Made in China ?

<p>Guys, I just bought the Nikon 35 mm f/1.8 at Ritz Camera, but the lens was made in China. It is coming of course with the US 5 years warranty but I was under the assumption that Nikon lenses were made in Thailand or Japan only not in China. Is this something new ? Neither of my lenses, except for this one, was made in China. I thought lenses made in China were part of the gray market but I guess that Ritz Camera is a very reputable company that will not dare to get into selling Nikon gray market equipments. Does this means that from now on, we will be getting Nikon equipment made in China ? Does anyone have an answer ? Are those equipments reliable enough ? Should we trust them ? I am assuming if it is coming with a 5 year warranty, the lens should have Nikon bless but I've never seen this before; am I mistaking here ? Thanks for your help !!! </p>

<p>Many of Nikon's batteries are made in China as well. Although it was made in China, it is still made to Nikon's specifications so I wouldn't worry about it. As for Gray (Grey) market items, they are still made in the same factories as non-Gray items, they are items destined to be sold in different markets than here in the US (eg: a camera made to be sold in SE Asia market that is imported & sold in the US instead)</p>

<p>My AF Nikkor 50mm 1:1.4 D, which I bought in september 2008 is also 'Made in China'. Nothing to worry about, its made after Nikons specs and with Nikons quality control, so what???? Years ago people did not want to buy camaras 'made in Japan', they wanted the real stuff 'made in Germany', and before that people did not want things 'made in Germany' but the real stuff with 'made in England' engraved on it.</p>

<p>Nikon builds quite a few Nikkor lenses in their Chinese factory, including the AF 50/1.8D. AF 50/1.4D, the new AF-S 50/1.4G, AF-S VR Micro 85/3.5G, AF-S DX 10~24/3.5-4.5G, AF-S 55~200/4.5-5.6G, AF-S VR Micro 105/2.8G (production from 2010 forward), plus as you discovered the AF-S DX 35/1.8G</p>

<p>Your lens is just one of many. :)</p>

<p>http://www.nikon.com/about/ir/news/news_bn/2002/news/0507_e.htm</p>

<p>A bunch of their lenses are made in china and only in china... so don't sweat it.</p>

<p>Many Nikon lenses as well as many of your household items or, say, the ipads, iphones, macbook pros are all made or atleast assembled in China. My ancient original macbook was shipped from China...</p>

<p>I'm sort of surprised to hear that there are things NOT made in China.<br>

;-)</p>

<p> My Surly bicycle is advertised as made in America but under the bottom bracket it says made in Taiwan. So don't worry about it as you probably still don't know where it was made. But seriously Nikon has a lot of stuff made in China. </p>

<p>I've used my Nikkor 35/1.8 (made in China) for over a year and it's a wonderful and reliable lens. I use a Fotoman 617 Panoramic (made in China) and it's a mechanical work of art, and a Benro tripod (made in China) that's maybe the best tripod I have, and I include my Gitzos in that assessment. Don't worry about it, Chinese stuff is OK.</p>

<p>Nikon manufactures camera bodies in Japan and Thailand only, but lenses are made in those two countries as well as in China. Components can still come from any one of those plus some other countries; the more appropriate wording is "Final assembly in China." Just because a lens is "Made in Japan" does not mean every component is also made in Japan.</p>

<p>Most Nikon lenses are made only in one country. E.g. the 35mm/f1.8 AF-S DX is made (assembled) in China only. There is no other version. I have used the 50mm/f1.4 AF-S and 10-24mm/f3.5-4.5 AF-S DX. Both are only made in China and both are fine. So is my SB-600 flash.</p>

<p>I well remember all the sneering at 'Jap' cameras (Nikon F) in the late Fifties and early Sixties (the Fifties not so well ). Rumor was that the lenses were filled with water--I'm serious.</p>

<p>My friend John was a master machinist. His company bought a new German-made lathe in the late Sixties. He was enormously impressed by the fact that the fasteners were not crude screws, but precision dowels. "That's real craftsmanship," he said. Then something broke--can happen to the finest machinery--and the lathe had to be opened to repair it. John pulled the first dowel. Surprise! It was just a metal plug that hid the screw. So were all of them.</p>

<p>It keeps America safe! As long as we keep buying their stuff, they will never have occasion to nuke us.</p>

<p>Hello. I find this question interesting as a new concern<br /> Your question was more about Nikon dslr than film stuff.<br /> <br /> With old Nikon 35mm Point and Shoot cameras; they were made in Japan, mainland China , Taiwan ROC, and Malaysia etc.</p>

<p>It is common to see the Nikon P&S product at first made in Japan; then another country to drop the labor costs as the product matures.</p>

<p>A Nikon Nice Touch 3 with 31mm lens here is made in Malaysia.<br>

A Nikon One Touch with a 35mm F2.8 is made in Japan.<br /> Another Nikon One Touch with 35mm F2.8 was made in China.<br /> A Nikon One Touch 4 AF with 29mm F4.5 is marked made in Taiwan ROC.</p>

