Carl Zeiss Jena lens serial numbers

From the Lens Collector's Vade Mecum:

(a) CZJ = Carl Zeiss Jena (pre war)

It does seem that very low numbers do exist, and it is suggested that they begin at Jena at 1,000 in about 1890, unless information to the contrary is found.

There may also be unnumbered lenses, possibly when they are one of a stereo pair, though confusion with licencees lenses can occur.

There seems then to be a gap to 1912.

Two listings then exist, and run very much in parallel. One is by G. Gilbert, in "Collecting Photographica" and is reproduced in the back of Mc Keown's "Price Guide". The other is given in "Chiffres Cles" by P-H. Pont.

As a collector, the main point is that they do tell the same story within the time span that interests one.

The following is a shortened version of the one in "Chiffres Clef" with some extra notes added from experience here. It is tentative in places.

1890 Anastigmat production begins. this is partly licensed to others, including Voigtlaender for Germany. The earliest Zeiss Anastigmat noted so far is No 1,51x suggesting a possible No 1,000 start at Jena for camera lenses: but note an aplanat for projection seems anomalous.

1895 Voigtlaender stops production of Zeiss designs, suggesting Zeiss had expanded production facilities to make the lenses at Jena.

1900 c. 44,040 as Unar sales begin, production of anastigmats reaches 100,000, with about 44,000 by Zeiss and 56,000 under license.

1902 Tessar f 6.3 launched. This must have been one factor leading to a big expansion of demand and production.

1908 91,711 + 103,3xx, 104,2xx noted on cameras burgled at N&G, London (Manthos article), but note N&G may have lagged in fitting as cameras made in 1912 had lenses No 133,73x- say a year in store or transit.

Year    Serial Number (begin + end) numbers used

1912     173,418 -     200,520           27,102

1913     208,473 -     249,350           40,877 Carl Zeiss London here (see below)

1914     249,886 -    c252,739            2,853

1915    c282,800 -   c284,500            1,700

1916    c285,200 -   c288,100            2,900

1917      289,087 -    298,157             9,070

1918      298,215 -    322,748           24,533

1919      322,799 -    351,611           28,812

1920      375,194 -    419,823           44,629

1921      433,273 -    438,361             5,088

1922      422,899 -    498,006           75,107

1923      561,270 -    578,297           17,027

1924      578,297 -    631,501           53,204

1925    c631,500 -   c648,500          29,513

1926      666,790 -    703,198           36,408

1927      722,196 -    798,251           76,055

1928    c903,100 -   c908,150            5,050

1929      919,794 - 1,016,885           97,091

1930      922,488 - 1,239,697         317,209

1931   1,239,699 - 1,365,582         125,883 First Contax lenses here.

1932   1,364,483 - 1,389,279           24,796

1933   1,436,671 - 1,456,003           19,332

1934   1,500,474 - 1,590,000           89,526

1935   1,615,764 - 1,752,303         136,539

1936   1,674,882 - 1,942,806         267,924 chrome finish begins at c1,89 million.

1937   1,930,150 - 2,219,775         289,625

1938   2,267,991 - 2,527,984         259,993

1939   2,527,999 - 2,651,211         123,212

1940   2,652,000 - c2,678,000         26,000

1941   2,678,326 - 2,790,346         112,020

1942   2,800,000 - ?

Note the variation in the number per year. Now a plant of a successful company does not vary that much in production rate unless there is diversion to other products, as is likely during a war (binoculars?, gunsights?) numbered in another series. Or there is a cessation of materials or labour, which can also happen in war. These will have affected things in say 1916 to 1918 but it does seem likely that the numbers used in 1913 are a "funny" and one feels they include some for 1914 as well.

Also note that there are gaps between the "Years lens" numbers, as for No 252,739 in 1914 end and No 282,800 for 1915 begin, where 30,061 numbers are "missing."

The tables admit that the WW1 data is approximate and this might explain the low figure apparent for 1914. It seems likely that there was a carry over of numbers in some years from one year to the next, due to numbers being booked for a contract or sale in advance- or some such mechanism.

There is a instinctive feeling that in 1912, the plant was actually normally making about 25,000-30,000 lenses. Now going backwards, it is likely that production had built up slowly as labour was trained and plant designed and built, and that a typical serial number for 1900 might be No 40,000 (as suggested above), rather than No 75,000 which would be the mid-point from No 1000 to say No 151,000 in 1910.

After WW1, there is a rapid recovery of production, but again there are big fluctuations in the apparent yearly numbers produced.

There are also still gaps between the blocks of numbers attributed to years. It does seem that production was set to rise steadily in the 1920's, even though there was a recession, and especially after the formation of Zeiss Ikon with the related rationalizations and a "captive" market.

Thus by 1930, there do seem to be some 100,000 or more per year, and then in the 1930's, up to 250,000 or 300,000 numbers per year used. This suggests a major expansion at Jena, or just possible the use of the redundant plants of Goerz/Berlin and Ernemann/Dresden to support the production in some way.

All this does also raise one point: that any maker quickly finds that while brass and glass cost money, numbers are "free" and makers often "waste" numbers when plans change or products are cancelled. Thus it is normal to find cases where lenses were never made to match numbers reserved for them.

One is left with a feeling that early Zeiss lenses are rare and should be very desired items. An authentic list Carl Zeiss supplied to a friend in 1967, with the same general result, was as follows:

   150,000 -    200,000    1912 ca.

