Voigtländer

Voigtländer was one of the the world's longest-lived camera and lens makers. The brand is still used by other firms.

Bergheil Luxus 4×6.5 cm, c1911. image by eBayer Yalluflex (Image rights)

1930s Perkeo with Skopar lens image by Uwe Kulick (Image rights)

1950s Vitessa image by Alf Sigaro (Image rights)

Company history

Voigtländer was founded in 1756 in Vienna, Austria by Johann Christopher Voigtländer, as a scientific instrument maker. Voigtländer was a prominent optician and inventor, noted for his work on mathematical instruments while working at Meincke. In 1767 Voigtländer invented two very important tools, a 'classification engine for straight and tapered lines on a natural scale', and a 'circular classification engine to classify the degree rings, astrolabes and quadrants'. Johann Christopher Voigtländer was the father of Johann Friedrich Voigtländer, it is unclear who actually founded Voigtländer due to conflicting and difficult to understand terminology. According to the Voigtländer website it was Johann Friedrich Voigtländer who founded Voigtländer in 1756 but some records indicate that Johann Friedrich Voigtländer was not born until May 21st 1779. Logically it would seem that Johann Christopher Voigtländer founded the company in 1763 when then State Minister Prince Kaunitz and Empress Maria Theresa awarded him a "commerzienrath protection decree on the making of mathematical instruments, and an undetermined number of workers" (i.e. letters patent, granting an exclusive right to carry on that business). In 1797 Johann Christopher Voigtländer died and Voigtländer was taken over by his widow and his eldest sons Wilhelm Voigt and Siegmund Voigt. The company was renamed J.F. Voigtländer in 1808 when Johann Friedrich Voigtländer took operations of the company.

In 1828 Johann Friedrich Voigtländer received the Imperial Privilege (again, letters patent) for the production of periscopic glasses and opera glasses. He is also credited with the popularization of the monocle eye glass. By some accounts it was Johann Friedrich Voigtländer's son, Peter Wilhelm Friedrich von Voigtländer who, with Josef Petzval, developed the first mathmatically-calculated lens, using the knowledge and tools that his grandfather (J.C. Voigtländer) developed. This lens allowed for photographs to be taken in 1-2 minutes; until then it had taken 20-30 minutes.

In 1841 Voigtländer introduced the first metal-bodied camera, the Daguerreotype. In 1849 Voigtländer began production of the Daguerreotype.

The Move to Germany

In 1849 Voigtländer built a branch factory in Brauschweig (Brunswick) Germany under the name Voigtländer & Sohn, Optical Institute. In 1862 the company moved it's headquarters to Brunswick whick was located at Campe-Strasse and the corner of Adolf Street. In 1898 the Family owned Voigtländer offically became a public company and remained as such until 1925 when Schering AG (a chemical company at the time) bought the majority of Voigtländer and renamed it Voigt AG. By 1915 Voigtländer & Sohn had out grown it's facilies at Campe-Strasse and thus bought a facility in the Gliesmarode districk of Brunswick. By 1929 Voigtländer & Sohn (or as it was officially known Voigt AG) once again was forced to expanded their production capabilities due to the success of its line of cameras. In 1956 Schering AG sold Voigt AG to the famous Carl Ziess AG.

The former factory site of Voigtländer in Gliesmarode district as seen from Google Earth

World War I and Voigtländer

There is very little information on the companies actions during the First World War, but occasionally you can find rifle scopes and Binoculars with the Voigtländer name on them. After World War One German Industry suffered greatly so many companies merged to help fund their re-building process. Voigtländer decided not to follow this path, which when coupled with the Heidecke incident proved to be a poor decision. In 1925 they were forced to sell to Schering AG to avoid financial crisis [1].

The Heidecke Incident

Reinhold Heidecke (January 2 1881, February 26 1960) was an employee of the Voigtländer & Sohn, Optical Institute in Braunschweig from an undetermined time until 1 January 1920. He is credited as being a designer, Mechanic and a Production Manager with major influences on developing new technologies. He served in the German Navy from 20 February 1904 to 10 September 1905, then returned to Voigtländer factory. After several attempts to convince Voigtländer to produce his idea for a twin lens reflex (TLR) camera he gave up and set out with Paul Franke (who was also an employee at Voigtländer) to create Franke & Heidecke which would later become Rollei. The decision of Voigtländer to turn down the TLR idea would prove to be a critical mistake. Just five years after they turned Heidecke's idea down they were forced to sell to Schering AG.

