Made in Japan vs Made in Thailand vs Made in China

steve miskelly · Jul 14, 2011

Thought this would be of interest ,shows how marketing can play on ones quality by being associated with a country of excellent engineering.
i wonder what would happen if leica made lenses in japan or china!!!

http://vimeo.com/26251829

Patco · Jul 14, 2011

steve miskelly said:
i wonder what would happen if leica made lenses in japan or china!!!

... or even Canada:

--
Patco
A photograph is more than a bunch of pixels

dale thorn · Jul 14, 2011

VW is perfect all right. 100 times worse than a Honda made in Japan, regardless of where the VW is made.

A few years ago I bought a Casio 1000 made in Japan. Excellent quality. Then they introduced an "updated" model 1080 made in China. The reliability may have been as good, but the image quality was much worse, on the several units we tried.

My iPad, iPods, Macbook Air are all made in China, all excellent. My Leica X1, a $2000 compact camera, is made by Leica in Germany, and the quality of build is very marginal.

So what this proves is you have to know the product more than where it's assembled.

RRaZZoRR said:
How much does it matter? Why are the sexiest and more expensive Nikons made in Japan while all others are made in Thailand or China?

I know a lot of Nikon fans will defend Nikon QC regardless of country of origin. But given the choice between two similar Nikon products one made in Japan and the other Thailand or China which one would you buy? How much more will you pay for something that says "Made in Japan"? Does it really matter?

Lets take cars..VW is perfect. A Volkswagen made in Germany or one made south of the boarder. Both made to Volkswagen specs. Made by Volkswagen trained labourers. Both engineered in Germany. Which one would you purchase?

So when I am looking at my 50mm f/1.4G and see "Made in China" on the bottom and see "Made in Japan" on the 85mm...should I feel that the China one is just simply not as well made as the Japanese one?

In the used market will a made in Japan lens fetch more $?

dale thorn · Jul 15, 2011

If they're made by Leica in a Leica facility like they did in Canada and Portugal in some cases, then they would be real Leica lenses. But when they're Leica-branded lenses on Panasonic small cameras, they are likely "Leica-spec" small-camera lenses made by Panasonic et al, not by Leica.

steve miskelly said:
Thought this would be of interest ,shows how marketing can play on ones quality by being associated with a country of excellent engineering.
i wonder what would happen if leica made lenses in japan or china!!!
http://vimeo.com/26251829

Ian64893 · Jul 22, 2011

Leica lenses are made in Japan and China.

Panasonic compact cameras are made in as far as I know Japan and China and they have Leica lenses on

musashi-miyamoto · Jul 22, 2011

Nah, it doesn't really matter. Go with the camera and its reviews, not stereotypes about countries. The Iphone and Ipad are made in China, and crappy competitors are made in countries with better reps.

Miike Dougherty · Jul 23, 2011

I saw a news article last week that Samyang, a Korean manufacturer of lenses, had to delay delivery of one of their new "pro grade" lenses because some of the parts were not available from Japan due to the Tsunami.

Restoc · Jul 23, 2011

--
C.TORRES

Well looking at the QC in nuclear plant just near Sendai, the main Nikon plant, i worry that Nikon would subcontract the D4 QC to the fired guys of TESCO !!!

Japan is no longer an ablolute reference.

Patco · Jul 23, 2011

Ian said:
Leica lenses are made in Japan and China.

See below:

--
Patco
A photograph is more than a bunch of pixels

Ian64893 · Aug 23, 2011

Yep, surprising really that China has parts made in Japan, there are things that they can not yet handle

Miike Dougherty · Aug 23, 2011

I'm sure glad I live in SoCal not too far from the Nikon Torrance Service Center. Both my made in Thailand D7000s needed to be repaired straight out of the box. Both needed auto focus tweaking and one needed an entire new aperture mechanism. You can draw your own conclusions. On a side note, Samyang, a Korean lens manufacturer, was late introducing a few lenses earlier in the year because they couldn't get parts from a manufacturing facility in Sendai, the site of the Japanese tsunami. Interesting.

AnakChan · Aug 23, 2011

Actually, nothing surprising about that. Quite common now for most products you buy that parts are sourced from various countries. It's the same with the Leica M9-P, delays due to Japan's tsunami. And how China being the primary supplier of rare earth elements.

