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Photo Forum / General Photo Topics / General Topics / November 2006German cameras
How are German cameras manufacturers doing these days? Is there a website where I can read through the changes of these companies in the past 10-20 years? I noticed that some of these manufacturers were originally from East Germany. How did they transformed and survived after the reunification of Germany? In particular, some companies that I have in mind are Rollei Carl Zeiss Leitz Leica Voightlander Zeiss Ikon Minox Agfa (or is this a Belgium company?) How are these companies doing their business in the digital camera market, now dominated by Japanese? > How are German cameras manufacturers doing these days? Is there a > website where I can read through the changes of these companies in the [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > In particular, some companies that I have in mind are > Rollei Collapsed in 1982, the name carries on but they make digital compact cameras now. http://www.rollei.com/ Rolleiflex TLR cameras are now being built be a separate company, Franke & Heidecke GmbH. http://www.franke-heidecke.net/ > Carl Zeiss Still making their huge range of optics including photographic lenses for Sony, Nokia, Nikon, Hasselblad and others. http://www.zeiss.com/ > Leitz God knows what happened to that name, but it was the parent company for Leica anyway, so... > Leica Leica Camera are still making the best built and most expensive 35mm cameras, binoculars and telescopes in the world, now with digital photography options. Also making compact digital cameras and collaborating with Panasonic. http://www.leica.com/ > Voightlander Disappeared to all intents an purposes when Rollei collapsed. Name is still owned by somebody so may turn up on some badge engineered digital compacts at some point. > Zeiss Ikon See Carl Zeiss. > Minox Still making fine optics, film and digital compact cameras and 8x11 spy cameras. Also a rather odd range of miniature 1:3 scale replicas of classic cameras using film or digital recording. http://www.minox.com/ > Agfa (or is this a Belgium company?) No, it is a Germany (sic) company. Doing what they did. Big players in the digital imaging world. > How are these companies doing their business in the digital camera > market, now dominated by Japanese? By making digital cameras, continuing their other operations or filling their niche as ever before. Why could you not just look them up on the web yourself? Try http://www.google.com, and also look at http://www.wikipedia.org and http://www.camerapedia.org/ >> Voightlander > > Disappeared to all intents an purposes when Rollei collapsed. Name is > still owned by somebody so may turn up on some badge engineered digital > compacts at some point. The Voigtlander name was bought by Cosina of Japan. For a number of years now they have been making rangefinder cameras with Leica screw or bayonet mounts based on an SLR body. They have a whole series of lenses as well. The back of my camera says: Voigtlander Germany Since 1756 The bottom states: Made in Japan Cosina Co, Ltd >> Agfa (or is this a Belgium company?) > >No, it is a Germany (sic) company. Doing what they did. Big players in >the digital imaging world. The Belgian connection is because many years ago Agfa took over the Belgian Gevaert company.  SignatureThoss > How are German cameras manufacturers doing these days? The diminution and partial demise of German cameras manufacturers started long before digital. BugBear >> How are German cameras manufacturers doing these days? > The diminution and partial demise > of German cameras manufacturers started > long before digital. > BugBear Basically, the Japanese did it cheaper. Usually engineered to measure perfectly instead of give the most pleasing results so that in the marketplace you got better measurements for lower cash. >>> How are German cameras manufacturers doing these days? > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >perfectly instead of give the most pleasing results so that in the marketplace >you got better measurements for lower cash. Look at it this way... Take my PS Canon A60. Have Canon subcontract with, say, Zeiss to build in their factories in Germany to exactly the same specs and quality as the one I have which was made in Malaysia. No better nor worse. Does anyone doubt that the Zeiss clone would cost 3 to 4 times as much made in a first world German factory than in a third world Malaysian factory? Even the Japs can't make much of their consumer grade stuff in Japanese factories anymore. Their production costs have also become more or less first world just like Germany. > Take my PS Canon A60. Have Canon subcontract with, say, Zeiss to build > in their factories in Germany to exactly the same specs and quality as [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > Japanese factories anymore. Their production costs have also become > more or less first world just like Germany. The German optics industry was once the predominant one in the world, partly due to German craftsmanship and precision grinding of lenses. Much of that can now be done by computer-controlled machinery. Glass is glass, whether Schott makes it in Germany or Hoya makes it in Japan. And computers now make lens design something that can be done anywhere in the world. The patents on classic German lens designs have long run out. |
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