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Meyer-Optik Görlitz and Plaubel

12 and 13 researched events on one shared scale. Meyer-Optik Görlitz 1896–present, Plaubel 1902–present.

The axis stretches where either maker has research and collapses where neither does, so a year sits opposite the same year on both. Event counts differ because research depth differs, not because one company did less.

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1890s

1896-1910

Optician Hugo Meyer and merchant Heinrich Schätze founded the Optisch-Mechanische Industrie-Anstalt Hugo Meyer & Co. in Görlitz in 1896. The workshop began with photographic optics, expanded beyond its first Löbauer Straße premises, and moved production to Biesnitzer Straße in 1901. Early Aplanat and Aristostigmat products established the firm's place in the Görlitz camera and optical cluster.

Hugo Meyer — Geschichte der Fotoindustrie in Görlitz · History: Meyer Optik 1896-today · Large Format Lenses from the Eastern Bloc Countries, 1945-1991 · 100 Jahre Plasmat — Photographie

1900s
1910s

Makina scissor camera arrives

1911-1912

Plaubel showed its new Makina in 1911 and introduced it commercially in 1912. Crossed scissor struts let a compact plate camera extend into a rigid working position. Conventional and stereo forms appeared, beginning the product name most closely associated with Plaubel.

Plaubel GmbH 1902 · Plaubel-Kameras aus Frankfurt (2x aktualisiert) · Plaubel

1920s

1920-1935

Former Carl Zeiss designer Paul Rudolph began collaborating with Meyer around 1920 on the Plasmat family. Doppel-Plasmat, Kino-Plasmat, Makro-Plasmat, and related designs extended Meyer's technical range, while OEM supply to Ihagee and other camera makers made interchangeable lenses a larger part of the business. Period evidence places the Trioplan, Euryplan, Aristostigmat, Plasmat, Primoplan, and Tele-Megor names within a varied catalog rather than a single system.

Hugo Meyer and Meyer Optik Görlitz lenses for Exakta · History: Meyer Optik 1896-today · Large Format Lenses from the Eastern Bloc Countries, 1945-1991 · 100 Jahre Plasmat — Photographie

1930s

1936-1945

The firm adopted the name Optische und Feinmechanische Werke Hugo Meyer & Co. in 1936. Civil photographic production gave way to military optical work during the war, and manufacturing was partly relocated. In 1945 the production equipment was removed to the Soviet Union as reparations, forcing a physical reconstruction of the works.

Hugo Meyer — Geschichte der Fotoindustrie in Görlitz · Large Format Lenses from the Eastern Bloc Countries, 1945-1991 · The Meyer-Optik Story

1940s

War damage and succession

1940-1945

Goetz Schrader assumed leadership after Hugo Schrader died in 1940. Wartime production shifted toward precision military equipment, and bombing seriously damaged the Frankfurt works in 1944. The rebuilt postwar company resumed camera making while redirecting much of its energy toward technical view cameras.

Plaubel & Co AG - Katalog On-Line · Plaubel

1946-1951

Production restarted on a small scale in 1946. The enterprise entered public ownership as VEB Optisch-Feinmechanische Werke Görlitz and was renamed VEB Feinoptisches Werk Görlitz in 1948. Archival balance-sheet holdings begin with the 1 July 1946 opening balance, while later histories describe the legal confirmation and name transition as a process rather than a single instantaneous event.

Hugo Meyer — Geschichte der Fotoindustrie in Görlitz · Saxon State Archive holdings: opening balances for Hugo Meyer & Co. and related photographic firms · Large Format Lenses from the Eastern Bloc Countries, 1945-1991 · Sechzig Jahre Meyer-Optik: Festschrift des VEB Feinoptisches Werk, Görlitz

1950s

1952-1967

The VEB installed antireflection-coating capability in 1952 and sold lenses under the Meyer-Optik product mark. Trioplan, Primoplan, Telemegor, Helioplan, and Primotar lines were joined or replaced by designs such as Lydith, Oreston, Orestor, Orestegon, and Orestegor. Period brochures show supply for several 35mm mounts and for Praktisix/Pentacon Six, while long telephotos used interchangeable rear adapters. A new Görlitz building with surface-treatment facilities opened in 1966.

