Of course when you say "perfected" that was by the standards of c.1975... Two Angénieux zooms (28-70 and 80-200 I think) were offered for Leica SLR cameras back then, possibly the first ones. Subsequent Leica-branded models were made by Minolta... some connection perhaps? I had no idea Angénieux had also made binoculars, but I don't follow military/government models.
When I say perfected I mean perfected.
They got yet another Oscar in 2009, again for some zooms which presumably were still then considered ok.
As we all know, the french historically were some of the first and very enthusiastic camera and lens users, as Niepce and Daguerre imported Kodak cameras from the US back in the 1820s and 1830s, and the Lumière brothers were enthusiastic adopters of Edison’s cine camera. As a result, local lensmakers prospered. ;-)
One of the great German successes of the last century was their transition to a democratic society; another was the final and permanent bankrupt state of the French and British after the second world war, which mostly relegated the engineering industries of both countries to the category of international joke, whereas Germany rebuilt its industrial base. It is therefore easy to forget that historically France was able to translate its science competence to the design of high tech, and even manufacture items.
Angenieux seems to have thrived over the years on all the edgy and wierd and wonderful custom high end stuff, including pro cinema lenses, broadcast tv lenses, photo reconnaissance and spy satellite optics, and nowadays all the wierd IR, nightvision, aiming and remote sensing optics which supply the eyes for the heavy military hardware that is still a local export staple. I would assume Zeiss do the same although they stay in the public eye as a consumer brand.
Edmund
