f/12.5, and f/18
respectively. In 1891, Series I, II and IIIa appeared with respective maximum

apertures of f/4.5, f/6.3, and f/9 and in 1893 came Series IIa of f/8 maximum
aperture. These lenses are now better known by the trademark "Protar" which
was first used in 1900.

At the time, single combination lenses, which occupy one side of the diaphragm
only, were still popular. Rudolph designed one with three cemented elements in
1893, with the option of fitting two of them together in a lens barrel as a
compound lens, but it was found to be the same as the Dagor by C.P. Goerz,
designed by Emil von Hoegh. Rudolph then came up with a single combination
with four cemented elements, which can be considered as having all the
elements of the Protar stuck together in one piece. Marketed in 1894, it was
called the Protarlinse Series VII, the most highly corrected single combination
lens with maximum apertures between f/11 and f/12.5, depending on its focal
length.

But the important thing about this Protarlinse is that two of these lens units can
be mounted in the same lens barrel to form a compound lens of even greater
performance and larger aperture, between f/6.3 and f/7.7. In this configuration it
was called the Double Protar Series VIIa. An immense range of focal lengths can
thus be obtained by the various combination of Protarlinse units.

Rudolph also investigated the Double-Gauss concept of a symmetrical design

with thin positive meniscii enclosing negative elements. The result was the Planar
Series Ia of 1896, with maximum apertures up to f/3.5, one of the fastest lenses
of its time. Whilst it was very sharp, it suffered from coma which limited its
popularity. However, further developments of this configuration made it the
design of choice for high-speed lenses of standard coverage.

Probably inspired by the Stigmatic lenses designed by Hugh Aldis for Dallmeyer
of London, Rudolph designed a new asymmetrical lens with four thin elements,
the Unar Series Ib, with apertures up to f/4.5. Due to its high speed it was used
extensively on hand cameras.

The most important Zeiss lens by Rudolph was the Tessar, first sold in 1902 in its
Series IIb f/6.3 form. It can be said as a combination of the front half of the Unar
with the rear half of the Protar. This proved to be a most valuable and flexible
design, with tremendous development potential. Its maximum aperture was
increased to f/4.7 in 1917, and reached f/2.7 in 1930. It is probable that every
lens manufacturer has produced lenses of the Tessar configurations.

Rudolph left Zeiss after the First World War, but many other competent designers
such as Mert, Wandersleb, etc. kept the firm at the leading edge of photographic
lens innovations. One of the most significant designer was the ex-Ernemann man
Dr Ludwig Bertele, famed for his Ernostar high-speed lens.

With the advent of the Contax by Zeiss-Ikon, the first serious challenge to the
Leica in the field of professional 35 mm cameras, both Zeiss-Ikon and Carl Zeiss
decided to beat the Leica in every possible way. Bertele's Sonnar series of lenses
designed for the Contax were the match in every respect for the Leica for at least
two decades. Other lenses for the Contax included the Biotar, Biogon,
Orthometar, and various Tessars and Triotars.

The last important Zeiss innovation before the Second World War was the
technique of applying anti-reflective coating to lens surfaces invented by
Olexander Smakula in 1935.[13] A lens so treated was marked with a red "T",
short for "Transparent". The technique of applying multiple layers of coating was
developed from this basis after the war, and known as "T" (T-star).[14]

Zeiss-Ikon-p1040096.jpg
After the partitioning of Germany, a new Carl Zeiss optical company was
established in Oberkochen, while the original Zeiss firm in Jena continued to
operate. At first both firms produced very similar lines of products, and
extensively cooperated in product-sharing, but they drifted apart as time
progressed. Jena's new direction was to concentrate on developing lenses for 35
mm single-lens reflex cameras, and many achievements were made, especially in
ultra-wide angle designs. In addition to that, Oberkochen also worked on
designing lenses for the 35 mm single-lens reflex camera Contarex, for the
medium format camera Hasselblad, for large format cameras like the Linhof
Technika, interchangeable front element lenses such as for the 35 mm single-lens
reflex Contaflex and other types of cameras.

Since the beginning of Zeiss as a photographic lens manufacturer, it has had a

licensing programme which allows other manufacturers to produce its lenses.
Over the years its licensees included Voigtlnder, Bausch & Lomb, Ross, Koristka,
Krauss, Kodak. etc. In the 1970s, the western operation of Zeiss-Ikon got together
with Yashica to produce the new Contax cameras, and many of the Zeiss lenses
for this camera, among others, were produced by Yashica's optical arm, Tomioka.
As Yashica's owner Kyocera ended camera production in 2006, and Yashica lenses
were then made by Cosina, who also manufactured most of the new Zeiss
designs for the new Zeiss Ikon coupled rangefinder camera. Another licensee

active today is Sony who uses the Zeiss name on lenses on its video and digital
still cameras.

Business relationships[edit]
Zeiss has licensed its name and/or technology to various other companies,
including Hasselblad, Rollei, Yashica, Sony, Logitech, and Alpa. The nature of the
collaboration varies, from co-branding optics designed by another firm (e.g.,
Sony) to complete optical design and manufacturing (e.g., Hasselblad).

On 27 April 2005, the company announced a collaboration with Nokia in the

camera phone market. Cameras to emerge from this collaboration included the
Nokia N90, Nokia N8 and Nokia 808 PureView.