At 17:22 1/6/00 , Bob Woodburn wrote:
>Hi OM'ers -
>
>Have any of you had any experience with the Zeiss 28-80 f4 zoom for OM?
>If so, how would you evaluate it?
Be careful about the "Zeiss" name. "Carl Zeiss" makes lenses. Bear with
me as I explain what this lens really is. It was made and sold prior to
the reunification of Germany, so the terms and names used about Carl Zeiss
in this posting are ones used prior to the reunification.
It was *not* designed or manufactured by Carl Zeiss, Stuttgart (West
Germany) or VEB Carl Zeiss Jena (East Germany). It is a run-of-the-mill
Japanese designed and manufactured zoom with VEB Carl Zeiss Jena's name on
it. You haven't seen them in the U.S. because VEB Carl Zeiss Jena couldn't
use their name here (a U.S. Supreme Court decision prohibited it). It was
most likely sold to its original owner somewhere in western Europe where
the name could be used legally.
In manufacturing this lens would be referred to as a "pass-through" which
is something made by someone else that you buy from them and put your name
on (or have them put your name on) before reselling it. It is not a Bad
lens, but about average among the aftermarket lenses made for the OM in its
era (e.g. Vivitar, Tamron, etc.). Neither does it deserve association with
the reputation that Carl Zeiss (Stuttgart) lenses have and that *some* of
the VEB Carl Zeiss Jena lenses (designed and made by VEB CZJ) have.
--- Lengthy Explanation Begins Here ---
After about 1952 the Russian Sector became East Germany and the
French/British/U.S. sectors became West Germany creating the 40+ year
split. The U.S. had anticipated this and a number of years earlier had
quietly relocated key personnel of the Zeiss Foundation and the companies
it controlled (Carl Zeiss, Zeiss Ikon, Schott Glass, et al.) out of the
Russian Sector (Dresden and Jena) to areas around Stuttgart where the Zeiss
Ikon Contessa Works were located. The Zeiss Foundation was reestablished
along with the companies I mentioned and chartered as corporations again in
West Germany.
In East Germany, the state owned VEB Carl Zeiss Jena was eventually
reconstituted with former Carl Zeiss employees (who weren't relocated) at
its core. This created *two* *separate* Carl Zeiss companies. Lawsuits
between the two regarding intellectual properties, including trademarks,
ensued in various countries. Ultimately in the U.S., VEB Carl Zeiss Jena
was prohibited (went to the Supreme Court) from using any form of Zeiss
Foundation trademarks or the word "Zeiss" on its products.
A number of countries in Europe allowed both to use the word "Zeiss" and
the name "Carl Zeiss" in their trademarks. Within countries that allowed
the East German VEB Carl Zeiss Jena to use the name "Carl Zeiss" on lenses
typically marked them "Carl Zeiss Jena." *The* Carl Zeiss prior to
reunification was the West German company and often marked its products
"Carl Zeiss Stuttgart" to differentiate them from the East German VEB CZJ
products.
This zoom lens was a product sold by VEB Carl Zeiss Jena in East Germany.
However, it was not made in East Germany, nor is it a Carl Zeiss design of
any type, East or West. At some point between the middle 1970's and middle
1980's, VEB Carl Zeiss Jena "prostituted" its name on inexpensive lenses
made in Japan. They did this to generate badly needed revenue and sold
them mostly in European countries that allowed VEB Carl Zeiss Jena to use
"Carl Zeiss" as trademarks. They sold these lenses in a number of popular
SLR mounts, the OM among them. You never saw them in the U.S. because VEB
Carl Zeiss Jena was prohibited from using the name "Carl Zeiss" in the U.S.
Note that some stuff from VEB CZJ did enter the U.S. under names like
"Jenoptik."
Again, these lenses are not bad. They are about on par with other third
party Japanese lenses for the OM from that era. Neither are they
world-class Carl Zeiss (Stuttgart) lenses or among *some* of the VEB Carl
Zeiss Jena lenses that were also world-class (albeit often with lesser
materials like aluminum instead of brass and steel).
-- John
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