Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/01/31
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 10:59 PM 1/30/98 EST, Tom Shea wrote in response to the following: >><< I think the Elves of Solms Know how to make a superior lens; The Japanese >>do too, but, they opt for a large quantity of lower priced lenses, made to >> standards lower than we expect, and they are made by folks on an assembly >> line who understand too little- >> > >This is a silly, provential attitude. No, it is neither silly nor provincial. The Japanese are masters at determining what the market wishes to pay and achieving a decent product at that price; the Germans tend to toss reason overboard and build the absolute best without regard for price or market realities. (As my co-author, Charlie Barringer, has noted: "when did economic reason ever beseige the Zeiss concerns?") Thus, Japanese products, in general, are built to lower standards than are German goods, something the Japanese acknowledge -- that is why Yashica/Kyocera insist that the inspectors in the Contax SLR lens works are employees of Carl Zeiss and not of Kyocera, to ensure that the Japanese public understand that the construction standards on these lenses are to German, and not Japanese, standards. Which is not to say that the Japanese are not capable of making the finest products: they are, and have repeatedly shown this in, for instance, astronomical optics. However, they generally do not export these products as their pricing in foreign markets such as the US or Europe would be identical to the prices charged by, say, Zeiss or Questar, as production costs in Japan are now actually a tad higher than in Europe and quite a bit higher than in the US. Marc msmall@roanoke.infi.net FAX: +540/343-7315 Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!