The company was founded in 1915 under name of
Karl Braun KG, Fabrik optischer Geräte und Metallwaren for the fabrication of optical appliances and metalware. In 1948, the company began producing box film cameras, in
rollfilm and 35mm format. It changed its name to
Carl Braun Camera-Werke. Its best known model was the Paxette series of 35mm
rangefinder cameras. Most of the company's cameras were
consumer-level models, though the company did briefly produce several more advanced 35mm
rangefinder designs as well as an interesting 35mm
single-lens reflex camera line with leaf shutters, the Paxette Reflex (Automatic?)/AMC M335 Reflex. The most advanced of Braun's rangefinders and SLRs had interchangeable lenses. Braun ceased making
cameras in the 1960s, in part because of high labour costs and a resultant inability to compete in the consumer level camera
market, a market increasingly supplied by
Japanese firms. Parallel to the camera manufacturing began the development and construction of film slide
projectors. In 1955, under the
Carl Braun Camera-Werk Nürnberg label, the company introduced one of the first semi-automatic slide projectors with a tray magazine to the consumer market named
Paximat. Other
innovations included wired or wireless
remote control,
automatic focus, brighter
halogen lamps, and variable
brightness control. Since 1955, about 4 million slide projectors have been built and sold in 120
countries around the world under the names
Paximat or
Novamat. Although the company was selling more than four million units by 1997, Braun's overall profitability declined precipitously, and in 2000, the company ceased trading. It was reorganized the following year. In addition to the successful introduction of digital cameras and accessories, in 2003 Braun introduced the Braun Multimag SlideScan 3600 digital scanner for the consumer market. This scanner was based on the Paximat Multimag series of slide projectors, and enables the scanning of slides directly from six different slide trays. New Braun scanners utilize Digital ICE technology. In 2004, Braun changed its name again. It is now known as
Braun Photo Technik GmbH, and continues to sell and/or manufacture slide projectors, other optical goods, and optical business applications. ==Gallery==