Shen Hao factory---anybody been there?

I'm curious---has anybody taken pictures of the Shen Hao factory?

There seems to be a lot of interest in these cameras here, and a

wooden camera factory sounds like a pretty interesting place to

photograph---I'm just wondering if anyone has done that?

I visited there and talked with Mr. Zhang, the owner of Shen Hao last May. Their sales office is located in a tall residential building. But I did not get a chance visiting their factory.

Interesting, but I think the factory would be something to see---imagine the woodworking equiptment, brass milling stuff, bellows assembly(if in-house) and the craftsmen plying thier trade. What better subject for LF?(especially with a camera born at the factory!) Anyone interested?

If you're anywhere near the east coast, the Wisner factory is in Marion, Massachusetts.

 

I believe that visitors have been given a tour of the factory and their web-site has some nice shots of the craftsmen at work ...

It wouldn't be too surprising if the manufacture wasn't scattered out (brass items done one place, wood another, etc., or brass items subcontracted out)- or, if quantity made is small enough, they may just do wood one month, brass the next, assembly the next, etc.- who knows?

I would imagine a cottage industry (above post) with many different vendors supplying parts for the final assembly. It is difficult to imagine one large facility with enough capital machinery available to supply such a small niche in the world market place. The cash outlay would be huge. It does make sense to think of a system with one vendor making a bellows, another doing woodwork, a third making ground glass back material and others making brass gears and odds and ends. The actual final assembly is most likely done by skilled workers who are trained in a small factory and do piece work.

 

I was very pleasantly surprised at the fit and finish of my camera. I had not thought in terms of quality when looking at Chinese manufacturing, but mostly of Japan as the standard of quality. This was an awakening for me. As a cabinet maker, I was very pleased to see the joinery being of first rate quality and a beautiful rendering of form and function. This camera is an excellent value for the money and worthy of care and respect.

 

A series of the "cottages" which supply parts to the master craftsman comes to mind. Each picture would show a different part of the process from a different vendor and then the final assembly by a skilled artesan. A milling machine cutting gears and spewing shavings. The bellows material unrolling from a spool onto a cutting table with a naked light bulb. A worker with clamps and glue doing a body in an assembly jig, hands wrinkled like leather. I like it already.

Tim, It sounds like the Morgan factory in Malvern Link! ;-) I've got a book somewhere around here of historic photographs from China, mainly 19th century industrial stuff. I recall that it had some really cool photos of a german brewery and an american steam locomotive works, both being run by chinese workers. I showed the locomotive picture to a railroad buff who pointed out the engineer's shoes had a spit shine. All the workers who had built the engine posed for the shot, and the engineer had shiney shoes. My friend showed me a similar photo taken at the Baldwin works with the american workers posed around thier newly compeleted locomotive. The engineer's shoes had a spit shine as well. "See, its just how things were done back them..." He said. I wonder if the Shen Hao factory would harken back to the days of Laban Deardorff(with an oriental flavor!)

I am a Chinese, I also think that the Shenhao camera are well made and the only reason is because there is a demand and the money goes to the makers rather than the " party". I believe that under the market force, the products made in China are going to be better and better.

 

By the way, though out the history, Chinese made some of the most skillful things in the world such as China, furniture, architecture,etc.

 

Tell your friends about the quality vs price of the shenhao products, and the more people using the camera, the better they are going to make it.

 

I went to Shanhhai meseld and visit the office and see the boss but not the factory. The 8x10 is also beautifully made but not to the standard of 45 in term of finishing. There were only 1 8x10 camera available then because the demand of it is so low and they don't make it regularly.