dumb red dot artar question

[Joseph O'Neil]

I have two red dot artars (8.25" and 24"), and I just noticed that on both of them the lens caps, on the side say "GERMANY". I always thought the RD artars were USA made - for example, see here
http://yandr.50megs.com/gz/artar/artar.htm

So did they just have lens caps made in Germany then?

joe
:confused:

[Mark Sampson]

Do your caps have the Goerz logo on them? (The RD Artar we have at work has a nice leather front cap with the logo stamped in gold.) If the caps are non-original, they could have come from anywhere.

[Joseph O'Neil]

Do your caps have the Goerz logo on them? (The RD Artar we have at work has a nice leather front cap with the logo stamped in gold.)

-snip-

Yepper - that's exactly what they are.

As a side note, looking at those old Goerz pamphlets, it's amazing how little extra a RD artar in a shutter was compared to just the plain lens in barrel.
joe

[Nick_3536]

If you mean the 1967 catalog on the cameraeccentric website I bet that was 2+ weeks salary. Sounds little today but in those days you could buy a new car for $2k.

[David Lindquist]

I have two red dot artars (8.25" and 24"), and I just noticed that on both of them the lens caps, on the side say "GERMANY". I always thought the RD artars were USA made - for example, see here
http://yandr.50megs.com/gz/artar/artar.htm

So did they just have lens caps made in Germany then?

joe
:confused:
That's the likely explanation. I have a 24 inch Red Dot Artar, S/N 802XXX, engraved "C.P. GOERZ AM. OPT. CO." that I bought used in 1975. It came with two lens caps. The inside of the cap is plush lined, the outside is covered with a sort of black leatheroid stuff. On the front is the Goerz logo: a gold circle inside of which is a stylized prism in outline with the word "Goerz" underneath. On the circumference of the cap is embossed "GERMANY". Thinking about it, it makes sense that a company like Goerz would buy a commodity item like lens caps from another supplier rather than making their own. As far as that goes, I'll bet neither Schneider nor Rodenstock make their own lens caps. And a year or so ago I needed a replacement snap-in type 52mm lenscap for a Nikon lens. The camera store had them with the Nikon logo (presumably an "official" replacement), these were made in China. They also had the same cap with the Tamron logo. These were made in Japan. I got the latter.

I have three Goerz lenses of an era that they would have been made in the U.S.A. None of them is marked with the country of origin. Contrast that to my Kodak 10 inch Wide Field Ektar, 14 inch Commercial Ektar and 203mm f/7.7 Ektar, all of which are proudly engraved "Made in U.S.A. by Eastman Kodak Co." I have the original boxes for two of my Goerz lenses. I can't lay my hands on them right now. These might be marked expicitly as made in U.S.A.
David

[Kirk Fry]

I have a KENRO KIII GOERZ OPITCAL CO Inc. no 8395XX in aluminum barrel, it has one of those black lens caps with gold symbol on it. It too is embossed with the word Germany on the side. Never noticed it before. K