
How Fujifilm’s cameras and lenses are Made in Japan - Tomte
http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/18/10785038/fujifilm-x-pro-2-lens-factory-manufacturing-photos
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Inconel
For those who found this article interesting, you might want to take a look at
this article [1] detailing how Cooke Optics makes their lenses. It's a
decidedly more "old world" way but interesting nonetheless.

For those unaware, Cooke makes motion picture cinema lenses that can cost tens
of thousands of dollars each and they have won a number of Academy Awards.

[1][http://www.redsharknews.com/technology/item/1466-how-
cooke-m...](http://www.redsharknews.com/technology/item/1466-how-cooke-make-
lenses-making-lenses-with-the-cooke-look)

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jplahn
Great timing for this post! I'm an unabashed Fuji fan and have been scouring
the used market for a new lens or two. It really is incredible what Fuji has
managed to do in a couple years with building out their X Mount Lens series. I
have yet to find a single one that has garnered even remotely negative reviews
(other than a few isolated reviews). The fact that they are still pushing such
high quality products on a very fast timeline is testament to the people they
have working for them.

If you're a photographer and have never dared venture from the Canikon world,
I'd urge you to rent an X-T2/X-Pro2 or, my favorite camera, an X100T and see
how it feels to enter the mirrorless world!

~~~
4ad
I bought an X-T10 a year ago and I don't like it at all. The lenses are
excellent, and the build quality of the camera and lenses is impressive, but
that's about it. Battery life sucks badly, the very proprietary and esoteric
battery sucks when visiting less-developed countries where you can't buy a new
battery easily, camera takes too long to boot, autofocus is too slow, fly-by-
wire manual focus has an annoying lag, manual focus is awful with electronic
viewfinder, jpeg colors are ugly and offensive forcing me to process raw files
(I'm perfectly happy with Canon or iPhone jpeg colors for what I do). The
lenses are not significantly lighter than DSLR lenses and are just as bulky.

It's too bad because I really wanted to like this camera. As I said, the
optical quality is excellent, and the build quality of the metal construction
is something you can't find in anything produced this decade apart from Leica.

Since I got my Fuji, I shoot my Nikon FM3a (mechanical film SLR) more. It's
lighter and much less bulkier, never runs out of battery, and I am happy with
Velvia 50 colors.

I want to sell my Fuji gear.

The X100T has a leaf shutter, and it's much smaller. It's a very nice camera
for what it's supposed to do, but I can't justify buying a secondary camera at
that price, and for me X100T can't be a primary camera. I need a SLR with
interchangeable lenses (or at least a normal 50mm equiv. lens, not the wide
lens of the X100T).

~~~
jplahn
I feel you. I'm not a huge fan of the X-T10 if I'm honest (I think it's a
decent camera, but not one I would personally get). Fuji is definitely
targeting a certain segment and many people may not care for the features that
appeal to that segment.

There's something hard to explain about the top X series cameras. In terms of
actual "camera stuff", they're comparable to other cameras in their price
range for the most part. But there's something transcendent about the products
themselves that makes it hard for me to switch. I'll put it this way: I'll
take my X100T with me on any trip, no matter how small since it's such a
pleasure to use and handle. I wouldn't do that with virtually any other
camera. It's definitely a different strokes type of thing, but it's made it so
much easier to photograph everyday life and not feel like I'm slogging around
a DSLR.

~~~
stillworks
The Fuji lineup is a bit of a mixed bag IMHO.

The X-Pro is a bit weird for me to use with zoom lenses. You have to switch to
the EVF if using zoom lenses. The larger primes obstruct the OVF ! The X-Pro2
has a control dial layout which can be a bit of an "acquired taste".

I like the X-T lineup. The X-T2 is awesome TBH.

But then none of the lovely primes have optical IS :-/

I consider the X100T, no matter how lovely it is to behold, to be the
"thinking photographers' camera". And I don't understand the lens, why is it
allowed to focus that close when the image is so soft at closest focus. I had
the X100T for a while but didn't go well for me.

Olympus/Panasonic seem to have some very compelling bodies/lenses. With
Olympus I could have IBIS and then have access to stabilized primes such as
Panasonic Leica 15mm f1.7 and 25mm f1.4.

Currently trying out the X-T10 with 18-55 kit lens and that seems to be coming
out good. The lens is stellar between 23mm to 35mm at f/4 and the Classic
Chrome film simulation is something I can get behind.

Interesting times these are... choice aplenty we have.

