Something not Canon related. The story of legendary company Zeiss. From their beginning to the present day.

DW Documentary posted a neat 25 minutes video where they tell the story of Zeiss.

175 years ago, the young mechanic Carl Zeiss opened a small workshop for precision mechanics and optics. These humble beginnings in the German city of Jena were the foundation of the Zeiss technology company, which today operates worldwide.

The production of glass with game-changing optical properties was one of the developments that helped Carl Zeiss create a company that valued scientific research highly, while never forgetting science’s social impact.

Zeiss microscopes have been used by more than 30 Nobel Prize winners. To this day, these instruments offer unrivaled image resolution, with lenses that can display structures one thousand times smaller than a human hair. Light microscopes allow living cells to be examined with extreme gentleness and speed, as well.

The Zeiss company was involved in the moon landing in 1969, and thus helped redefine the limits of what humans are capable of. Images of the historic event were captured using Zeiss camera lenses developed specially for space. These lenses were key to the later development of photolithography, which plays a decisive role in the production of microchips. Developments in extreme ultraviolet lithography led to Zeiss winning the German Future Prize together with the Fraunhofer Institute and the Trumpf company.

To learn more about Zeiss have a look at Wikipedia.

[via PetaPixel]

Could this be the oldest optics brand of the planet. Any expert out there?

Zeiss celebrates the 175 years anniversary of he company foundation. Lotsa years. Zeiss makes some fine lenses for Canon mounts but they are not inexpensive.

Zeiss press release:

ZEISS Celebrates 175 Years of Innovation, Passion and the Courage to Develop

ZEISS ran a virtual celebration to mark its 175th anniversary at its founding site in Jena.

• German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said: “Its interplay of entrepreneurial spirit, drive to research, and inventiveness make the ZEISS Group a pioneer of modern industry.”
• After a 5-million-euro donation to the Deutsches Museum, the global initiative “A Heart for Science” will serve as inspiration for tomorrow’s discoveries

Jena/ Oberkochen, Germany | 17 November | ZEISS Group

175 years ago, on 17 November 1846, young mechanic Carl Zeiss opened his workshop for precision mechanics and optics in Jena, thus laying the foundation for what would become ZEISS.

To mark this special day, the company ran a celebration event, the highlight of a jam-packed anniversary year. The virtual event took place on 16 November 2021 at the Volkshaus, in the company’s founding city Jena. During the virtual event, Dr. Karl Lamprecht, President and CEO of the ZEISS Group, praised the company’s successful past, celebrated its present and shared his outlook on the future.

“ZEISS’ unique history and its exceptional achievements make it a truly extraordinary company. Its 175 years also demonstrate the company’s high level of resilience and its willingness to accept change. And, above all, ZEISS’ tremendous passion, coupled with its pioneering spirit and its pragmatism in challenging and pushing the limits of the technically feasible,” said Dr. Lamprecht. “175 years of ZEISS are more than just a historical milestone in our corporate history. It’s also what motivates us to look ahead and help contribute to a bright future shaped by technological innovations.”

In a video message, German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier congratulated all ZEISS employees around the world: “175 years of ZEISS is much more than an anniversary. Its interplay of entrepreneurial spirit, drive to research, and inventiveness make the ZEISS Group a pioneer of modern industry.” The President underlined ZEISS’ responsibility as a foundation-owned company: “Thanks to Ernst Abbe’s visionary realization that economic success, scientific progress and social cohesion all go together, he set up the Carl Zeiss Foundation and thus paved the way for the company to take entrepreneurial responsibility for the common good.” He also expressed his conviction that we most definitely need this collaboration between science and industry to achieve goals like climate neutrality as well as to safeguard jobs and ensure social welfare.

“As ZEISS’ sole shareholder, the Carl Zeiss Foundation benefits in particular from the economic success of its foundation company,” said Minister Theresia Bauer, Chair of the Carl Zeiss Foundation Administration, adding: “Upwards of 300 million euros have been invested in more than 700 research projects since 2007 alone. This makes it one of the largest private foundations in Germany committed to the promotion of science. I’d like to thank all our employees for enabling us to promote science through their innovative power,” said Dr. Dieter Kurz, Chairman of the Carl Zeiss Foundation Council and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Carl Zeiss AG and SCHOTT AG. He analyzed the reasons behind ZEISS’s success: “ZEISS 175 is the fascinating story of an evolution from a small workshop with just one employee in Jena to a global market leader for the optics industry that employs 35,000 people. However, it’s a success story that’s not as straightforward as it looks today. In fact, it’s a story packed with twists and turns, ups and downs. Its long-term success has been possible because core virtues, values and skills have always been protected, while plenty of other aspects have been reinvented time and again. This is part of ZEISS’ innovation culture.”