   200,000 -    300,000    1912-1916

   300,000 -    350,000    1916-1919

   350,000 -    500,000    1919-1923

   500,000 -    750,000    1923-1926

   750,000 - 1,000,000    1926-1929

1,000,000 - 1,500,000    1929-1934

1,500,000 - 2,000,000    1934-1937

2,000,000 - 2,800,000    1937-1942

After WW2, Carl Zeiss at Oberkochen began a new series of numbers, probably at No 1,000 or 10,000 and as indicated above, these were normally also marked Opton and coated. The Opton mark lasted for most purposes until about 1953 at No 1,100,000 but was used for many more years for items sold in the Comecon countries- which will cause confusion if it is not realized. More data than this is in P-H Pont's "Chiffres Cles".

POST WAR

(b) CZJ = Carl Zeiss Jena Postwar (DDR - East Germany)

2,842,301 primo Tessar 5cm f/3,5 CZJ DDR (si distinguono dalla scritta “Germany”)

2,970,000 primo Sonnar 5cm/2.0  CZJ DDR

1945-1949   3,00 - 3,20 million    Initially with the focal length in centimeters.

1949-1952   3,20 - 3,47 million

1952-1955   3,47 - 4,00 million    From here focal lengths were given in millimeters.

1955-1958   4,00 - 5,00 million

1958-1961   5,00 - 6,00 million

1961-1964   6,00 - 6,70 million

1964-1967   7,00 - 8,00 million

1967-1970   8,00 - 9,00 million

1970-1975   9,00 - 10,0 million

(c) CZ = Zeiss-Opton / Carl Zeiss, Oberkochen (RFT - West Germany)

1946-1951 10,000-500,000 These will be engraved Zeiss Opton,

1949 la prima ottica Zeiss-Option per Contax è un Sonnar 135/4 sn 91,001 del 1949, ma si tratta di un lotto isolato fabbricato a Coburgo

1951 parte la produzione regolare per Contax con un Sonnar 50/1,5 sn 47,000 del 1951, con sn dunque inferiore rispetto a quello di due anni prima!

questo dimostra come la numerazione sia indipendente dalla cronologia

1951-1953      500,000 - 1,100,000 (*)

1953-1953   1,100,000 - 1,256,000

1953-1959   1,256,001 - 2,600,000   Now just Carl Zeiss (**) except for Comecon sales

1959-1961   2,600,000 - 3,000,000

1961-1965   3,000,000 - 4,000,000

1965-1969   4,000,000 - 5,000,000

1969-1971   5,000,000 - 6,000,000

1971-1975   6,000,000 - 7,300,000

(*) i primi Zeiss Opton avevano una T rossa (che io conosca con SN più alto con T rossa è 887,xxx)

(**) Ufficialmente il cambio di nome si ebbe al sn 1,256,000

tuttavia si conoscono eccezioni:

Carl Zeiss con SN 1,167,xxx

Carl Zeiss con SN    824,840

Carl Zeiss con SN    820,412

I numeri di matricola dei singoli obiettivi possono servire come riferimento per identificare l’anno di produzione, ma in realtà questo metodo non è sempre esatto. Alcuni obiettivi sono stati fabbricati all’interno di lotti fuori dalle normali sequenze produttive, per cui non sempre la sequenza numerica risulta rispettata correttamente.

Un esempio lampante è dato da alcuni lotti d’obiettivi Sonnar 13,5 cm, inizianti col numero di matricola 1,500,000, sequenza che normalmente si riferisce al 1934, ma che in realtà è stata assegnata ad obiettivi prodotti nel 1936 ed oltre. In casi come questo è probabile che gli obiettivi in questione appartenessero a serie speciali, forniture particolari, o fossero esemplari di pre-produzione.

Altro esempio di confusione numerica si è verificato verso la metà degli anni Trenta, quando la produzione degli obiettivi neri e nichelati si è sovrapposta alla nuova serie d’ottiche cromate. In ogni caso è accertato che esistono lotti lasciati momentaneamente liberi ma poi assegnati successivamente. Dell’Orthometar 3,5 cm mancano, ad esempio, le date di consegna per ambedue i lotti costruttivi.

Durante la guerra, tra il 1940 e il 1945, la situazione si fa sempre più confusa: i numeri di matricola si accavallano senza apparente logica.

Ad esempio, vi sono lotti del 1944 posizionati come numerazione all’interno del 1940, e numerosi lotti del 1941 che possiedono numeri di matricola superiori ai lotti del 1945.

Gli obiettivi con numerazione intorno a 2,600,000 in apparenza prodotti negli anni 1944/45, appartengono quasi sempre a lotti del 1940, e in generale la numerazione tra 2,600,000 e 2,700,000 è quasi sempre inaffidabile per identificare l’esatto anno di produzione.

La situazione si stabilizza solo nei primi mesi del 1946, quando la normale sequenza numerica viene ristabilita.

Anche per quello che riguarda i registri di Oberkochen si assiste a contraddizioni nella numerazione.

Citiamo ad esempio un Sonnar 50mm f/2, con sn 824,840 ed un Sonnar 50 mm f/1,5 con sn 820,412 marcati ‘Carl Zeiss’, che teoricamente dovrebbero essere marcati "Zeiss–Opton”, poiché i Sonnar siglati Carl Zeiss sono iniziati ufficialmente solo col numero 1,256,001.