fyi: last el-nikkors were made in china

chip j · Oct 8, 2014

I bought one of the last 50mm 2.8's, and when I saw the "Made in China" sticker, I almost dropped it. I have a BA in art history and it does have a bit of a "Chinese" look (as opposed to "Japanese").

snapguy · Oct 8, 2014

oh?

Would love to know what a Chinese look is. I doubt anyone Chinese had much to do with the look. They are given a job to do and they do it. I think you would play heck trying to figure out -- just by looking at the item -- if a Leica body or lens was made in Germany, Singapore, Canada, Spain or Outer Ebonia. Ditto with Nikon. But maybe you have X-ray vision. I'm lucky if I can see the f-stops these days.

Shawn Rahman · Oct 8, 2014

My made in China 50/1.8D AF lens is superb.

Les Sarile · Oct 8, 2014

Made in China is usually about savings in labor but there are also some introduction of material cost minimization with simpler construction and introduction of plastics. Would be beneficial if you have samples to show the differences - if any.

benjiboy · Oct 8, 2014

Before we get into Xenophobic rants my computer, Ipad,, Ipod, iphone, Lowepro bags, kettle, microwave etc.were made in China and they are by no means inferior products the Chinese have invested in state of the art manufacturing facilities and machinery and that combined with their cheaper labour costs enable them to produce products that the west can't compete with on either price or quality, which is exactly what Japan did after WW11 until they got their foot in the door, and the rest is history.

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Oct 8, 2014

Wait the Nikon made in the somewhere at east africa , even lot cheaper workmanship ! Nikon is an very intelligent company finds good artists for plastic parts and everything else is window glass from brick and mortar - thats real- factory. I always disliked japanese optics from 70s and later.
And the 50s good ones more expensive than Leica now.

ic-racer · Oct 8, 2014

Does it look like this (with the "Made in Japan" wordage conspicuously absentJ)? If you believe the Nikkor process lens literature then you are in good shape with a late model lens:

Some users replace their lnses every year. However, used correctly in a proper studio, lenses will ordinarily give good service for three or four years.

snapguy · Oct 8, 2014

time doth fly

In 1965 I purchased a Japanese automobile. A relative (who later owned Datsuns and Nissans) said to me "you bought a Japanese car, they only make cheap junk over there." He was in the Korean War and remembered an earlier Japan. But I owned a Nikon F which was a world standard for SLRs in that day. If you can make a fine camera you can make a car. I had a two-speed auto transmission, the old GM Hydromatic (GM went to a three speed and licensed the old one to Toyota.) Things change. Even now bean counters are totaling up the hassle, time, expense of transport and beginning to make stuff back in the US rather than China. Canada is hurting because of a loss of exports to China, whose economy is slowing.
Heck, I know people who think Leicas are still made in Germany.

Chris Lange · Oct 8, 2014

People in the DJ world quibble over buying older Allen & Heath mixers which were made in the UK over the newer made in China versions...the fact is that the Chinese manufactured mixer have better fit and finish due to more modern tooling, as well as added features such as pre-fader cueing of filters and EQ...something the made in UK variants largely lack...

I would rather have a new Chinese manufactured A&H Xone mixer over an old UK one.

MartinP · Oct 8, 2014

Everybody knows that Leicas are made in Somalia, surely?

But I do wonder why the Nikon quote in post #7 suggests only a three to four year life for enlarging lenses?!

wy2l · Oct 8, 2014

My ex-wife came from Outer Elbonia. I will not purchase anything made there.

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Oct 8, 2014

wy2l said:
My ex-wife came from Outer Elbonia. I will not purchase anything made there.