World War II and Voigtländer

German history for this period 1939-1945, is sketchy at best. But from all accounts Voigtländer produced several products for the German Wehrmacht including but not limited to: Arial Recon Cameras, Binoculars and Rifle Scopes. During this time parts of production were moved to the Wolfenbüttel district where prisoners of war were used as labor.

Chronology

Petzval lens

• Founded by Johann Christoph Voigtländer in the year 1756 in Vienna (Austria), it was the first factory for optical instruments and precision mechanics there.
• In 1763 the company got protection by a decree from Austria's Empress Maria Theresia.
• In 1797 the state allowed Voigtländer to produce measuring instruments.
• In 1823 they got a royal privilege to produce opera binoculars.
• In 1840, shortly after the invention of photography had been published by its inventors Daguerre and Fox Talbot, Voigtländer produced the first camera lens which had been developed on the base of analytical calculations. This was an early landmark on the way to practical usage of photography. These Petzval portrait lenses had been designed and calculated by the mathematician Professor Jozef Maximilián Petzval and further developed by the company founder's grandson Peter Wilhelm Friedrich von Voigtländer. The exposure times had been reduced dramatically by using the new 149mm lenses which allowed an aperture up to 1:3.7 .
• In the following year 1841 Voigtländer introduced cameras made of metal.
• In 1862 Voigtländer had produced its 10,000th camera lens.
• In 1868 the Voigtländer headquarters moved from Austria's capital Vienna to Braunschweig in Germany.
• In 1898 Voigtländer became a stock market company.
• In 1900 the "Reise Kamera" (travel camera) was introduced.
• In 1931 Voigtländer entered the mass market with the BESSA camera for 6x9 format.
• In 1939 the VITO, their first camera for 35mm film, was well received by the customers.
• In 1955 the 4,000,000th lens had been produced.
• In 1959 they introduced the Zoomar, the world's first interchangeable zoom lens.
• In 1970 Voigtländer was merged with Zeiss-Ikon.
• In 1974 Voigtländer became part of Rollei .
• 1980 Plusfoto became Voigtländer's sales organisation.
• Since 1987 Ricoh and Chinon make cameras for Voigtländer.
• In 1994 the last part of the original Voigtländer company in Braunschweig was closed.
• In 1995 Ringfoto bought Plusfoto and the Voigtländer brand.
• In 1999 the popular 35mm viewfinder camera body Bessa L was introduced, developed and produced by Cosina

Lenses

Lenses: Heliar, Dynar and Kollinear (Image rights)

Despite the successful early metal camera designed by Voigtländer lenses were the company's main contribution to early photography in the 19th century. And the success of Voigtländer's camera lines of the 20th century was based on the quality of its lenses. At the turn from the one to the other century Voigtländer had a branch office in New York, Voigtlander & Son Optical Co. . It advertised Voigtländer lenses like the Dynar for usage with the better Kodak cameras.

The beginning was made with the Petzval lens which became a timeless standard lens for portrait photography. It is Voigtländer's great lens design of the company's days in Austria. Many cameras of renowned or unknown makers were equipped with Voigtländer lenses, mainly with the fast Petzval lens since portrait cameras were the butter-and-bread tools of the photographers. The lens had four elements, divided in two groups. The two front elements were glued together, the two back elements just placed close to each other. The lens had a characteristic vignetting and curvature of field, but it made images which were very sharp in the centre.

At the turn to the 20th century Voigtländer switched to another fast lens design, the Heliar, a symmetric lens invented by Carl August Hans Harting in 1900, improved by him as asymmetric lens in 1902. Other fine lens designs of that time were the Dynar and Kollinear lenses.

During the 20th century the Skopar and Color Skopar lenses became the standard lenses for Voigtländer's own cameras.

A milestone in camera lens making was the Zoomar, the world's first interchangeable zoom lens.

No. 9643 images by Siim Vahur (Image rights)

Lenses

• Petzval portrait lens
• Dynar, Tele-Dynar
• Collinear
• Heliar
• Radiar
• Voigtar
• Skopar
• Color Skopar
• Zoomar
• Skoparon
• Dynaron
• Lanthar, Apo-Lanthar

See here for dating the serial numbers of Voigtländer lenses.