<p>Nikon L35AF with 35mm F2.8 here is made in Japan; another is made in China. The first one I bought my parents was made in Japan; a later spare of the same model says made in China. These are 1980's Nikon cameras. The Nikon L35AF has a sharp enough lens for great Kodachrome slides.</p>

<p>With one Olympus Digital P&S I like to use; I have the same model with the bottom stamped made in Japan; Indonesia and Korea. All the parts can interchange. In Kodak 35mm P&S; the same Star series models were made in Hong Kong and also "Taiwan R O C".</p>

<p>The same model is often made in different countries as the product matures. Thus later model Nikon L35AF's are made in China.</p>

<p>In the lower end P&S arena; this changing the country during production seems to be more common.</p>

<p>It is better to focus on what the quality of the Nikon or other product is; than were it was made. China holds the bulk of the World's rare earth magnet material; thus with a modern high tech product you are not going to be able to buy a product with materials NOT made in China.<br /> The Nikon Kit zooms and common 50mm lenses have been made in China for a long time.<br /> Cheers.</p>

<p>I can't honestly address the lens question, but one contributor mentioned batteries. I have been in the aerospace business for many decades. In that time a lot of battery technologies have been evaluated. The most absolute ridiculous has been Chinese batteries of both Gel-Cell and Li Ion. The statement that the batteries are to Nikon (Sony, Canon, etc.) specs is total bull puckey. Electrically, that may be be true, but chemically they are the most garbage batteries I have ever evaluated. I do mean garbage. Literally the contaminant levels rival a high school lab experiment. These batteries are NOT to ever be used in mission-critical applications -- per DoD regulations. If you expect any battery to live anything close to a useful life, be sure it was NOT made in China.<br>

Jim<br>

Dr. James Penn, Ph.D., Sc.D., Ph.D.</p>

Shun Cheung

 

Nikon manufactures camera bodies in Japan and Thailand only.

 

And now, in Vietnam too.

<blockquote>

<p>Nikon manufactures camera bodies in Japan and Thailand only.<br />And now, in Vietnam too.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Which Nikon DSLR body is made in Vietnam? Could you specify the model number?</p>

<p>If it wasn't made in China it would be twice the price! Way to go Chinese repressive labour practices!</p>

<p>Hey it keeps me from laying out even more cash for the toys I want...<br>

;-)</p>

One of few nice things having to do with Ritz is they do NOT sell ANY grey market items in stores.

<p>Just another reason why I won't get any of Nikon's new lenses. All my AIS Nikkors, one (my 500mm f/8 Reflex-C) dating back to the 70's in manufacture, are made in Japan, as are my F2's F4 and D700.</p>

<p>the Zeiss lenses are now made in Japan, but despite that, they seem to be of good quality.</p>

<p>Funny... as a lab technician in a manufacturing company I wonder how something made in any place could be better or worst than in another... ALL is made under specs, and if something is made with better or worst quality is because THE MANUFACTURER want it in this way. We are not talking about a small native company without a QC department to control their own products but about a powerful Japanese company that have installed factories in many countries.<br /> Mass productions are made in places where labor is cheaper for higher profit. Quality Control is also <em>strictly</em> applied; the issue is that materials and sophistication are in a lower step, but is not a "Made in" fault but a manufacturer`s strategy.<br /> Sadly, some countries are receiving an unfair fame for this reason... well, in one decade China will laugh. Looks like they also know what they`re doing.</p>

<p>Ty, LOL.</p>

<p>When I got my 50mm 1.4 with that stamp I sent it back ,sold my stuff and switch to a classic Leica M3. Still works wonders for me.Not as fast or convenient as a DSLR but wonderful simple with best optics. Without exception any electronic equipment I bought made in China stopped working few months after going out of warranty.It is always some subtle mechanical problem .<br /> So .. no more.Enjoy the lens ,is probably optically very good ,I assume made from plastic.Hope it lasts.<br>

Jose,where is done it matters and also who does it .I am a trader and I remember when BMW announced they will build a plant in China.Their stock plunged by 7% in one hour.They have one now there and they make them "modified for the local needs".</p>

<p>Well guys, sorry for the question, but China has had a bad reputation building stuff. Not long ago, they sold to this country, drywalls contaminated with bad chemicals and that was in the news. Don't have any doubt that Japan is demanding to China to assembly those products according to their parameters but based on previous problems like the one mentioned above about the drywalls, should not we worry about those products are not being assembled as they should ? Neither of my lenses are made in China except this one so I was wondering because this was new to me. I hope we get a very good quality stuff made over there. That's all guys and than you for your response. </p>

<p>China(the country) didn't sell the drywall, a company in the US imported it because it was much cheaper than buying drywall made in North America. It was ordered and paid for before it was loaded on ship bound for the US. Manufacturers in foreign countries don't ship products to the US unless someone has ordered and "paid" for them with an irrevocable letter of credit.</p>

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