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Re: [OM] Carl Zeiss lenses?

Subject: Re: [OM] Carl Zeiss lenses?
From: "John A. Lind" <jlind@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 14 Aug 1999 11:29:47 +0000
Posted a question about these lenses (including a list of the focal lengths
and apertures from the 1984 U.K. ad found by Richard Ross).

One of the replies received from the Zeiss Ikon mail list about the lenses
follows.  Marc is considered an expert on Carl Zeiss, Zeiss Ikon, company
history, etc., and authored a book(s) for collectors about their lenses and
cameras:

.......................
>From: Marc James Small <msmall@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: Re: 1980's Carl Zeiss Jena Lenses with Various Mounts
>
>John
>
>These are not Carl Zeiss Jena lenses in any regard, save for the name.
>Just as the Voigtlander name is currently being prostituted to Kenko and
>Cosina, so CZJ, in the dying decade of the Great Workers' Paradise,
>prostituted its good name to one or more Japanese companies to append the
>CZJ name to rather mundane Japanese lenses:  not great, but not bad, optics.
>
>I've owned several of the primes along the way but have sold them all to
>collectors as curios.  There are too many better lenses out there for use!
>
>Marc
>
>msmall@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  FAX:  +540/343-7315
>Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!
................

These look like what we call a "pass-through" in my business . . . a major
componenent (on rare occasion a complete item) that is easier for us to
procure from another company, sometimes mount in our case, and put our name
on.  There are a wide range of business reasons for doing this, usually
having to do with costs and relationship to core product lines.  An Olympus
example would be the OM-2000 made by Cosina.

My interpretation of it is CZJ was trying to generate sales revenue while
avoiding design (?), development, tooling and DDR manufacturing resources
and costs.  This does not mean they are poor lenses; it only means they are
the work of an anonymous Japanese firm(s).  From a user standpoint I would
rely on results of "Gary Reese type" lens tests for assessment of build and
performance for each focal length.

Curious how much (or little) influence CZJ had on their design, if that can
even be determined.  No lens names were mentioned other than "Jenazoom"
from which little can be deduced.  Some of CZJ's lenses such as the
"Pancolar" and "Flektagon" have their roots in pre-WWII designs ("Biotar"
and "Distagon") for which CZJ could use the designs, but not the original
trademark names due to court rulings about intellectual property rights.

-- John

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