Hugo Meyer — Geschichte der Fotoindustrie in Görlitz · Hugo Meyer and Meyer Optik Görlitz lenses for Exakta · Tele Megor and Telemegor — Hugo Meyer and Meyer Optik Görlitz · History: Meyer Optik 1896-today · Large Format Lenses from the Eastern Bloc Countries, 1945-1991 · Publicity for lenses for the Praktisix and Pentacon Six · Zeittafel DDR-Kleinbild-Wechselobjektive · Sechzig Jahre Meyer-Optik: Festschrift des VEB Feinoptisches Werk, Görlitz

Veriwide joins two firms

1959-1965

The Brooks-Plaubel Veriwide 100 combined an American wide-angle concept with manufacture by Plaubel in Germany. Its fixed Schneider Super-Angulon 47mm f/8 covered seven 6x10cm frames on 120 film, creating a specialized panoramic camera rather than a new interchangeable system.

Plaubel & Company Camera Listing · Plaubel

1960s

Reflexes and Profia expand

1961-1968

Plaubel introduced the Makiflex and Pecoflex large-format reflex cameras in the early 1960s, then launched eight Peco Profia format/model combinations across 1967 and 1968. The Profia platform’s movements, posts, rails, bellows, boards, and backs defined the company’s mature professional system.

Plaubel-Kameras aus Frankfurt (2x aktualisiert) · Plaubel

1968-1971

VEB Feinoptisches Werk Görlitz was integrated into the Kombinat VEB Pentacon Dresden in 1968. Meyer-Optik markings continued during a transition, but Pentacon publicity and surviving objects show the old lens names and maker label being replaced around 1970-1971. Integration date, brochure date, and engraving date must therefore be recorded separately.

Saxon State Archive holdings: SED organization at VEB Pentacon, Feinoptisches Werk Görlitz · Hugo Meyer — Geschichte der Fotoindustrie in Görlitz · Hugo Meyer and Meyer Optik Görlitz lenses for Exakta · History: Meyer Optik 1896-today · Publicity for lenses for the Praktisix and Pentacon Six · Zeittafel DDR-Kleinbild-Wechselobjektive

1970s

1971-1984

The former Görlitz works continued manufacturing within Pentacon. Several Meyer calculations and mechanical platforms persisted as Pentacon or Pentacon Prakticar lenses, and export names could obscure origin further. Post-1970 serials do not form a dependable universal year sequence; low-number blocks can follow much larger serials, and model, mount, and barrel evidence become essential.

Hugo Meyer and Meyer Optik Görlitz lenses for Exakta · Large Format Lenses from the Eastern Bloc Countries, 1945-1991 · Publicity for lenses for the Praktisix and Pentacon Six · Zeittafel DDR-Kleinbild-Wechselobjektive

Registered entity remains

1974–present

Current registry-derived data lists Plaubel GmbH in Frankfurt as active under HRB 15086. That status shows legal continuity but does not demonstrate present camera manufacture after the 2017 end of documented sales and repair. Any publication update should recheck the official register.

Plaubel GmbH (GmbH) - Frankfurt am Main · Plaubel ist Geschichte

Doi acquires Plaubel

1975

Goetz Schrader sold Plaubel to Kimio Doi’s Japanese group in 1975 and remained involved in management. The Frankfurt professional-camera business continued, while the new ownership also prepared a Japanese revival of the Makina name rather than simply restarting the old German press-camera line.

