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Journal of the

ZEISS HISTORICA Society

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Vo •. 3 No.2 Fall 1981
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 The Zeiss Historica Society of America is an educational. non-
profit society dedicated to the study and exchange of information
on the history of the Carl Zeiss optical company and affiliates, its \,
people and products from 1846 to the present.

OFFICERS

FOUNDER
THOMAS SCHREINER
PRESIDENT
RANDALL SCHEID
PRESIDENT -ELECT
NICHOLAS GROSSMAN
TREASURER
MEAD KIBBEY
ARCHIVIST
LAWRENCE GUBAS

ALL ENQUIRIES SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO THE EDITOR

RANDALL SCHEID

P.O . BOX 525 Streetsville Ontario Canada L5M 2C1

TABLE OF CONTENTS
II II
Cover photo

cARLlEISs
Photograph taken by Biskoff - 1927, of the world- renowned glass
chemist who through his experimental glass- melts, put glass on a
scientific basis and in partnership with the Carl Zeiss Works made
optical glass which had no peers. The background painting is of Dr.
Ernst Abbe mentor and friend.

OTTO SCHOTT .. ... ... .. ........ . . ... .....

THE ZEISS NEOPHOT
ZEISS IKON STEREO EQUIPMENT .... . .......
3
6
8
JENA
ZEISS PHOTO EXPOSURE METERS . .. ... . .. . . 10
ZEISS HISTORICA LICHT STRAHLEN .... . .. .. 11

II ILLUSTRATION SOURCES

COVER PHOTO
Courtesy of Schott Glassworks, Mainz
Pgs. 3, 4 and 5
Author's collection
Pg 7 - Zeiss M ikro 500 catalog - ca . 1939
West Germany
Pg 8 - Author's collection The above historical trademarks, present day trademarks, and
Pg . 9 - M Kibbey various product names are the property of I Carl Zeiss and are
used with permission.
Pg. 10 - Author's collection
Back Cover
© Zeiss Historica Society. 1981. All rights reserved under Pan Ame rican and
Contax Kurz Schule, 1934 Universal Copyright Conventions by Zeiss Historica Soci ety . Reproducuon
without permission is prohibited .

2 5chry(:rs ' [Link] lc s I I\C

 .•. -=- ,..:...;:.. __ .
.. - _.

Pen and ink drawing by X .A . Klinkhardt Lpzg., of the first glass first named Glass Technical Laboratory Schott & Associates, and
factory of DR. OTTO SCHOTT, founded with the help of Carl and later JENAer GLASWERK.
Roderic Zeiss and Dr. Abbe. Opened on September 1, 1884, it was

OTTO SCHOTT
the alchemist from
WITTEN an dem Ruhr
Thoma s S chreiner, Buffalo n.y.

The glassmaker's craft is an old one and of itinerant character. felt at home with the glassmakers who were known to be jolly
Like the shepherd who wandered from one pasture to the next, and always thirsty hosts, and who also were likely to surpass their
the glassmaker went wherever there was wood. He needed it for guests in frol icking .
his furnace and for the potash . Since he was not allowed to burn
down forests, he was forced by law to travel from place to place, The ancient art of glassmaking which originated in the time of
even in ancient times . Like the ancient ironworkers the the Pharaohs, was brought to Germany by the Romans. The first
glassmakers, too, had to live a life of utter isolation in the dark of glassworks were built in Cologne on the Rhine, and expanded
the forests . westward into Lorraine and eastward into Bohemia.

Thus it came about an inn was established at each of the Toward the end of the eighteenth century, two events occured
glassworks. Couriers and journeymen, hunters and hunting parties in rapid succession which, more than any other measure, halted
3
the roamings of the glassmakers: the invention of the steam
engine, which allowed coal to be mined cheaply and replaced
wood as his fuel for the glass furnace; and the industrial produc-
tion of soda which rendered the costly potash superfluous. Thus
the making of glass became inexpensive, and a new industry -
making window glass by machine ... started.

The basic ingredients of glass · sand, lime and potash or soda.

and the proportions for mixing were closely guarded secrets of
the glassmakers.

Ancient glass which has a greenish tinge was called CROWN, a

name which originated from the mode of manufacture, and in
1609 was used by GALILEO in the construction of his telescope.
Toward the end of the 17th century, a second type of glass FLINT
was produced in England by adding flintstone to the ingredients.

FLINT glass has twice the color dispersion of CROWN glass, and remained transparent and isotropic. This property, to sol idify
and therefore the possibility of compensating the color errors of and remain transparent. occured in glass becaL,se it does not -
Crown. Flint glass lenses became a reality when in 1758 the against all rules of nature - crystallize. Schott sitting in front of his
English optician DOLLOND succeeded in constructing achromatic small alchemist's stove, had another stroke of genius . .. if one
telescopes by combining a convex lens of Crown glass with a could compose the mass cf glass in an unorthodox way, it should
hollow-cut lens made of Flint glass, thus the troublesome rainbow be possible to er,dow the glass with other physical properties. If
colors of Crown glass diminished in the picture; but a colored this were possible, then it should necessarily be possible as well
edge, a so-called "secondary spectrum" persisted . to create the 'new-fangled' glass wanted by Professor Abbe for
his microscopes and telescopes .
While LOMONOSSOW carried out extensive experiments in
Russia, FRAUNHOFER in Munich (1814) succeeded in combining
seven oxides in glass which he utilized in his famous astronomical
instruments, unfortunately his glass formulas were carried to the
grave, as was the secret of making large pieces of Flint glass.

Immediately following the Fraunhofer experiments the name

JENA appears for the first time in the history of glass. In 1829,
the prominent chemist. Prof DOBEREINER in Jena, commenced
experiments in glass smelting and he introduced barium and later
strontium as variations in the formula, but was not successful in
making a viable product.

In 1846, CARL ZEISS was granted . .. 'a License to Manufac-

ture and sell Mechanical and Optical Instruments, and to establish
a Mechanical Workshop', and by the 1860's with the assistance
of his foreman LOBER, produced microscopes of a quality that
gained world-wide attention, although hampered and frustrated
by his inability to produce objectives and eyepieces with a degree Residence of the S IMON SCHOTT family.
of uniformity from pre-calculations. During this period Zeiss also Witten a. d. Ruhr. Germany.
repaired and constructed scientific instruments for the natural It was in the basement of this house that Simon Schott' s son OTTO
science Professors at the University of Jena . As fate would have It in 1879 established an alchemist's hole to look into the heart of
. .. in 1863 Prof ERNST ABBE joined the faculty as a lecturer glass. From these experiments and friendship with Prof Abbe and
and thus became friends with Zeiss and soon took an interest in Carl Zeiss of Jena, the Zeiss Works gained world- renown
the optical problems of his microscopes . This liason expanded
and in 1866, Abbe joined the Zeiss firm as 'First Scientific One day in May 1879, Schott melted f luxes containing the rare
Assistant' and by 1869 began his studies of optical laws. lithium oxide. It was glass. but necessarily glass of a different
physical property. Schott packed these pieces in cotton, com -
In 1876, Abbe attended the London International Exhibition of posed a first letter (May 27, 1879) to Prof Abbe requesting th e
Scientific Apparatus, and later in his report stressed that the only pieces be tested, and posted it to Jene;. Schott's lithium glass did
remaining possibility for improving these instruments would be not have the hoped for optical properties however, Abbe was im-
the elimination of the 'secondary spectrum' ... thru a 'new pressed by the young chemist and thus began a lifelong frie no"
fangled' .. . kind of glass . ship.

Since Abbe was already considered the highest authority in the During 1 880, their started an [Link] of letters, sometimes
field of optical apparatus construction, his word was law. stormy, between Abbe and Schott on thefutu(e of glass mixes,
the need for a larger laboratory and the possibility of a glass fac -
As luck would have it, fate smiled again when this report was tory; which culminated in frequent visit& to Jena to talk about the
read by a young glassmaker from WITTEN by the name of DR. big glass problems. During this year Schott continued to manufac-
OTTO SCHOTT, who was born in 1851, and was the son of a ture research glasses which comprised one hundred and thirty
glassmaker from Lorraine, who in turn descended from test-meits all of whiCh were also packed off to Jena for t<lsting .
glassmakers and ashburners. In 1879 Schott set up an Abbe, meanwhile had set-up a small experimental station to test
'alchemists hole' in the basement of his father's home in Witten the optical properties of the arriVing bits of glass. In the autumn of
to look into the heart of glass. He soon realized that glass could 1881 it happened! The ninety-third trial was the lucky one ... if
be made from more and different kinds of earth and metal oxides, it was combined with glass from the experimental melt 77 , the'
and that it varied from other melt-fluxes only in that it solidified secondary spectrum' disappeared almost completely

4
 In 1883, Prof Abbe selected seven new types of Schott optical some repute. Thus in 1886 DR . PAUL RUDOLPH joined the
glass and constructed two experimental microscope objectives mathematics department of Carl Zeiss, and at first assisted Abbe
(4mm-0.86NA and a 25mm-0.3NA) . The Berlin instrument maker in computing microscope objectives!
C. BAMBERG, who was closely associated with Carl Zeiss, tells us
that the first of these lenses gave a definition - 'as has perhaps In 1888, Abbe re-calculated the formulae for astigmatism and
not been accomplished before combined with great brightness thus provided an important pre-requisite for lens design. In the
and complete correction of every trace of chromatic abberation same year the glass laboratory offered an additional thirteen op-
the secondary spectrum. tical glasses. In this whirl of activity Abbe commissioned Rudolph
to compute photographic lenses and establish a lens department.
Meanwhile, (1882) Schott had moved permanently to Jena and The proposed lens was a triplet. but after much calculation and
with personal funds financed a laboratory. One year later it took experimentation Rudolph was unsuccessful with Abbe's ideas and
it's first test melt but the results were far different from what began to work on his own, which soon generated a very fortunate
Abbe and Schott had hoped for, the results on a large scale did idea , , , he combined an old Achromat with it's diffusing cemen-
not measure up to the promises of the Witten experiments. ted surface with a so-called new Achromat made of high-
Schott worked like a madman, and slowly, very slowly the first refracting crown glass and low-refracting flint glass with a collec-
successes materialized. ting cemented surface. In this manner, Rudolph succeeded in
correcting at one and the same time the aperture error and the
The decision to expand Schott's laboratory into a factory came image field curvature, thus forming a basis for an entirely new
at the end of 1883, when Carl and his son Roderich Zeiss, Abbe type of lens system which was first marketed (1888) under the
and Schott signed a founders contract, with additional funding name ANASTIGMAT and subsequently in 1890 as PROT ARS.
coming from the Prussian Government. One September 1, 1884; Rudolph continued his use of the new Schott optical glass in the
Mrs. Abbe lit the fire in the first furnace of the new factory which PLANAR lens of 1896; the UNAR of 1899 and it's legendary suc-
at first was named 'GLASS TECHNICAL LABORATORY SCHOTT cessor of 1902 ... the TESSAR.
and ASSOCIATES' .
Schott's glass miracles continued to assist photography when
The first item manufactured was a special glass for ther- in 1905 he produced a yellow glass colored in the mass which is
mometers which is still used to this day, this was followed by a graded in it's transparency with respect to the different colors of
compound glass for water-level pipes of steam boilers, and in the spectrum . Later, 1907 the ZEISS WORKS introduced the
1893 a special borosilicate glass insensitive to sudden changes in 'DUKAR' filters of reddish yellow glass which had graded tran-
temperature which made the invention of the new "Welsbach smission properties in two maxima and a slight diverging effect
Light" possible, and Jena glass conquered the world . for use with the Autochrome Color Process invented by the
Lumiere Brothers.
In 1886, Prof Abbe completed his calculations for six new
microscope objectives utilizing the new glass shown in Schott's In 1885, the physicist Prof. DR. SIEGFRIED CZAPSKI was ap-
first published price list; this list enumerated fourty-four kinds of pointed to the Zeiss staff by Abbe personally, and a glance at the
optical glass, among them twenty completely new ones whose journals and letters of the time indicates that he was directed to
optical qualities were indicated by exact measurement. and in- achieve the same success with telescopes as Abbe had done for
cluded several named barium crown which as we shall see gave a microscopes. The practical testing to the new types of glass for
new impedus to photographic optics. astronomical telescope objectives was carried out at first by the
optical workshop of Car Bamberg in Berlin, as noted in a report of
!" . Abbe dated November 9, 1885. In any case, Bamberg exhibited at
1" '.~ r;r I ·"'"
O ........ UD.

I the Conference of Natural Research Scientists in September 1886

.1' .... ,. h.. ' f I
,'. I" ' ~'-'I--- '~ -. -

I -0. c!:!.:, uicl<tu "W~I'I"d_CrfJ"'n. 1:)I!>~1 O,<X'!131 ,o,n i

""~~.~ O.I ~,~,',!l' 1 [Link],~~ ! 2.!l" t .'.",.~. i 'U._ in Berlin telescope objectives with apertures of 105 to 174mm,
:r. . ·iU ,llfftl,.,.e. " ""lfplw.t.(;o" .>V1n I,~~'JO O,(O<J.'> "';.~ "! ',~,? i ".!{,~-:,; ! "''',~:; ; 1,"1 .1<.... 1"n ._
which were ground according to the calculations of Abbe's
I"'.
:',::: .;';' :: : ::~~ :: ,: :~~' !::~: ~; :;',: ',~:'.:":": : :~.'~ \: : ~
, I ,-"0 1 ·7.::;"';';."~:"," ",- ,,w.- 'N"' 0,",," colleague Czapski from the new types of glass developed by
1 S.I.-, .'icI",.~ ..M""J/",.I"",_I"",~. l.~~""', [Link].l2"~ Gl,l
1'1,.(J !_t'"mc7< I Schott. In 1875 Abbe was appointed director of the astronomical
O. lH I n_,,_.·iilt,~,t-('r"' ..n ! !.~lno ().OO7~ll : ,,~,O
"! ',:':~:; "."' . ",C' ._.~_, II,,,'· ,..·I",.,I.j.,.. : observatory at the University of Jena, but soon found that the in-
n • .-.7 iJ.c,,'hlcS Sihcttt-(;rvwn \ 1,,_"1i "."»02:' 1'01." " ... ~.,.~,
."."
".,(r,;~ ,
"'''' I
" ... "",;,t
......
t.~r.

struments were in need of replacement, utilizing his own funds,

O. ~n S,ho.;llt-Cr","" 1 1'!'!~r. 0.10184'1 1:11.:)

O. ';1) Ih~lk-Sil":"I-t:rn""D J.~17:1 fI."kt'(ju I 1:11.::

the Berlin firm of C. Bamberg supplied a 200mm refractor

:~': :': ,: ,: :":,: : '~: 1 ~':, ::::::I:,: :

telescope with the new glass, which became operational in April
""',~,'~~:' I o.t),~-~.: I "''',~,~~~: Io~':".;::,~'~' ~"", .....-I.' I~'. ,. •.•.
1891. That Schott products were soon valued by the leading op-
: ':'::'
2.'N ,;U. _
tical manufacturers is illustrated again when, C,H. STEINHEIL in
I I I' :'I"~'. I
I )J ",~:::~:: ! ",(-.~r,:~ I>.",~!.~ 1.~1 1
I I I I I"' " Munich (1896, produced the lens system for the large telescope
~::~.:'~:.":~:~,It~·:,!:~:m•. " I::::II~~ ~::::,: i:::::.1,
~~I ~~~ ~: ::~~T":
:: :: :::: I at the ARCHENHOLD Observatory in Berlin with two large blocks
I .
II O. 1:1 l\~[Link]~.-(;rown I I'~~'ZII j "."~"I : :,"'.Il of Jena glass.
I~ - O. I:, Zink·Silicu-Cruwn '1 1:i~ "" I
n.I _'.)) ~' I ~,,...u
'0.::11
1
i .v. .,,,,,,,,,,,~
I ..ut.{.')',,>cn I
nur/"", - ."111· \ 1.~111; II,'..... U.. !~;.~ ",I l,~,:~; 1 "'().~~~: Il.",~.~;; .I.:!I How shall we take the measure of this man? " . this
p i 0. 1:':' 1SIII(.. t·t:r"wngh~ I ..:,100 I ",I(I':I(» ! :,.,2 (I.",~,,:,~ ! O,~.;,~ ' '''''':;'~'I' ~.~:I
GLASDOKTOR from Witten . , . who contributed so much to the
growth and reputation of the Zeiss Works.
First Schott Glass Catalog - July 1886 - Page 1,
In 1952, upon the completion of the new JENA GLASWERK at
Mainz, Germany there was unveiled in the main foyer a mosaic
It should be noted that the new microscope objectives were not
mural that perhaps sums up the life's work succinctly '" it
successful. several contained glass which was unstable and in hot
shows 'THE THIRTEEN CHIMNEY'S OF JENA'.
or humid climates they soon began to devitrify so making them
useless. It wasn't until 1 894 and the introduction of the third Research - Thomas R. Schreiner - Principal references :

series of microscope lenses that stable glass was used. • LETTERS AND DOCUMENTS ON THE HISTORY OF THE JENAER GLASWERK SCHOTT &
ASSOCIATES I Herbert Kuhnert 1957 I Gustave Fischer Verlag.
• ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF OPTICAL GLASS I. Vogel. Gerth and Heindorf I Jena Review -
Schott's introduction of barium crown glass as a replacement 1965. 1 - p. 75 .
for the traditional flint type in the manufacture of photographic • THE ODYSSEy OF 41 GLASSMAKERS I Walther Kieulehn 1959 I Scholl-Meinz.
lenses had great potential. Prof Abbe contacted a young genius in • SCHOn SCHRIFTEN I Prof. Dr. Walter Hehland 1957 I Scholl-Mainz.
the employ of the Hugo Meyer Optical Company in Gorlitz who in • DR . ono SCHOn ZUM GEDACHTNIS DER 100. WIEDERKEHR SEINES GEBURTSTAGES AM
1884 had designed the PLASM AT and EURYPLAN lenses of 17 DECEMBER 1951 I Hans Schimank I Deutschen Glastechnischen Gesellschaft. Frankfurt (Main ).

5
 THE ZEXSS NEOPHOT W illia m M. Dann er

A metallograph is a special inverted microscope combined with possible to see the ground glass while the operator was at the
a light source and a camera, and used primarily for m aking ocu lar tube, if he so desired . At the bottom of the body may be
micrographs of opaque objects . seen the two focusing knobs. That in the rear, with a large locking
knob to its rear, is the coarse adjustment which moves the stage.
The Neophot is a metallograph introdu ced by Carl Zeiss in The vernier adjustment at the front is the fine-focusing knob
1938 In 1939 and 1940 I was in the metallurgical department of which moves the vertical illuminator so it is not affected by any
the Aliquippa Works of the Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation, load on the stage. The two long, leather-covered spindles seen in-
and part of my job was the making of micrographs with a brand- side the camera rails in photo 1 are directly connected to these
new Neophot. This was one case of duty being a pleasure. If Carl knob s so that focusing can be done if necessary from the rear of
Zeiss over-looked any refinements to make the instrument better the instrument while examining the ground glass. Th is view
and easier to use, two years were not enough for me to discover show s also the four very effective shock mounts at the corners of
such oversights. Unfortunately, the work I did wa s almost entirely the optical ben ch.
the making of bright-field micrographs, so I never had an op-
The lenses provided made possible visual examination at from
portunity to try any of the other sorts of work for which at -
40x to 1800x, and for micrographs slight additional "empty"
tachments were provided .
magnification could increase it to 2000x or over, depending upon
the bellows extension. For the highest magnifications an oil-
Photo I shows the entire Neophot except for the very sturdy immersion objective was used, and several times I had occasion
table that supported it and the fitted wooden case for lenses and to make 5 x 7 negatives at 2000x which were perfectly sharp
accessories. At the extreme right is the clockwork-driven carbon and clear to the corners.
arc light which, once adjusted, would provide an intense and ab-
solutely uniform light for 40 minutes or more without further at- I might mention that most of the micrographs I made were for
tention. Just in front of it is a water-cell filter consisting of a investigators who were looking into claims of defective steel or
tubular porcelain body with optical flats front and rear and a unsuitability by customers . A small piece taken at a fracture, for
corked opening at the top . This was filled with distilled water with example, was mounted in babbitt or, in a heated mounting press
a dye (I don't recall what dye) to absorb the heat from the arc. made for the purpose, in bakelite or lucite. This was rough ground
Additional filters could be attached to the front of the cell. Next is on a wheel, smoothed on a sanding belt followed by hand sanding
shown what appears to be a condenser, but this was not on the on successively finer papers, and then polished wht levigated
instrument I used. Next is the low-intensity light source, a 40-watt alumina and one or two grades of polishing alumina on horizontal
incandescent lamp in a tubular enclosure, mounted on a circular laps. Careful polishing in the way can produce a surface in which
mask with a small center hole to exclude extraneous light from n o scratches are apparent at 2000x magnification. For
the optical path . This light. like the condenser, may be swung out examination the surface is lightly etched in nita!. a preparation of
of the optical path for use of the arc, which is much too powerful 5% nitric acid in absolute alcohol. This brings out the structure of
for visual examinations. the metal so that dirt, inclusions, piping, etc. , are clearly shown.

Photo 2 shows a closeup of the microscope body surmounted In 1941 I was transferred to the Pittsburgh Works of the firm ,
by the combination illuminator and the specimen stage--the only where the metallurgical department had a similar instrument made
one of several possible arrangements that I used . The usual by Bausch & Lomb. To the eye it was more attractive than the
rotating micrometer stage, which is very heavily constructed, has Neophot but. as the old saying goes, beauty is as beauty does. In
an additional plate which may be moved against friction in any using the Neophot, with the elbows resting on the table the hands
direction for quickly finding the exact area of the specimen to be fall naturally on the controls. In using the B & L, on the other hand,
examined . The objective lenses, designed for the Neophot and not when the hands are on the controls, the elbows hang in midair,
usable in other microscopes, were simply inserted in the top of which is very tiring in a long investigation . For illumination the B &
the illuminator body ; since the microscope is an inverted one no L used a mercury-vapor arc which, though theoretically more con-
threads or other fastenings are necessary. In line with the objec- venient that the carbon arc, in practice gave a great deal of
tive vertically and with the optical path horizontally is a prism trouble because of burning of the socket contacts, resulting in un-
beam-splitter, so that the specimen is illuminated with a normal certain and, in any case, less intense illumination than with the
beam of light through the objective itself. though there is Neophot arc .
provision for oblique illumination if desired . The returning rays of
the image are reflected by another prism at the bottom of the Developments in microscopy are such that today the Neophot
body into the ocular tube for visual examination. When the is obsolete or at least obsolescent. I have been unable to find out
desired spot was in the field and focused it was necessary only to whether the one at J & L is still in use and, if not, what its
swing the incandesent light out of the way, start the arc, pull out dispostion has been. The metallurgist for a specialty steel com-
the knob seen in the front of the illuminator body, and make the pany told me that his firm has a Neophot which is carefully stored
exposure by means of the shutter on the camera. I have never away and that routine investigations are made with an electron
seen a diagram of the interior of the illuminator, but I presume microscope or with an optical metallograph that is much more
that pulling the knob out inserts an additional prism to direct the compact and uses rollfilm . If you have the room for it (it's at least
image into the tube seen extending to the left of the body, which six feet long) and feel so inclined hunt around a bit. If you can find
is fastened to the lens board of the camera . one it might be obtainable quite reasonably, and it's a beautiful
This tube is removable and can be replaced with one of several example of the art of Carl Zeiss at its best.
Tessar lenses for ordinary photograph s or with special at-
tachments for low-power magnification . The camera bellows is In the mid-40s a B & L representative who visited the plant told
provided with backs for either 5 x 7 or 4 x 5 holders and, while I me a sad little story. The last half-dozen Neophots shipped to the
used both, by far most work was done with 4 x 5 Wratten U.S ., just at the beginning of the war, were on a steamer that was
Metallographic plates. A mirror at the rear of the camera made it sunk by a German submarine.

6
 PHOTO 1

PHOTO 2

· ,

7
 ZEISS IKON
STEREO EQUIPMENT

Zeiss Ikon manufacturered stereo cameras long before World

War II. In about 1940, they took the route of manufac turing
stereo attachments for their Contax camera, in order that one
camera could be used either for normal photography or for stereo
photography After the war, they came out with more stereo att-
chments for their other ca meras, along wrth stereo viewers,
projec tor stereo heads, and many other stereo accessories.

The two types of Zeiss Ikon stereo attachments made were the
o and 00 stereo units. The 0 units are the Steritar A, B, Close-up
B, and D. With these units, the prism produces two images
through the one standard lens of the camera, and exchanges
these images. Only 0 viewers can be used for these tran-
sparencies. The 00 unit is the post-war and pre-war Stereotar C
This unit produces two images through two lenses and the
images are not exchanged . Only 00 viewers can be used for these
transparencies. All of the Zeiss stereo units produce two stereo
half images side by side, upright and 16 x 23 mm each in size on
Steritar A on Contaf/ex
a normal 24 x 36 mm frame . When using any of these units, it is
possible to switch from stereo photography to normal
photography on the same film strip by simply taking off the
stereo unit and putting on the normal lens.

When using the Steritars A , B, Close-up Band 0 , the split-

image rangefinder cannot be used . One has to either guess the
focus, or focus on the ground glass . If it is necessary to use a stop
larger than f 5 .6, the separator shield should be inserted into the
front of the prism attachment in order to obtain a satisfactory
separation of the half-images.

The post-war Stereotar C consists of two 35 mm f 3 .5

Stereotar lenses. The pre-war version has two 35 mm f 4
Stereotar lenses. In the post-war version, the diaphragms can be
adjusted simultaneously and the camera rangefinder used, but in
the pre-war version, the camera rangefinder is not coupled. For
shots from 8 ft . to infinity, the prism attachment should be used .
For shots from 2-3 /4 ft . to 8 ft ., the Stereotar unit should be used
by itself. Although the post-war Stereotar C was designed for use
on the Contax lIa and lila, it can also be used on the Contax II and
III. However, when used on the Contax II and III, the rangefinder
will not be coupled. The pre-war version can also be used on any
Contax, but without the use of the camera rangefinder.

o Stereo Viewer with Battery Housing

8
S fEREDTAR C (543[70/
Designed for use on Contax models I, /I, and III. Stereotar fits into
the camera in place of the lens and does not couple to the camera
rangefinder. Circa 1940.

Contax s tereo accessorie s ( pre and p os t- w ar) w i th 00 viewe r

9
 ZEISS PHOTO EXPOSURE METERS L a rry Guhas. New York

Serial numbers such as those presented in the spring issue by

Nick Grossman are always interesting but sometimes baffling . The
numbers prior to 1930 are not consistent with those after 1930.
However they are consistent from that po int until the early 1960's
when the entire numbering scheme was revised . A case on this
point could be the light meters that Zeiss Ikon produced in that
time frame.

The earliest example was the Diaphot / Kidiaphot. an extinction

type . it was a carryover from the Ica catalog that appeared in the
catalogs through 1932 and held the product number 1321 . The
next exposure meter to be marketed was the Helios (circa 1937)
as 1325 and was accompanied by the rotating wedge rangefinder
and exposure meter combination. the Helicon. as 1326 . I have
been able to document that the first IKOPHOT appeared during
the war years (1943). It was a rectangularized. black and chrome
selenium celled item (1328) that wa s reconfigured after the war
into the familiar cream colored model in the brown fitted case and
gilt wrist chain (1329) that prospered until the late 1950·s.

The question at this point is to fill in the blanks :

1321 Diaphot/ Kidiaphot

1322 Mystery number one
1323 Mystery number two
1324 Mystery number three
1325 Helios
1326 Helicon 1325 HELlOS (1937)
1327 Mystery number four
1328 Wartime Ikophot
1329 Post War Ikophot

I propose that the blanks can be filled with the meters that
were installed in the cameras in the prewar years. 1327 would be
easy to define since the Super Ikonta ex was the last of them to
enter the product line. Then. 1324 can be defined as the Contax
III which followed the Contaflex onto the market. The Contaflex
(TLR) would then be 1323 but 1322 is now a problem. Have we
any other candidates? Well. think back to Mead Kibbey 's 1980
article on his visit to Oberkochen. He attached to the article the
patent drawing for an exposure meter designed to be in-
corporated into the body of the Contax I. Doctor Kuppenbender
filed this document with the US Patent Office on November 15.
1934.