Elbonia ?, Ebola , Albania , Estonia , may be Angola but no more Leica from outer Elbonia , may be she can sell stamps of that short lived country to the collectors

chip j · Oct 8, 2014

I have 3 50mm 2.8 El-Nikkor N's of various vintage (w/different coatings) and I can tell them apart in a 6" X 9"side-by-side test.

snapguy · Oct 8, 2014

EL Nikkors

I have EL Nikkors in my darkroom that I bought in the late 1960s and I am still getting fine prints from them. Somebody is trying to yank our chain.

removed account4 · Oct 9, 2014

chip j said:
I bought one of the last 50mm 2.8's, and when I saw the "Made in China" sticker, I almost dropped it. I have a BA in art history and it does have a bit of a "Chinese" look (as opposed to "Japanese").

is it turning your prints PINK ?

sorry for the chinese amidol joke ...

chip j · Oct 9, 2014

What I meant was, it looks like any other El-Nikkor N, but the "LOOK" of the print is a little different. I also have an original metal, scalloped El-Nikkor, whose look I find dated.

RalphLambrecht · Oct 9, 2014

manufacturing processesand qualityengineering has become intrnational standard.I believe it means little where in the world the manufacturing site is.who callstheshots is important.Nikon is just as picky with Chinese sites as they are with their own and probably even more so.my ELNikkors are all excellent.

Jim Jones · Oct 9, 2014

After WWII the Japanese certainly made some inferior products. Many were marketed by American distributors more concerned with cheapness than with quality. The Japanese also made some very fine tools for Japanese craftsmen who appreciated quality products, but bargain hunters rarely encountered these. My 1/2" socket set bought in Japan in 1960 has been horribly abused, and works perfectly. Some tools used by Japanese craftsmen are superb. Yokogawa electronics test gear was first rate. APUG users know about Japanese cameras and lenses. Now emerging countries are on track to make equipment with a similar wide range of quality, and bargain hunters will again be the bottom feeders of those markets.

fotch · Oct 9, 2014

From what I have read, China is the #1 thief of company & government secrets. Cheaper to steal, copy, other ideas, designs, etc., than to pioneer you own, if its true. Probably everyone does it, they just do it better ?

John Koehrer · Oct 9, 2014

fotch said:
From what I have read, China is the #1 thief of company & government secrets. Cheaper to steal, copy, other ideas, designs, etc., than to pioneer you own, if its true. Probably everyone does it, they just do it better ?

Ayup! Thousands of cyber attacks throughout the US & others daily.

My EL-Nikkors are way past they're expiration dates. What to do? What to do?

Shipping manufacturing to China really has an effect on bottom line for the original maker. The cost savings are seldom
passed on to the retail customer & there aren't many options for us. We have to buy those old worn out, tired and not up to snuff old fashioned things.

mgb74 · Oct 10, 2014

I used to work for a company that built "things" in US and China. The quality of the items from China were just as good, but the process to get to that quality was different. Much more vigilance in supply chain and subcontracting.

So Nikon can get the same quality in China as Japan - if they want to and know how.

analoguey · Oct 10, 2014

This thread belongs in the lounge.

Sent from Tap-a-talk

250swb · Oct 10, 2014

fotch said:
From what I have read, China is the #1 thief of company & government secrets. Cheaper to steal, copy, other ideas, designs, etc., than to pioneer you own, if its true. Probably everyone does it, they just do it better ?

You'll be telling us it was all home grown idea's that kicked off the industrial revolution in the USA next..........

Imagine where any current major economy would be if the technique for making steel hadn't been 'borrowed' at some time in the past?

So yes, everybody does do it or has done it, but given any modern home would grind to a halt without Chinese made goods I can't really see how everybody else is doing it 'better'?

Steve

RattyMouse · Oct 10, 2014

Chinese companies making things at lower cost because they can pollute at will. I'm here in China now and see it all the time. There's a reason why the rivers here all look like they came straight out of Mordor.

blockend · Oct 10, 2014

RattyMouse said:
Chinese companies making things at lower cost because they can pollute at will. I'm here in China now and see it all the time. There's a reason why the rivers here all look like they came straight out of Mordor.

Growing up in the industrial north of England, all the rivers looked like that. Now they're full of wild trout, and increasingly salmon, because we don't manufacture anything. The Western world has become a service sector for the East. Low pay, no job security or holidays, impoverished accommodation is the price someone has to pay for our cheap items.

fyi: last el-nikkors were made in china

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