Cameras

Early cameras

• 1840: Daguerreotyp-Apparat zum Portraitiren
• 1890: Reisekamera
• 1900: Reisekamera Typ A
• Reisekamera Tropical

35mm SLR

Bessamatic image by Rick Soloway (Image rights)

• Bessamatic
• Bessamatic de Luxe
• Bessamatic m
• Bessamatic CS
• Ultramatic
• Ultramatic CS

35mm RF, interchangeable lens

• Prominent
• Prominent II
• Vitessa T

35mm folding

• Vito
• Vito II
• Vito IIa
• Vito III
• Vitessa

35mm fixed lens

image by inetjoker (Image rights)

* Vito B, small or big finder

• Vito BL
• Vito BR
• Vitomatic I
• Vitomatic II
• Vitomatic Ia
• Vitomatic IIa
• Vitomatic Ib
• Vitomatic IIb
• Vitomatic IIIb
• Vitomatic ICS
• Vitomatic IICS
• Vitomatic IIICS
• Vito C
• Vito CD
• Vito CL
• Vito CLR
• Vito CS
• Vito CSR
• Vito Automatic
• Vito Automatic I
• Vito Automatic II
• Vito Automatic F and R
• Dynamatic
• Dynamatic II
• Vitoret
• Vitoret F
• Vitoret R
• Vitoret L / LR
• Vitoret D / DR
• Vitoret Rapid D
• Vitrona

120 folding

• Inos I (6×9)
• Inos II (6×9) (6.5x11)
• Virtus (4.5×6)
• Prominent (6×9)
• Bessa (prewar) (6×9)
• Bessa RF (6×9)
• Bessa I (6×9)
• Bessa II (6×9)
• Bessa 46 (4.5×6)
• Bessa 66 (6×6)
• Perkeo (6×6)
• Perkeo II (6×6)
• Perkeo E (6×6)
• Rollfilmkamera (6×9)

120 TLR

• Brillant
• Superb

127 folding

• Perkeo (3×4)

Folding plate cameras

• Alpin
• Alpin Rapid
• Avus
• Bergheil
• VAG

Reflex cameras

• 1905: Heliar Reflex ( 9 x 12 )
• 1908: Bijou
• 1912: Spiegel-Reflex-Kamera

Stereo cameras

• 1902: Stereoskop
• 1904: Stereophotoskop (4.5×10.7 cm plates)
• 1905: Stereo and Panorama Kamera (9×14)
• 1911: Alpin Stereo (10×15)
• 1912: Spiegelreflex-Stereo
• 1914: Stereflektoskop (6×13 cm)

Zeiss Ikon / Voigtländer

35mm SLR

For the Icarex line, see Zeiss Ikon.

35mm fixed lens

• Vitessa 500 L / 500 S / 500 AE electronic / 500 SE electronic / 1000 SR

126 film viewfinder

• Bessy k/ak/as/s
• Vitessa 126 CS / 126 electronic / 126 S electronic

Voigtländer (Rollei)

35mm SLR

With 42mm screw lenses:

• VSL 1 (TM)
• VSL 2CX automatic (prototypes)

With Rolleiflex SL35 lenses:

• VSL 1 (BM)
• VSL 2 automatic
• VSL 3-E
• Vitoflex E (prototypes)

35mm rangefinder

• VF 101 (1974–76)
• VF 102 (1974, prototype)
• VF 135 (1976–80)
• VF 35F (1981)
• XF 35 (1981)

Intermediate period

35mm

• Vito
• Vito C
• Vito CS
• Vito C-AF

110 film pocket camera

• Vitoret 110 (1976–81)
• Vitoret 110 EL (1976–81)

Cosina and Ringfoto

Long after the demise of the original Voigtländer company, the brand was re-used by Ringfoto and Cosina.

• Voigtländer-brand Ringfoto products
• Cosina Voigtländer

Links

• Voigtländer
• An Article on the Heliar Lens
• Voigtländer site by Dietrich Drescher, alias doppeld
• Voigtländer page by Frank Mechelhoff
• Schoebels' Voigtländer archive
• Voigtländer Verein Club
• Some 40 Voigtlander instruction manuals in English, scanned in PDF format, 600 dpi
• Voigtländers on ukcameras
• Voigtländer illustrated history
• Voigtländer Cameras Price Guide at CollectiBlend
• Voigtlander instruction manuals - English at Orphancameras.com
• Voigtländer Camera Manuals : Photo-Manuals.com by Ben Squire

In French :

• Cameras and user manuals at www.collection-appareils.com
• Voigtlander page at Collection G. Even's site
• [2] Ollinger's History of Voigtländer
• [3] Voigtländer on the German Wiki page.
• [4] Johann Christopher Voigtländer
• [5] Johann Friedrich Voigtländer
• [6] Peter Wilhelm Fredrich von Voigtländer
• [7] Cameras of the 1950's