Japan manufacture vs China or Thailand: Hello fellow hoggers. What are your opinions/experiences comparing lenses that were made in Japan vs China or Thailand. Recently purchased a...

flyfisher

Hello fellow hoggers. What are your opinions/experiences comparing lenses that were made in Japan vs China or Thailand. Recently purchased a lens (Nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF D) that was pictured as being made in Japan but then was informed it actually wasn’t. Probably made in Thailand or China. (Haven’t received it yet)
If this was covered in another thread please tell me how to find it.
Thanks to all who respond!

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

flyfisher wrote:

Hello fellow hoggers. What are your opinions/experiences comparing lenses that were made in Japan vs China or Thailand. Recently purchased a lens (Nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF D) that was pictured as being made in Japan but then was informed it actually wasn’t. Probably made in Thailand or China. (Haven’t received it yet)
If this was covered in another thread please tell me how to find it.
Thanks to all who respond!

Almost every Nikkor lens I have ever bought has been made in Thailand. All have worked perfectly, most for many years. I do not have any Chinese-made lenses.

bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

flyfisher wrote:

Hello fellow hoggers. What are your opinions/experiences comparing lenses that were made in Japan vs China or Thailand. Recently purchased a lens (Nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF D) that was pictured as being made in Japan but then was informed it actually wasn’t. Probably made in Thailand or China. (Haven’t received it yet)
If this was covered in another thread please tell me how to find it.
Thanks to all who respond!

It doesn't really matter where a lens or camera is manufacturer if the design and quality control are top notch.

bwa

BebuLamar

flyfisher wrote:

Hello fellow hoggers. What are your opinions/experiences comparing lenses that were made in Japan vs China or Thailand. Recently purchased a lens (Nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF D) that was pictured as being made in Japan but then was informed it actually wasn’t. Probably made in Thailand or China. (Haven’t received it yet)
If this was covered in another thread please tell me how to find it.
Thanks to all who respond!

I think it's made in China. The lens is old. Newer lenses made in Thailand. There were a number of the lens made in Japan as you have seen in the picture but Nikon only made that version in Japan for a short time.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

larryepage wrote:

Almost every Nikkor lens I have ever bought has been made in Thailand. All have worked perfectly, most for many years. I do not have any Chinese-made lenses.

To expand on my original response, my 14-24mm, 24-70mm, 70-200mm, and 17-55mm f/2.8 lenses were each made in Japan. All of my other Nikkor lenses, including my 24-120mm f/4 were made in Taiwan. That lens just happens to be my most-used lens on both my full-frame and crop-frame cameras. I've just started looking for a nice second one.

I think a lot of the prejudice between Japanese and Thai lenses is based on some snobbery over which lens models have tended to be made in which location.

flyfisher

Thanks for all the responses. I would then assume the quality of glass and material would be the same and only the labor cost would be reduced. Do you all find this to be a good, sharp lens?

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

flyfisher wrote:

Thanks for all the responses. I would then assume the quality of glass and material would be the same and only the labor cost would be reduced. Do you all find this to be a good, sharp lens?

I use mine when I need the extra speed or want to limit size and weight. I have no complaints about it. It's an older design, and it depends on the focus motor in your camera. For me, it does what I need it to do.

Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

I have a collection of mid to higher end guitars, some made in China, Thailand, Indonesia, Mexico and here in the US. All are very well built. As someone mentioned, quality is about the standards the manufacturer maintains, not about where it was built. I believe the biggest difference is the cost to manufacturer. Same with cameras and glass, but you can get fooled.

I got my Nikon 50mm f/1.4G because I had read so many good reviews about the lens. I decided to test it against a Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 G2 at 50mm, both at f/2.8 on a D850. I was very surprised that the Tamron, wide open, was sharper than the Nikon 50mm at f/2.8. Playing around, I found the Nikon did not get sharp until f/3.5 and it was extremely sharp through f/11, where I think I was seeing diffraction beyond that to the f/16 limit. But, that's just my experience. Maybe a bad copy? In any case, I picked up a Tamron 45mm f/1.8 and am very happy with it. It also has VR that the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G does not.

flip1948 Loc: Hamden, CT

flyfisher wrote:

Thanks for all the responses. I would then assume the quality of glass and material would be the same and only the labor cost would be reduced. Do you all find this to be a good, sharp lens?

I have the 50mm f/1.4D and mine is stamped Made In China. Regardless of where the lens is assembled it appears that all glass in Nikkor lenses is made at the Hikari Glass Company in Akita, Japan.

The 50mm f/1.4 is a very sharp lens, usually at it's sharpest when stopped down a bit to f/4 or f/5.6. Some will tell you that the 50mm f/1.8 lens is actually slightly sharper, but both are among Nikon's sharpest lenses.

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

Does it really matter if Japanese, Chinese or Thai hands put the lens together? Ultimately, the level of quality control (including training, assembly supervision and materials) is determined by the manufacturing company, not the factory location.

flyfisher

Exactly the reason I asked the question. In my experience, sometimes when production is moved to a different location ( for whatever reason) quality sometimes slips. Just wondering if anyone saw a difference.

rlv567 Loc: Baguio City, Philippines

rook2c4 wrote:

Does it really matter if Japanese, Chinese or Thai hands put the lens together? Ultimately, the level of quality control (including training, assembly supervision and materials) is determined by the manufacturing company, not the factory location.

Ah, but there's the rub - that does depend upon the factory location. I do not have any Chinese manufactured lenses, so cannot speak to that, but have had other Chinese manufactured products - which were absolute junk! I never will buy another Chinese motorcycle!!! And many of their lesser items are inferior quality knock-offs, sold as the real thing.

Loren - in Beautiful Baguio City

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

flyfisher wrote:

Hello fellow hoggers. What are your opinions/experiences comparing lenses that were made in Japan vs China or Thailand. Recently purchased a lens (Nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF D) that was pictured as being made in Japan but then was informed it actually wasn’t. Probably made in Thailand or China. (Haven’t received it yet)
If this was covered in another thread please tell me how to find it.
Thanks to all who respond!

Where ever the lenses are manufactured, they are manufactured to Nikon specs. I have used many lenses that were made in Thailand and they work as well as lenses manufactured in Japan.
Lately it appears that only the most expensive lenses are still manufactured in Japan. But that may not be the case for long.
If your a smart business and want to stay in business you go where you can save some money on labor, overhead, and taxes.
It has been a global market for many years now and nothing is going to change any time soon.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

flyfisher wrote:

Hello fellow hoggers. What are your opinions/experiences comparing lenses that were made in Japan vs China or Thailand. Recently purchased a lens (Nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF D) that was pictured as being made in Japan but then was informed it actually wasn’t. Probably made in Thailand or China. (Haven’t received it yet)
If this was covered in another thread please tell me how to find it.
Thanks to all who respond!

It is known that Japan has a generally better quality control in spite of claims to the contrary.
So yes, Made in Japan does mean better quality.

BebuLamar

Architect1776 wrote:

It is known that Japan has a generally better quality control in spite of claims to the contrary.
So yes, Made in Japan does mean better quality.

Canon still makes most of its cameras in Japan and yet its business is better than Nikon which moved production mostly to Thailand.