ISCO was essentially an offshoot of Schneider. It was founded in 1936 with the name Jos. Schneider & Co., Optische Werke, Göttingen. The factory was constructed in Göttingen as a second production site on behalf of the Reich Ministry of Aviation. The site produced manufactured Schneider lenses, and during the war years they produced cameras for aerial reconnaissance (the Luftwaffe required fast lenses with exceptional resolution). Lenses included the high-speed Night Xenons with 125mm, 330mm, 400mm, and 500mm focal lengths. During WW2 they produced around 45,000 lenses for aerial cameras, the main supplier of the Luftwaffe.
Due to the nature of the war production, the plant was dismantled by the Allied powers at the end of the war. The company name was not allowed to be used until 1953, so the company operated under the name Optische Werke Göttingen. They initially produced lenses for cinematic projectors, with names like Kiptar and Super-Kiptar. In 1951 camera lenses were produced for the first time, initially as built-in lenses for various camera manufacturers, e.g. Apparate & Kamerabau, Balda, Bilora, Franka, Wirgin. These were triplets of 4-element lenses, such as Isconar and Westanar. From 1956 ISCO increased its designs for wide-screen projection, and included lenses for 8mm, 16mm and 35mm cine cameras.
The first lens for SLR cameras appeared in 1952, and was the Westar 50mm f/2.8. It was sold with Exa cameras in the US. This was followed by the Westagon 50mm f/2, and Westrocolor 50mm f/1.9. In 1958 ISCO designed the Westrogon 24mm f/4, the worlds first extreme wide-angle lens for SLR cameras, ahead of the Zeiss 20/25mm Flektogons. Lenses were produced under a number of names: Westar (50mm, 100mm), Westanar (50/85/135/150/180mm), Westagon (50mm), Westron (28/35mm), Westromat (35/135mm), Westrogon (24mm), Westrocolor (50mm), Isco-Mat (35/50/135mm), Iscotar (50mm), Isconar (50/80/100/135mm), Tele-Iscaron (135/180/400mm), Tele-Westanar (135/180mm), Isconar (90/100/135mm) and Iscorama.
With the decline of the German camera industry, the demand for SLR interchangeable lenses also decreased. ISCO shifted its production back to the field of projection lenses for film, narrow film and slides. In 2009 the name was changed to Schneider Kreuznach ISCO Division GmbH & Co. KG. The lenses now produced are full frame lens set for both anamorphic and spherical cine photography.
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