Optolyth no longer in business? That’s a shame, when did this happen? (1 Viewer)

[giosblue]

Only found out today Optolyth no longer in business.
When did this happen?

 

[PYRTLE]

Tens of years ago, someone purchased the company some time ago and tried to function on the " name " and reputation but it was not to be. I had some Optolyth Touring 10 x 40 roof prisms for a while.......lovely in the hand but 5he optics were lousy. Still have a 30 x 80 drawtube in my collection though.

 

[giosblue]

They were still is business under new ownership a about 5 years ago.
My first pair of binswas Optolyth Alpin, must be 30, 40 years ago. I thought the were very good. Very lightweight.

 

[Binocollector]

I think it was during the Covid lockdowns that they finally went under completely. Too bad.

 

[Binastro]

Optolyth seems to have been bought by Sill Optics in 2004 and merged in 2008.

Sill still seemed to operate in 2018 and maybe 2020.

It wouldn't surprise me if the name Optolyth is now owned by someone and Chinese optics turn up as Opotolyth.

Or Optolyth optics turn up without ownership of the brand name.

Regards,
B.

 

[giosblue]

I don't know why I'm surprised at this, what’s more surprising is that more don't go out of business. I mean they last a lifetime and improvements with modern optics are marginal. I mean, who buys all this the stuff?

 

[giosblue]

Optolyth seems to have been bought by Sill Optics in 2004 and merged in 2008.

Sill still seemed to operate in 2018 and maybe 2020.

It wouldn't surprise me if the name Optolyth is now owned by someone and Chinese optics turn up as Opotolyth.

Or Optolyth optics turn up without ownership of the brand name.

Regards,
B.

You could be right, there must be something left for someone to have a go at. It was a top brand in it's day.

 

[John A Roberts]

The main Optolyth site is no longer accessable. Though it was operating until at least February last year (when I last downloaded something from it).

In terms of corporate history:


This is from the end page of Optolyth's last published product catalogue.

And at least for now, a PDF of the English language version is still available at: http://optolyth.si/files/OPTOLYTH katalog angleski.pdf



John

 

[Ignatius]

Afaik they were the only manufacturer of optics that still actually produced in Germany instead of rebadging Asian products or contract manufacturing in Asia. They even ground their own lenses, something they started back in 1856. Their Royal line used Abbe Konig prisms and and by all accounts was only of slightly lower quality than the famous Zeiss Dialyts. I've been hankering after a late model 9x63 for a while.

 

[Hermann]

Afaik they were the only manufacturer of optics that still actually produced in Germany instead of rebadging Asian products or contract manufacturing in Asia.

Nope. Zeiss makes the SF and the HT in Germany AFAIK.

Their Royal line used Abbe Konig prisms and and by all accounts was only of slightly lower quality than the famous Zeiss Dialyts.

Well well. I did look at the Royal line closely when they became available, and I found the models were quite clearly not as good as the Zeiss.

Hermann

 

[Canip]

I found the models were quite clearly not as good as the Zeiss.

Agree (I have 8x56 and 9x63)

 

[Binocollector]

I have an 8x30 and while the view is nice, the FoV is rather small. Probably because the bino is so lightweight, the prisms are too small for a bigger FoV. I still regret they're gone. Weren't they the last non Chinese maker who even had a 9x63 in their catalog? I think it's a nice format for astronomy.
I'm definitely gonna get a few more used Optolyth binos. Just had a 10x40 on my ebay watch list but the auction was ended prematurely. I guess someone might have contacted the seller as the starting price was pretty low.

 

[Binastro]

Sill Optics seem to still employ 250 people and make lenses for imaging and also laser research and photonics.

I presume that binoculars were no longer profitable.

As to binocular firms grinding and polishing lenses, this is standard practice, although I suppose mass market binoculars may use molded blanks and high speed polishing, which doesn't usually result in high quality, but may be good enough.

I suppose there may be factories just making lens elements that go into binoculars, which probably happened with Japanese multi factory binocular production.

Sill Optics were I think grinding lenses from 1894 as a one man business,

Regards,
B.

 

[Ignatius]

I remember emailing them a couple of years ago and receiving a reply from a helpful woman at Sill who advised me that they were hoping to be back at production and sales in the near future. Apparently decisions were made to go the other way.

 

[Binastro]

Sill seem to be experts at making telecentric lenses and lenses with very fine centring tolerances in microns for multi (up to 20) element lenses.
Some seem to have side adjusting screws.

They were also apparently known for projection lenses and laser optics around 1100 nm.

I would think these lenses and their bespoke lens solutions are more expensive than binoculars.

Binoculars were probably found to be too much trouble for the price charged.

Regards,
B.

 

[StephenHampshire]

They were still is business under new ownership a about 5 years ago.
My first pair of binswas Optolyth Alpin, must be 30, 40 years ago. I thought the were very good. Very lightweight.

My first too, in 1979 as an 18th birthday present, an 8z40. I've still got them