~~~
leephillips
The X100T is only soft in macro when wide open. Stopped down below 2.8 and
it's fine. But wide open it's worse than soft - there is a kind of haze to the
image.

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dingaling
Unlike Canon, Sigma is another manufacturer who has kept all its lens
production in Japan.

[https://m.dpreview.com/articles/0773575852/making-art-
inside...](https://m.dpreview.com/articles/0773575852/making-art-inside-sigma-
s-lens-factory)

They also have a very strong job-for-life philosophy to try to retain skills
and experience.

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throwaway420
Fascinating pictures in the article. Everything about Fuji's lenses scream
quality except the lens caps which IMO feel flimsy in comparison to the
stunning build quality of their cameras and lenses.

There's no perfect camera system for everybody, but I have to say that I
recently got an X-T2 and it's a phenomenal camera. I love not having to mess
around with complicated menus most of the time as the physical buttons and
dials let me often do just about everything I need to. The kit lens it comes
with is surprisingly good and the first additional lens I got for it (16mm
f1.4) is jaw-dropping.

That being said, there are numerous reasons to check out other camera systems
and Fuji and Nikon and others all have their strengths and weaknesses.

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adrice727
I've gone through a few photography phases over the last ten years. The first
two didn't stick because I got sick of carrying around a huge camera. It just
wasn't practical for me. Even the Olympus 4/3 system I had ended up being too
much. Last year I picked up a used X100S and it's been an absolute pleasure to
use. It's small enough that I never have to ask myself, "do I really want to
bring my camera with me?" Instead I just throw it in my bag and I'm on my way.

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icc97
I love the authenticity of knowing where products are made, so it's lovely to
see this. From an economic point of view I found it always interesting that my
parents would switch to buying Japanese products because they were better and
more reliable.

Somewhere during the 80s / 90s the importance of quality seemed to get lost
and the importance of price just took over.

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johansch
A really amazing (and not likely to happen) photo story would be "how Canon
make all their world class L lenses".

This story, while interesting, was just a matter of.. yes.. it's manual, they
are all wearing white robes, they are likely really skilled at what they do..
and that's it.

Canon L lenses though, that's kinda magic. At least until said photo story is
posted, I guess.

Getting to see the complete manufacturing process (including glass grinding,
etc) for e.g. the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM would be awesome.

Or why not the "Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM"? ($12,999)

~~~
dom0
These should be fairly average, except perhaps the 800mm - I'd expect that
they might already have/need separate facilities and machinery for that lens,
at least for it's front elements.

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smilekzs
It is impressive how they pull it off with minimal automation. After all,
Japanese are known to automate... everything, including processing and
packaging of squids and watermelons...

~~~
devy
I think it has a lot to do with the Japanese Shokunin culture[1][2].

[1] [http://adriancheok.info/uncategorized/secret-for-
innovation-...](http://adriancheok.info/uncategorized/secret-for-innovation-
the-shokunin-spirit-of-japan/)

[2] [http://www.realtyninja.com/blog/the-mastery-of-ones-
professi...](http://www.realtyninja.com/blog/the-mastery-of-ones-profession/)

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doomtop
How can I get one of those Fujifilm jumpsuits??

~~~
itazula
I think you want it for the '... nicknamed the "bug"' logo.

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pm90
Is there any reason why they don't automate the process? The articles says
they use manual labor but doesn't say why.

~~~
dom0
Many assembly steps here are hard to automate. Every DSLR where I know about
it is manufactured with relatively little automation, too, because there are
so many tiny parts that have to be fiddled in-between-under-through something
into somewhere (all those FPC cables!), or stuff that has to be soldered
together _in assembly_ (Nikon does this with the top and flash assemblies in
some models).

Conversely most other electronics gadgets seem to contain much more manual
labour than expected, be it smart phones or PC main boards (were parts like
slot sockets are still pick and placed by hand in this day and age).

