Originally posted by BigMackCam (...) I just can't get past what happened with all those folks who lost their crowdfunding investments on the earlier models - though perhaps it's an entirely different brand owner now, so who knows...
Originally posted by TwoUptons I think it is a completely different group of folks running the company (owning the brand name...)
(...)
Yes it is.
Together with Oprema Jena, Emil Busch A.G. Rathenow, C.P. Goerz, Ihagee, A. Schacht and more, Meyer Optik Görlitz was one of the brands revived by a (then listed) group named net SE, headquartered in Koblenz, controlled and managed by the Immes family (Stefan Immes and his wife Regina).
SEMI Verwaltung GbmH, the family holding company (Immes --> Imes --> Semi), hold a majority stake in net SE. Stefan Immes was the CEO of net SE. Regina Immes still is the
Geschäftsführer (managing director / general manager / CEO) of SEMI Verwaltung GmbH.
net SE went bankrupt and was liquidated in 2018. The Immes family had been clever enough to locate the rights to most of the trademarks at SEMI's level, not net SE's, therefore they were able to squeeze an additional €250,000 from the sale of the portfolio of rights to photo-related trademarks, including Meyer-Optik-Görlitz (sold €197,000), Trioplan (sold €2,500), Lydith (sold €3,000) and Biotar (sold €6,000).
The acquirer of this portfolio was OPC Optical Precision Components Europe GmbH a.k.a. OPC Optics GmbH, a small company headquartered in Bad Kreuznach (There is a whole optical ecosystem in Bad Kreuznach around Jos. Schneider Optische Werke a.k.a. Schneider Kreuznach.) OPC Optics are a manufacturer of lens elements, in particular aspherical ones.
OPC Optics were a supplier of lens elements to net SE, therefore they get burnt in the net SE debacle too. They thought it was interesting to diversify downstream, therefore they purchased the portfolio of rights from the Immes family at the end of 2018 to launch a BtoC activity under the Meyer Optik Görlitz umbrella. Since then they have also become the exclusive representative of RICOM products in Europe, RICOM being a Chinese company specialising in industrial lenses (surveillance, vehicle, infrared, automation and laser TV lenses).
In August 2021, following several acquisitions, OPC Optics decided to reorganise their structure. In particular the BtoC lens business was incorporated into a new company, Meyer Optik Görlitz GmbH, headquartered in Bad Kreuznach. Alongside its sister companies OPC Optics GmbH and PPO Pfeiffer Präzisionsoptik GmbH, Meyer Optik Görlitz GmbH is under the umbrella of a common parent company.
Meyer Optik Görlitz GmbH opened their own manufactory in Hamburg in November 2021 to deal with final assembly.
Should you have a grudge against the Immes family and their Ponzi scheme, I would rather suggest your refraining from buying Oberwerth products. Indeed, it so happens that B & F Oberwerth GmbH & Co. KG is headquartered in Koblenz too and belongs to SEMI Verwaltung. Regina Immes is the
Geschäftsführer of B & F Oberwerth GmbH & Co. KG.