Joseph Schneider founded Schneider Optik in 1913 in Bad Kreuznach, Germany, creating a company that soon grew into a world leader in high-performance lenses. In 1947, Berlin's Walter Biermann and Johanned Weber created B+W filters, which quickly became world-renowned for high-quality optical filters. The two companies merged in 1985.

Schneider motion picture and television filters are the result of Schneider's excellence in glass and lens manufacturing combined with the unsurpassed filter design experince of B+W engineers. Today, Schneider filters are designed and manufactured in the United States as well as in Europe.

Because America is considered by many to be the world-capital of motion picture production, it is not surprising that Schneider Optics, Inc. in New York along with Century Optics, it's Los Angeles division, spearhead the development, manufacturing, and marketing of filters for professional motion picture and television cameras. Company-wide, there is a total Schneider commitment to the motion picture and television industries, which ensures that professional cinematographers and videographers have available the finest filter systems that can be provided by the very latest state-of-the-art optical technology.