vintage lens makers

Vintage lens makers − Kinoptik (France)

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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.

Fig.1: Various Kinoptik lenses

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.

Vintage lens makers – Feinmess (Germany)

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Feinmess was founded by Gustav Heyde (1846-1930) in Dresden (1872) as Gustav Heyde – Mathematical-Mechanical Institute & Optical Precision Workshop (Feinmess roughly translates to “fine measurement”). The company produced astronomical and geodetic precision devices: binoculars, domes and refractors for observatories, telescopes, theodolites (land surveying devices), hand-held rangefinders for aerotopography, and actino-photometers (light meters). From 1931 the company was converted to a limited partnership and concentrated on arms production. In 1945 the company operated under the name Gustav Heyde GmbH. After the war the company was expropriated by the state of Saxony operating as Optik, VVB für feinmechanische und optische Geräte. Finally in 1948 it changed its name to Optik – Feinmess Dresden VEB.

In the 1950s, Welta (Freital) requested a lens for their Belfoca 1 and 2, medium format cameras. There was so much demand for lenses that Feinmess accepted the order, never having produced lenses before. The optical design office was set up by Ihagee, and work on the design of the lens was taken over by Claus Lieberwirth is August 1953. From 1954 the Bonotar was created as a 105mm, f/4.5 lens. A second lens, the 105mm f/6.5 Bonar was derived from the Bonotar. Both lenses were simple in construction, and inexpensive. About 20,000 M42 and 4,000 Exakta mount Bonotars were produced. The lens established itself as a cheaper alternative to the popular Meyer Optik Trioplan. In 1960 production of both lenses was halted, and the optics department was eventually merged into VEB Carl Zeiss Jena.

Interestingly, VEB Feinmess was used in the 1950s as “shield” company, especially for patent applications related to VEB Zeiss Ikon, due to the issues with Zeiss-Ikon Stuttgart. This is why camera patents for well known GDR products are the property of VEB Feinmess, until the founding of VEB Kamera-and-Kinowerk in 1959. There are literally hundreds of patents for lenses, viewfinder systems, motor winding systems, and viewfinder cameras (to name but a few) − all products that Feinmess did not manufacture.

The company still exists today, recently renamed from Feinmess Dresden GmbH to Steinmeyer Mechatronik GmbH, and makes various measuring instruments, positioning systems and optical devices. Bonotar 105mm lenses can be found for between €60-90.

Notable lenses: Bonotar 105mm f/4.5

Vintage lens makers – Angénieux (France)

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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)

Vintage lens makers – Enna Werk (Germany)

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Enna Werk was a small German optical company founded in 1920 by Alfred Neumann and located in Munich. There seem to be two stories regarding its name: (i) Enna is the founder’s daughter’s name reversed, or (ii) Enna is derived from the reversed initials “N.A.”, of its founder (pronounced Enna). During WWII, the company supplied lenses for the German military. In 1945 the plant was destroyed by allied air raids and was relocated to Ebersberg, near Munich. After the death of Neumann, the running of the company was taken over by his son-in-law, Dr. Werner Appelt and renamed “Enna-Werk Optische Anstalt Dr. Appelt K.G.”. By 1948 the plant at Konradinstraße in Munich was rebuilt.

Fig 1: Some of the more interesting Enna lenses

Circa 1950 the company started making lenses under its own name – prior to this the company only manufactured lenses for other companies, including Alpa, Balda, Braun, Corfield, Edixa (Wirgin), and Ihagee. In 1952 it started producing lenses for interchangeable rangefinder cameras. This was followed in 1953 by the production of SLR lenses with a focal length range between 24 and 600 mm. By 1964 Enna had produced 4 million lenses. The primary lens designer was Dr. Siegfried Schäfer and some of his designs are based on drafts by Ludwig Bertele, designer of the famous Sonnar. They made lenses in various mounts including M42, M39, and Exakta.

The first interchangeable SLR lens was the 35mm wide-angle Lithagon f/4.5 (1953), followed soon afterwards by f/3.5 and f/2.8 and even f/2.5 versions (1956). A Lithagon with a 28mm focal length, the Ultra-Lithagon 28mm f/3.5 was unrivalled at the time (1955). A very fast Ennalyt 85mm f/1.5 appeared in 1954, followed a year later by a telephoto, the Tele-Ennalyt 135mm f/3.5. Enna had a number of milestones, which included the world’s fastest wide-angle lens, the 9-element Super-Lithagon 35mm f/1.9 in 1958, and the worlds first telephoto zoom lens, the Enna Tele-Zoom 85-250mm f/4 in 1961 (only two years after the release of the Zoomar, the worlds first zoom lens). The high-speed 6-lens Ennaston (later Ennalyt) 85mm f/1.5 was also one of the world-renowned lens developments in the 1950s.

Fig 2: Enna Lithagon 24mm f/4

Enna was the first lens manufacturer in West Germany to introduce a wide-angle lens of the Retrofocus type. This lens design, developed almost simultaneously by Angenieux Paris and Carl Zeiss Jena (Flektogon), enabled shorter focal lengths than 40mm in 35mm SLR cameras for the first time. This lens was the Ultra Lithagon 28mm f/3.5 (Patent#US2959100A) which appeared in 1955 (it was also the second 28mm lens ever made). It was the brainchild of Hans Lautenbacher, and was so named due to the existence of the Lithagon 35mm. His contributions also included the retrofocus lens calculations which produced the wide-angle Lithagon 35mm f/2.8 (1953, Patent#DE1062028), and Enna’s ultrawide Lithagon 24mm f/4 (1960, Patent#DE1228820).

Enna is most typically associated with the Lithagon family of lenses, mostly in the wide-angle spectrum. The name had to be abandoned around 1960 for legal reasons. From then on the lenses were called “Ennagon” or “Ennalyt”. Prior to 1956 Enna lenses read “Enna-Werk München” on the lens ring, and from 1957 onwards they read “ENNA München.” In 1958 Enna introduced the Sockel lens system “Springblendensockel”, a precursor to Tamron’s Adapt-all system. This allowed various lens units to be mounted to different cameras using appropriate adapters. The adapters incorporated both the aperture and focusing controls. There were two (incompatible) versions of the system: the first was semi-automatic, offering twelve lenses from 24-240mm for Exakta and M42 mounts; the second was automatic with ten lenses, and additional adapters for Alpa and Miranda.

The company still exists, but now focuses on precision plastic injection molding. This diversification had begun in the early 1970s, with the realization that German lens production was loosing ground to Japan. They started with the production of plastic parts for the camera industry, and by the 1990s it had become the main focus of the company.

Notable lenses:

  • Ultra Lithagon 28mm f/3.5
  • Super-Lithagon 35mm f/1.9
  • Lithagon 24mm f/4

Further reading: