Schneider Kreuznach
Jos. Schneider Optical Works GmbH, based in Bad Kreuznach is a world-renowned optics and precision mechanical companies.
Founded in 1913 in Bad Kreuznach on the Nahe, the company was officially known as Jos since 1922. Schneider Optical Works, in the logo briefly as Schneider Kreuznach. Headquarters of the international Schneider Group Bad Kreuznach. The Schneider Group after a bankruptcy in 1982 in the possession of the late 2002 Photo industrialist Henry Manderman family.
History
The company began after the establishment in 1913 by Joseph Schneider with the development and production of photographic lenses. Two years later, the first cinema projection lenses have been made . 1920, the first wide-angle lenses were calculated for the large format. Characteristic of the world's most successful product developments from the mid- 1920s to the late 1930s, was the chief designer Wilhelm Albrecht Tronnier.
The first lenses with variable focal length have been developed in 1957. The area developed precision engineering, producing and marketing since 1961, electro-hydraulic and electro-pneumatic servo valves with electronic controllers. Schneider led in 1964 as one of the first producers zoom lenses for film, photography and watch TV. 1972 Schneider expanded with the distribution subsidiary Schneider Optics Inc. in the United States. The crisis of cine photography in the early 1980s had existential significance for Schneider. The now converted into a corporation and guided by Hans Joseph Schneider company was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1982. New majority shareholder, investor and business leaders was the photo entrepreneur Heinrich Manderman.
Since 1984 Spectacle lenses of silicate and plastic are in sales program. With the acquisition of the B W filter factory in 1985 and the production of cheese man - polarization elements in glass and plastic, the business photo filter was added. Aspherical Large format lenses are manufactured since 1999, modern cinema projection lenses with iris since 2003 on the market.
The Schneider Group expanded from 1997 through the establishment of subsidiaries PENTACON Photo and Precision Engineering ( part of the former Kombinat VEB Pentacon, Dresden), through the acquisition of Century Precision Optics in the U.S., the integration of ISK OPTICS GmbH (formerly ISCO group Göttingen ) and the establishment of branches in South Korea, Hong Kong and China.
1997 Heinrich Manderman was for health reasons, the management completely to Peter Weber from which he had appointed in 1992 as Managing Director. After the death of Henry Manderman 2002 his daughter Ethel Cygler became the main shareholder of Jos. Schneider Optical Works GmbH. Since early 2003, Josef Staub is the sole managing director.
Schneider Group
At the Schneider group include not only the Jos was founded in 1913. Schneider Optical Works GmbH with headquarters in Bad Kreuznach, Germany, six subsidiaries:
- Pentacon GmbH Dresden
- ISK OPTICS GmbH, Göttingen
- Schneider Optics, Inc. New York & Los Angeles, United States
- Schneider Bando Ltd.. Seoul, South Korea
- Schneider Asia Pacific Ltd.. Hong Kong
- Schneider Optical Technologies (Shenzhen ) Co. Ltd.. Shenzhen, China
Current activities and products
Core competencies of the company are:
- Optical design,
- Mechanical design,
- Measurement technique for optical systems (MTF, interferometry, spectrophotometry, etc.)
- High-quality optics manufacturing (including aspherical lens )
- Precision mechanics,
- Design and manufacture of thin film systems.
Current areas of activity include:
- Contact measurement techniques using digital image processing,
- Image acquisition and processing
- Digital projection (LCD, DMD)
- Appliances for optical instruments
Schneider- Kreuznach specializes in the development and production of high-performance lenses. The product range includes taking lenses for small format and large format lenses, including closures for digital photography, magnifying lenses, cinema projection lenses for all popular formats of analog and digital technology, projectors and lenses for the Home Cinema section, lenses for various technical applications, magnifiers for visual inspection, photographic filter (B W filter) for digital and analog ( black and white and color film ) photography and software filters for digital image processing, optical filters for various industrial applications, electro-hydraulic and electro-pneumatic servo valves with electronic controllers and single vision, multifocal and progressive lenses.
In digital photography Schneider- Kreuznach is cooperating with the camera manufacturers Kodak, Samsung and Phase One / Mamiya. Even in areas of digital cinema projection, the Home Cinema, E-Cinema and the simulation Schneider -Kreuznach is active.
Schneider- Kreuznach is or was also a producer / developer of medium-format lenses for Hasselblad (V- series ) Rollei (6000 series), Alpa ( provided with removal auger large format lenses), Exakta ( Exakta 66 with P6- bayonet ) and Phase One / Mamiya.
Special Events
NASA began their space missions " Lunar Orbiter " of the Apollo program from 1959 to 1976 and in the space shuttle flights since 1990 Schneider lenses. In preparation for the first lunar landing Schneider lenses supplied imagery for mapping of the moon.
The company (or its employees) were 1976, 1978, 1989, 2000, 2001 and 2006, the " Technical Achievement Award", awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences by analogy with the Oscars.:
The " Simon Optical Works " from the TV mini-series Heimat - A German Chronicle (1984) and Heimat 3 - A Chronicle of Endings and Beginnings ( 2004), the company Schneider -Kreuznach modeled.