PhoneReport’s Carl Zeiss Factory Tour Concluded

STUTTGART, Germany - The tour to the Carl Zeiss AG factory in Aalen, Germany, sponsored by WOM World/Nokia and Carl Zeiss, provided a very descriptive insight on the production of camera lenses for Nokia mobile phones, as well as for other means.

The 1600-manned factory insists in cleanliness and accuracy values, so much that we were told to cover our shoes with the provided plastic bags at most times, and inside a laboratory we were made to wear robes pertaining to the factory, to prevent contact from our clothes with the laboratory's equipment.

To prevent vibrations from nearby roads and a railway, the factory is constructed in different sections separated by thick concrete slabs. The foundation itself comprises of a 1,5m of concrete which is supposed to dissipate any vibrations which could damage the lenses, or affect production.

We were driven through live processes of grinding, polishing, and testing of lenses. PhoneReport was not allowed to capture images of every process and workstation for confidentiality reasons, but a Carl Zeiss photographer was allowed to accompany our publication and the present bloggers, and capture the requested images which were later made available, after moderation.

Carl Zeiss lens production manufacturing

Production and testing of lenses:

The section of the factory which certainly amused most bloggers was the testing workshop, where lenses and enclosures are subject to shock tests at 100 times the speed of the earth's acceleration; g-force tests at 100G, and then at 30G for 6 seconds for all professional camera lenses; a test comprising of vibrations and the change of height for 8 hours for 2 to 3 days; and finally a temperature test, where the lenses are subject to temperatures of -30 degrees Celsius, followed by a 55 degrees Celsius test.

At a section of the tour we were presented with a breakdown of the camera components in mobile phones. The images below, under the microscope, showcase the size of the camera sensors. As commented by Dotsisx, "one sugar grain is approximately the same size as the smallest center circle on the second lens picture". (Images courtesy of Symbian-Guru)

Concluding the visit, PhoneReport was invited to visit the Carl Zeiss museum on-location, where several artifacts are present, including the very first camera lenses that Zeiss developed, as well as the film for the camera which was used during the Apollo 11 mission to the moon.