Plaubel-Kameras aus Frankfurt (2x aktualisiert) · Plaubel

Japanese Makina revival

1977-1986

A Goetz Schrader scissor-linkage patent was filed in 1977, and the Japanese-designed Makina 67 reached the market soon afterward with a fixed 80mm Nikkor. W67, 670, and 69W Proshift variants followed. Japanese contract production ended in 1986 amid disruption at Mamiya.

Plaubel Makina 67 Instruction Booklet · Plaubel Makina 670 Instruction Booklet · Patents Assigned to Plaubel Feinmechanik und Optik Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung · Plaubel-Kameras aus Frankfurt (2x aktualisiert) · Plaubel

Frankfurt Profia continuity

1979-2017

Parts production for German professional cameras was reportedly transferred to Wilhelm Gutmann in 1979, while Plaubel continued assembly, distribution, and service. Late Profia PL1, PL69D, NT, and ZT models kept the view-camera system available into the 2010s.

Plaubel-Kameras aus Frankfurt (2x aktualisiert) · Plaubel

1980s

1984-1991

The Görlitz operation moved into the VEB Carl Zeiss Jena combine during the 1984-1985 reorganization. In 1990 it was separated as Feinoptisches Werk Görlitz GmbH and again shipped some Meyer-Optik-marked products. The short-lived company did not establish a competitive production base and the Görlitz works closed on 30 June 1991. Some 1990-1991 Meyer-marked large-format lenses were actually supplied from the Carl Zeiss Jena Saalfeld plant.

Hugo Meyer — Geschichte der Fotoindustrie in Görlitz · Hugo Meyer and Meyer Optik Görlitz lenses for Exakta · History: Meyer Optik 1896-today · Large Format Lenses from the Eastern Bloc Countries, 1945-1991

2010s

2014-July 2018

Koblenz-based net SE relaunched the Meyer Optik Görlitz name at photokina 2014 and marketed manual lenses through conventional sales and crowdfunding. The enterprise was a trademark revival rather than a continuation of the Görlitz factory. net SE filed for insolvency in July 2018 with multiple projects and customer obligations unresolved.

History: Meyer Optik 1896-today · net SE insolvent: the end of Meyer Optik Görlitz, C. P. Goerz and Oprema Jena? · Meyer Optik Görlitz is to be revived

Photographic service concludes

2017

A contemporary report stated that Plaubel ended sales and repairs for Plaubel, Toyo, and Horseman products on May 31, 2017. This is the best-supported endpoint for the operating photographic business, not proof that the registered legal entity dissolved on the same date.

Plaubel ist Geschichte · Plaubel

December 2018-2020

OPC Optical Precision Components Europe GmbH acquired the Meyer Optik Görlitz trademark rights and design materials from the insolvent net SE or SEMI Verwaltung GmbH in December 2018, without assuming the predecessor's debts. OPC audited the inherited portfolio, rejected the modified Russian Somnium and modified Chinese Nocturnus lines, and released a rebuilt Trioplan 100 II in June 2020 followed by additional II-series lenses.

History: Meyer Optik 1896-today · Company history · Successful start to the year for Meyer Optik Görlitz · Meyer Optik Görlitz relaunched by OPC Optics following insolvency

2020s

2021–present

A new Meyer Optik Görlitz GmbH began operating in 2021 within the OPC group, and a Hamburg lens manufactory opened that November. Official material describes optical-component production within the German group, German precision-mechanical suppliers, and hand assembly in Hamburg. Current products are manual-focus, full-frame lenses offered in several legacy and modern mounts. The current legal entity is registered in Hamburg; official group pages and a 2026 registry mirror should be reconciled before stating exact current ownership or control.

Manufactory: Handcrafted Camera Lenses Made in Germany · Trioplan 100 f2.8 II · Meyer Optik Görlitz GmbH, Hamburg · Company history · Meyer Optik Görlitz — a real company again · Legal notice · Frequently Asked Questions · Meyer Optik Görlitz — New manufactory in the heart of Hamburg · Legal notice

Read either maker on its own: Meyer-Optik Görlitz · Plaubel