This isn't limited to just photographic equipment. e.g. if for some extreme reason Foxconn disappeared suddenly, a lot of technology manufacturers would be left hanging with -incomplete- products.

Frugaltraveler · Nov 15, 2012

RRaZZoRR said:
RRaZZoRR wrote:

Lets take cars..VW is perfect. A Volkswagen made in Germany or one made south of the boarder. Both made to Volkswagen specs. Made by Volkswagen trained labourers. Both engineered in Germany. Which one would you purchase?

So when I am looking at my 50mm f/1.4G and see "Made in China" on the bottom and see "Made in Japan" on the 85mm...should I feel that the China one is just simply not as well made as the Japanese one?

In the used market will a made in Japan lens fetch more $?

I can tell you based on your example, I would NEVER buy a VW Jetta, Beetle or Passat that are made in now in Tennessee or were made in Mexico. The quality is just RIDICULOUS!

If you want a good VW you can buy a Golf made in Germany that way you get the quality car. You hear complaints about VW in the US ALL the time, but thats because Americans want a cheap made VW they dont view it as a luxury brand. Americans will NEVER pay the money for a Golf while they can get a BIGGER Jetta cheaper. That simple. And when I say Golf that is the one made with the engine 1.6l not 2.5 or buy the 2.0 Diesel made in Germany. And yes Im willing to pay for that Quality.

Same with Cameras I look for the made in Japan or made in Germany but Leica is even out of my price league.

chillgreg · Nov 21, 2012

[No message]

Frugaltraveler · Nov 27, 2012

thats one of the reasons I'm selling my OM-D and got a Canon 5D Mark III made in Japan! Yes its MORE $$$ but well worth it compare to OM-D Quality.

Frugaltraveler · Nov 27, 2012

musashi-miyamoto said:
musashi-miyamoto wrote:

Nah, it doesn't really matter. Go with the camera and its reviews, not stereotypes about countries. The Iphone and Ipad are made in China, and crappy competitors are made in countries with better reps.

really? Better look at the ipad and iphone quality again and its respected Foxcomm problems.

Rather pay a bit more and have the workers paid more fair than the CEO's pocketing the BIG bux on slaved China labor.

Edward Ang · Mar 19, 2015

RRaZZoRR said:
How much does it matter? Why are the sexiest and more expensive Nikons made in Japan while all others are made in Thailand or China?

I know a lot of Nikon fans will defend Nikon QC regardless of country of origin. But given the choice between two similar Nikon products one made in Japan and the other Thailand or China which one would you buy? How much more will you pay for something that says "Made in Japan"? Does it really matter?

Lets take cars..VW is perfect. A Volkswagen made in Germany or one made south of the boarder. Both made to Volkswagen specs. Made by Volkswagen trained labourers. Both engineered in Germany. Which one would you purchase?

So when I am looking at my 50mm f/1.4G and see "Made in China" on the bottom and see "Made in Japan" on the 85mm...should I feel that the China one is just simply not as well made as the Japanese one?

In the used market will a made in Japan lens fetch more $?

I have worked as a product engineer on behalf of a Japanese company in China factories. Then I seldom bought China made products. The problem is the Chinese mentality. Their aim is not to make a prefect product, but just get the job done and how to run away from responsibilities. You never can imagine their unlimited tricky ways how to replace the inspected products with rejects. That's the different between China made vs. Japan made !

Skipper494 · Mar 21, 2015

You must be joking about VW. They've had constant problems for decades, from broken gearboxes, falling on their sides in corners, to recent ignition problems. One of my colleagues had five in one year, all replaced under warranty, from water leaks to door handles falling off.

eaglenote · May 25, 2018

The nikon camera had adhesives com I'm g apart that were manufactured in thiland. Go to DPReview website for more information.

Dan62326 · Mar 2, 2019

I stumbled onto this thread because I was trying to choose between a Japanese made vs Thailand made 60mm F2.8G, so yes, it is possible to buy one made in either country. Despite what's been said, I still would prefer to buy the one made in Japan. Is it better in some way? I'll probably never know.

mosswings said:
...This entire thread presupposed that, first, you COULD buy a japanese-made or a Thai-made D3100 or SB900, and that there would be a difference in quality because of the country of assembly. You can't and you'll never know; all that you have to go on is that both products are designed and prototyped in Japan and brought to production under the control of Japanese engineers...

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