It is certainly food for thought but alas. I can not prove it.

A few asides lest I misinform-

1. Almost all of the USA distributed pre-war pricelists. flyers.

catalogs etc . have no product numbers listed . You have to go to
the foreign catalogs or to the cameras themselves for the num-
bers.
2 . The Helios and Helicon were not the greatest of successes but
the Helicon was discontinued first and in many instances the
Helios was renamed the Helicon (so much for Teutonic con-
sistency) .
3 . The Kidiaphot and the Diaphot were physical indentical except
for a different scale system (a paper insert) for movies (Kidiaphot) 1328IKOPHOT(1943)
and still cameras (Diaphotl.
10
 ZEISS HISTORICA
LICHT STRAHLEN*
(0 light rays)

A department for various items of interest and importance

HISTORY OF THE CONT AX - This master-work on "CONTAX-

GESCHICHTE" 1 932-45 by member Hans-Jurgen Kuc was
published during the summer, and has quickly earned acclaim
from Zeiss historians/ collectors. It contains the biography of the
CONT AX-system up to 1945, being full of detailed notes and
illustrations, as well as some real surprises such as the 210 0 Con-
tax Fisheye-Iens from WW2! This excellent book with 133 pages
and 115 illustrations (format A5 6"x8") along with the translated
English Companion Guide (70 pages) is available from the author
at $27 .50 U.S.
Hans-Jurgen Kuc, Alte Landstrasse 156, D-2000 Hamburg 63,
West Germany.

CONTAX (Model One) DIFFERENTIATING GUIDE - A guide to the

Contax (black enamel) variants using the differences in front cover
plate shapes, which was mentioned in the last issue, is now being
expanded into a co-authored article to be published in future
issues. In the meantime, H.J. Kuc's book includes a direct-reading
chart to disclose the variations made in March 1932, October
1932 and so forth to the end of 1935.

COLLECTOR'S HINTS - Several collectors have mentioned ideas

w hich may assist those looking for Zeiss collectables. Your editor
has found that classified ads in newspapers receive better respon-
ses when the ad specifically asks for "Zeiss" items instead of the
usual " old cameras". Ads that are keyed to specific items seem to
engage owners of those items more than any of the ads for " old
cameras wanted".

It was also mentioned that substantial photographic outfits will

oc casionally be disposed of through estate lawyers handling a
sale, in fact. the more patrician the estate, the better the chance
that lawyers are involved . So letters, or cards sent to likely firms
may bring a surprise call that some old cameras, microscopes,
etc . are included in an estate. The wonderful Contax set seen on
th is page (and at several photographica fairs this year) was
bought up upon a call from estate lawyers.

Most replies mentioned that having an honest interest in the

history of Zeiss, and letting as many people as possible know
ab out it are the keys to success.

BRAND Z LENS - For years a famous series of ads ran, "When

better cars are made, Buick will build them". Now we can say
" Wh en Super Elmars are made, Zeiss will build them" . This first
came to our attention when Z-H founder, Tom Schreiner noted a
stro ng sensation of "deja vu" when looking over specifications
and lens-cutaways of the 1 5mm f3.5 Super-Elmar-R objective for
Leit z reflex cameras introduced at Photokina ' 80. When he placed
the lens diagrams and specs for the Zeiss Distagon f3.5 - 15mm
beside the Super-Elmar it seemed to become a case of double
ision. Actually, sources within the Leitz organization confirm that
Super-Elmar was indeed born Distagon, and we wish them every
su cc ess .

In t he same vein, the editorial comments in vol. 3 no. 1 about

he present·dilY Yashica-made Contax SLR cameras using
Oberkocr en-made lenses provoked both some negative and
positiv e comments, however the most positive point will come if
rum ou red new lenses for the Contax- Yashica do appear from
Oberkoc hen during 1982. The viability of the photographic lens
design department would be much more difficult if these modern
day Contaxes did not exist
11