[rollei_list] Re: Rollei 35 lenses blog

  • From: CarlosMFreaza <cmfreaza@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2011 07:09:47 -0300

2011/3/2 Marc James Small <marcsmall@xxxxxxxxxxx>:
> That arrangement was made by direct licensing by Zeiss of Rolleiflex to
> produce these lenses using Zeiss lens names.  Again, the patents would have
> run out around 1990, so it is surprising that Rollei did not begin using
> Zeiss designs with their own lens names decades ago.

In 1972 Zeiss-Ikon shut down the Voigtländer optical factory they had
bought a few years before, that year Carl Zeiss Oberkochen, Rollei and
the Gemeinwirtschaft Bank had an agreement to found the "Optischen
Werke Voigtländer GmbH" to keep alive the VO factory and considering
the Rollei decision for large scale production. The VO factory was
dedicated to manufacture more common Zeiss lenses for the Rollei
cameras keeping the Zeiss lenses name but replacing "Carl Zeiss" by
"made by Rollei", this arrangement included Zeiss lenses made by the
Rollei Optical Co Singapore too;  the lenses more difficult to
manufacture were made at Carl Zeiss Oberkochen anyway, with the name
Carl Zeiss in the lens ring of course but with the Rollei term "HFT"
(High Fidelity Transfer) for the T* multicoating process to keep the
same name for this significant feature regarding the Zeiss lenses made
by Rollei; these were the reasons for the Zeiss lenses "made by
Rollei" without mention to CZ in the lens ring during the '70s.

When Rollei was not in survival mode, even if they could use  Zeiss
lenses designs with Rollei names without patents issues, it was better
to keep the Zeiss lenses name for the best Rollei cameras paying fees
to Zeiss for commercial purposes, it's not the same "Planar" or
"Sonnar" than "Apogon", but the situation is different now, anyway the
FX TLR lens is called "Planar" yet.

Carlos
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