Pentacon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pentacon is the company name of a once-important camera manufacturer in Dresden, Germany.
The name Pentacon is derived from the brand Contax of Zeiss Ikon Kamerawerke in Dresden and Pentagon, as a Pentaprism for Single-Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras was for the first time developped in Dresden. The cross section of this prism has a pentagonal shape. Pentacon is best known for producing the SLR cameras of the Praktica-series as well as the medium format camera Pentacon SIX, the Pentacon Super and various cameras of the Exa series.
[edit] History
In 1959 several Dresden camera manufacturers, among them VEB Kamerawerke Freital, were joined to create Volkseigener Betrieb Kamera- und Kinowerke Dresden, which was renamed in 1964 to VEB Pentacon Dresden. In 1968, VEB Feinoptisches Werk Görlitz was integrated into VEB Pentacon. Accordingly, the former Meyer-Optik Görlitz lenses were now renamed to „Pentacon“ .
Today, Pentacon GmbH belongs to Jos. Schneider Optische Werke, Bad Kreuznach, often abbreviated to Schneider Kreuznach.
Not only cameras, but also lenses and accessories were distributed as Pentacon.
A part of the former Pentacon company was transfered back to the family Noble and today belongs to Kamera Werk Dresden, which, among other products, manufacture the panoramic cameras of the NOBLEX brand and cameras for industrial use of the LOGLUX brand.
