General Optics is a super-polished optics company, and a volume manufacturer of ultra-high quality optical components and coatings to the aerospace and defence sector.  The company also serves the telecommunications, semiconductor, metrology, biomedical and research markets, and is the leading supplier of ring laser gyroscope (RLG) mirrors and frames to manufacturers of inertial navigation systems.

General Optics was founded in 1974 and was acquired by GSI Group in 2000. It operates from manufacturing facilities located in Moorpark, California, where it employs 87 people.

It contains a telescope made by Fitz, whose focal length is seventeen feet, and its object-glass is twelve and a half inches.

‘The acquisition of General Optics is the latest step in delivering our strategic objectives of gaining greater presence in key target markets and in securing a leading or dominant position in the fields in which we operate,’ said Gareth Jones, chief executive of Gooch & Housego.

While the 50mm “wide” focal length does give users more flexibility as a walk-about lens, it also means that users will have to get much closer to their subjects to get the true macro shots.

The distance from the principal focus to the center of the lens is the focal length or principal focal distance of the lens.