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Why don't US make lenses ?
- Thread starter vadim_c
- Start date
thelensmeister
Leading Member
Japan generally only produces the high end expensive items whilst the more mass produced items are made in for example China.
I believe most of the Canon lenses are still made in Japan. I know a few lenses are manufactured/assembled in Taiwan, which is not exactly a low cost manufacturing country either. I have not heard of any (non-fake) Canon branded lenses that are made in China yet.
One reason I guess is you need a lot of skilled workers from engineers to technicians/operators to do that kind of high precision work. US hasn't had a significant optical industry and trained workers for a long time. It's not like the auto industry where Japanese companies can easily recruit experienced managers and workers when they set up plants here.
My first SLR was the Canon Pellix QL w/58mm F1.2 lens in 1966 and it was made in Japan and even then I don't think there was any lenses made in the US. Germany was the other main lens producer but today only the top of the line optics are made there like my Zeiss FL binoculars that cost $2,000. China now is starting to make some high quality optics and I bet most consumer lenses for DSLRs are made there and other countries in Asia like Vietnam (Pentax).
tonyjr
Veteran Member
Japan subsidizes almost anything that is exported .
The US subsidizes farms and welfare .
--
1st it's a hobby
7D gripped XTI gripped
Canon - efs 10-22 , 17-55 , ef 18-55 IS
EF 28-90 , 28 @ 2.8 , 50 @1.8 , 28-135 IS
L's 35-350 , 70-200 MK II IS
Quantaray lens 70-300 macro
Sigma 135-400
2X III , life size converter
KSM filters for all
kenko auto tubes , EF 25
The US subsidizes farms and welfare .
--
1st it's a hobby
7D gripped XTI gripped
Canon - efs 10-22 , 17-55 , ef 18-55 IS
EF 28-90 , 28 @ 2.8 , 50 @1.8 , 28-135 IS
L's 35-350 , 70-200 MK II IS
Quantaray lens 70-300 macro
Sigma 135-400
2X III , life size converter
KSM filters for all
kenko auto tubes , EF 25
I think the same reason why the US, who invented most electronics, makes so little here - because the Japanese made good products at low cost in the 70's and 80's. Japanese labor is expensive now, but they wiped us out long ago in certain industries. My father interacted a lot with them (he visited Matsushita (Panasonic now) when they were manufacturing the first VCRs for his company (Sylvania TV) for example). He told me how they promised they’d only sell little transistorized radios into our markets when we helped them learn how to make stuff. We taught them how to do QA (which we didn't bother with), but they actually followed the QA statistical methods (Deming, but others too such as Sylvania). My dad said his company showed instructional films to various Japanese companies and they'd record them as they watched.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming
Scales USA
Senior Member
Go read about the Argus C3, probably the best selling 35mm camera in the world for over 3 decades. Made in USA. It was my first 35mm camera.
Low cost Japanese production eventually caused them to cease production in 1966.
biochemiker
Leading Member
Wow. Deming is a genius.
jitteringjr
Senior Member
When you say optical, it isn't limited to cameras. You've heard of Bushnell right.
Habemus_Canon
Senior Member
Panavision (used in almost all Hollywood cameras for 3-4 decades) made and still makes its lenses here in the US. They are as high end as you can get judging by the price tag (although they are never for sale).
I do not poses any high expensive items from Canon. 70-200 is the most expensive one. And none of the items says made in China.
Chez Wimpy
Veteran Member
L lenses only, and the kit lenses (18-55IS, maybe the 18-XXXs too) made for sale in Japan (Japanese routinely refuse to buy China/Korean goods). Of course, since it seems the majority of Canon lens releases this day are L line... you are probably right.
--
-CW
よしよし、今日も生きのいい魂が手に入ったな
That is definitely far fetched. In fact the companies burdened with labor unions are troubled more than the ones that are not.
Watching several video's made at Canon plants I could not help but notice that there is very little automation, much of the work that I would expect done with machines are actually made by hand. That's probably where copy to copy variations come from.
Still I do not see a tremendous challenge in creating domestic manufacturing.
Will US workers be loyal if they know they will not be fired?
You're right but I'm not sure if they still manufacture scopes and binoculars in the US? Then there is Xerox which is still an optical company I assume.
Companies are "burdened" by labor unions because they will no longer be able to squeeze every bit of sweat and blood out of the work force. Look at US and Europe in the early days of industrialization, or in China and many other developing countries now where there is no union.
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