French lens makers

Kinoptik was founded in Paris in 1932 by Georges Grosset and Georges Perthuis. Grosset began by creating 35mm camera optics with a series of Apochromat lenses in 1939 (lenses with better correction of chromatic and spherical aberrations), all with the same double-gauss optical structure.

The workshop was destroyed by the RAF in March 1942. Production resumed in the summer, however during the German occupation they were forced to produce Askania camera sights. However this didn’t stop Grosset from designing two new lenses, the Fulgior 50mm f/1.3 (which was used on the Rectaflex), and the Apochromat-C 32mm f/2.8. Postwar, French cinema boomed and Kinoptik concentrated its efforts on the cinema business. It designed numerous lenses for 16mm, Super-16 and 35mm cine cameras.

In the early 1950s they also diversified into optical systems for microfilm, medical radiology, and control of industrial furnaces. The company bore the Japanese competition in the 1960s better than most of its European counterparts due to its business in professional cinema equipment. From a 35mm perspective, Kinoptik produced a number of lenses for ALPA, as well as Leica, Nikon, Canon and Minolta. Examples include the Apochromat 100mm f/2 and the Aplanat 500mm f/5.6. The Apochromat 100mm f/2 was described as having exclusive correction of all primary colours, critical sharpness and highest contrast, even at full aperture.

After the death of Georges Grosset, his wife Marie-Louise Grosset took over running of the company, and hired French optician Edgar Hugues (1915-2004) who became technical director of the company from 1957-1964. He designed the 75mm f/1.1, 100mm f/1.3 as well as the Lynxar 60mm f/0.7, arguably the fastest French lens ever created. He also designed the Tegea rectilinear “fish-eye” lenses (130° angle-of-view for 24×36mm). One such lens, the Tegea 9.8mm f/1.8 was used by the likes of Stanley Kubrick in films like A Clockwork Orange (1971) and The Shining (1980).

In 1981 the company was sold to Société de Fabrication d’Instruments de Mesure, after which it underwent numerous integrations, mergers, and acquisitions before closing in 2003. The lenses were by no means inexpensive. In 1980 prices, the 50mm f/2 Macro-Apochromat sold for US$999, and the 100mm f/2 Auto-Apochromat for US$799. Vintage Kinoptik lenses are still vogue in the film industry, often rehoused in new bodies. The Apochromat 100mm f/2 sells for anywhere from US$5000-7000 on todays market.

Pierre Angénieux (1907-1998) was born in Saint-Héand near Lyon in 1907. In 1928 he graduated with a engineering degree and a year later received a degree in optical engineering. In 1930 he joined Pathé, a company involved in the motion picture industry in France. In 1935 he founded a manufacturing company specializing in cinematic gear in Paris. Initial production was primarily for military purposes, and this was discontinued during WW2. During the war, 35mm lenses were manufactured predominantly for the Swiss Alpa camera. The first lenses ca. 1938 were the 50mm f/2.9, and 50mm f/1.8 (for Alpa). In 1940 the Paris workshop was closed, and work relocated to Saint-Héand.

In 1950 Angénieux eleased the first retrofocus lens. These lenses used an inverted-telephoto design, with the negative lens group at the front of the lens, increasing the back focal distance. The first lenses were intended for rangefinder cameras, but the design was ideal for 35mm SLRs which allowed a wide-angle lens without interfering with the moving mirror. The first lens was the Retrofocus R1 series – 35mm, f/2.5. This was followed by the R11 28mm f/3.5 in 1953, and the R61 24mm f/3.5 in 1957. The Retrofocus design allowed wide-angle lenses on the range of interchangeable lens SLRs developed in the 1950s. By the 1950s they were producing 45,000 retrofocus lenses a year.

*The most famous Angénieux* *retrofocus lenses*

This “retrofocus” design moved the optical focal point further to the front of the lens, using an additional lens element. A focal length shorter than 40mm was achieved by placing a diverging lens with a very large diameter in the front of the optical system. Traditional lenses using the Gaussian-double design could not be positioned close enough to the image plane without hindering the movement of the mirror in SLR cameras. Angénieux also made standard lenses in 50mm, 75mm, 90mm, 135mm and 180mm focal lengths.

In 1951 Angénieux adapted the Retrofocus lens or cine lenses, 8mm, 16mm, and 35mm. In 1960 the first Angénieux 35mm cine zoom was released, the 35-140mm f/3.5. This was followed by a litany of cine zoom lenses. NASA was to use Angénieux’s 25mm f/0.95 lens in the Ranger 7-9 missions. The NASA Gemini missions used Maurer 16mm cameras with 18mm f/2, 25mm f/0.95, and 75mm f/2.5 cameras, optics which would again appear on the Apollo 7, 8, 9, and 10 missions – on Apollo 11 the lenses would help record Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the Moon. Angénieux’s work with NASA would continue through the space shuttle era.

The company still makes cine lenses.

Notable lenses: 24mm f/3.5 (1957); 28mm f/3.5 (1953); 35mm f/2.5 (1950)

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Vintage lens makers − Kinoptik (France)

Vintage lens makers – Angénieux (France)