Chinese lenses for Sony
Jan 10, 2012 12:21:54 #
chapjohn wrote:
Do the China made lenses have a brand name on them?
When I bought my Sony Alpha A300 the kit lens it came with was an 18-70mm f3.5-5.6. It is brand marked Sony and on closer examination I find 'made in China'. It is the lens mostly on my camera and I have found it to be quite good.
So I don't think "made in China' can be all bad.
Jan 10, 2012 12:40:57 #
dundeelad wrote:
When I bought my Sony Alpha A300 the kit lens it came with was an 18-70mm f3.5-5.6. It is brand marked Sony and on closer examination I find 'made in China'. It is the lens mostly on my camera and I have found it to be quite good.
So I don't think "made in China' can be all bad.
chapjohn wrote:
Do the China made lenses have a brand name on them?
When I bought my Sony Alpha A300 the kit lens it came with was an 18-70mm f3.5-5.6. It is brand marked Sony and on closer examination I find 'made in China'. It is the lens mostly on my camera and I have found it to be quite good.
So I don't think "made in China' can be all bad.
Muralist, This a good answer to your question. I am more concerned about the brand name than where it is made because quality is going to be in the brand not the location of manufacture.
Jan 10, 2012 13:43:09 #
Bruce M
Loc: Northern Utah
I checked my 105 nikon macro ED nano coated lens bought last year. It say made in china.
Jan 10, 2012 14:41:41 #
As far as Nikon goes I believe they own and operate their Chinese factory. I don't know if that's good bad or indifferent.
Before manufacturing lenses in China Nikon's more complex zoom lense, those requiring more assembly labor, were manufactured in Taiwan or Thailand I don't remember which. It doesn't matter so much where they are made the as far as build quality is concerned the new lenses are pretty much crap. They may spec out great when they leave the factory, but the materials are poor compared to the older stuff. There are a few exceptions but for the most part after a few years of heavy use the new stuff has about had it. In my collection I have a number of 40+ year-old lenses, Nikon, Canon screw mount, Leica screw mount even some cheap Russian lenses. All are working just fine. Most are capable of producing a commercially acceptable product. I look at my new Nikon lenses and think they'll be doing well if they are still in use in five years.
Before manufacturing lenses in China Nikon's more complex zoom lense, those requiring more assembly labor, were manufactured in Taiwan or Thailand I don't remember which. It doesn't matter so much where they are made the as far as build quality is concerned the new lenses are pretty much crap. They may spec out great when they leave the factory, but the materials are poor compared to the older stuff. There are a few exceptions but for the most part after a few years of heavy use the new stuff has about had it. In my collection I have a number of 40+ year-old lenses, Nikon, Canon screw mount, Leica screw mount even some cheap Russian lenses. All are working just fine. Most are capable of producing a commercially acceptable product. I look at my new Nikon lenses and think they'll be doing well if they are still in use in five years.
Jan 10, 2012 14:50:46 #
Thanks for all the insightful answers about Chinese lenses. Will use mine as a back-up, if at all. Hope my Leitz lens wasn't secretly made in China.
Jan 10, 2012 15:01:27 #
jackinkc wrote:
quote=senad55verizon.net quote=prestonphoto When... (show quote)
When Nikon and Canon made film cameras they envisioned them being in use for 20 years and had to take that into consideration when they built the product. Today they're well aware that their pro-consumer cameras will probably be "obsolete" in two years and most will be out of service in five.
Jan 10, 2012 15:38:59 #
One good thing about Sony cameras is that they take all the old Minolta lenses (A mount). Minolta never sent their lens manufacture out when others did. They kept all manufacture in house and as such, even by today's standards, they manufactured some superb lenses.
Jan 10, 2012 17:09:21 #
senad55verizon.net wrote:
Maybe you're not old enough to remember that everybody used to say that about "Made in Japan". (Pre WW II.)
prestonphoto wrote:
When I bought my Canon Rebel XTi I looked on the bottom of the camera - "Made in Japan". If it'd said "Made in China" I would have looked somewhere else. Same with my lenses - not being made in China was a selling point for me. Anything China made should have the moniker "Made for suckers" on it.
Maybe you're not old enough to remember that everybody used to say that about "Made in Japan". (Pre WW II.)
Oh yeah - I'm old enough - And I do remember when you bought anything made in Japan it was pure junk but......Japan woke up to reality - at least with cameras and lens - and cars. Japan has that attitude where they have to be better. They lost the war but winning the electronics battle.
Jan 10, 2012 17:52:17 #
senad55verizon.net wrote:
Maybe you're not old enough to remember that everybody used to say that about "Made in Japan". (Pre WW II.)
prestonphoto wrote:
When I bought my Canon Rebel XTi I looked on the bottom of the camera - "Made in Japan". If it'd said "Made in China" I would have looked somewhere else. Same with my lenses - not being made in China was a selling point for me. Anything China made should have the moniker "Made for suckers" on it.
Maybe you're not old enough to remember that everybody used to say that about "Made in Japan". (Pre WW II.)
I think pre-war it would have said made in Nippon.
Jan 10, 2012 18:18:53 #
Jan 12, 2012 20:04:09 #
muralist0221 wrote:
Four years ago purchased a Sony A-100 and a Zeiss DT 16-80. The lens which came with the body was a DT 18-70 made in China. Didn't know the Chinese were great lens makers, so don't use it much. What is a good way to determine the merit of this product. Am I being prejudiced?
Yes, you're being prejudiced. Sony bought Minolta in 2006. Minolta lenses, which have always been considered very nice, were already being made in China at the time (at least some of them). I have one sitting here next to me with a big CHINA right on the bottom. So those same lenses are what Sony is using as the DT series. Is it a Zeiss quality lens? No. Is it very good on it's own? Yes. I have a Sony Alpha 55 with the kit 18-50mm zoom and it works very well and is as crisp as one would expect. If I bought a G series lens at the top of the line I would expect much more but that's the way it goes.
Don't forget that your iPod, iPad, Apple Mac, Apple laptop, and everything else Apple makes that everybody thinks is the cat's meow are also made in China and have been since the early 1980s. I also doubt if most P&S cameras are made anywhere but China. I'd also bet some dSLRs are made in China or use Chinese assemblies inside. You can't escape it, so you might as well join the stampede to Chinese everything.
Jan 12, 2012 20:14:22 #
Might consider reading the in-depth book "When China Rules the World" by Martin Jacques.
Jan 12, 2012 20:51:54 #
Another point is where the lens was designed. A poor lens design will yield poor results wherever it is built. I suspect most of the better lenses from Nikon, Canon, and Sony are designed in Japan.
Jan 12, 2012 21:07:36 #
mawyatt wrote:
Another point is where the lens was designed. A poor lens design will yield poor results wherever it is built. I suspect most of the better lenses from Nikon, Canon, and Sony are designed in Japan.
When Sony bought Minolta they took all the Minolta lens designers on staff. Good move! Years and years of experience
Jul 29, 2012 02:09:09 #
my sony kit lenses were made in china,my ziess is made in japan. they both have the sony label.
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