Cheap Packaging

[Mike D]

<p>Just got the Nikon 105 F1.4 E and while it appears to be a nice lens, the packaging is typical Nikon which doesn't seem to have changed in decades. At least my Sigma lenses came in their own case which is excellent for lens storage. It's not that Nikon packaging has gotten worse; it's that other consumer products producers have gotten much better. It first started with Apple and their beautiful iMac, iPhone, and iPad packaging. You actually want to keep it. Even Microsoft's Surface computer packaging is now very nice. It's not that the packaging makes the product better, it's just an indication that the manufacturer cares. For a $2,100 lens, you'd think that Nikon might have upped their game a little bit. (Also note, the instructions inside the box are one grade better than toilet paper.)</p>

[Ken Katz]

Maybe the profit margins that Apple extracts on their products enables them to include lavish packaging.

[rossb]

<p>Well Nikon camera's is a shrinking market. Since sales are not going to improve then cutting costs is the name of the game. </p>

[Jochen_S]

<p>Retail fluff is nice, but would you really love to buy it <em>given a choice</em>? - I'm recalling the days when Ilford film was sold a several cent cheaper without a cardboard box around the can.<br>

Nice you mentioned especially Apple. Give me strap lugs, common connections user interchangeable batteries and storage media and I'd happily buy those camera phones bagged in worn socks.<br>

IMHO a manufacturer would appear caring, if the retail packaging had some use during the product's working life. A tiny plastic case serving as rear cap too, protecting an unused lens from dust & similar in a studioor shelf could be indeed nice to have and shouldn't be overly expensive to make. - I'd appreciate if those boxes were a modular system allowing to connect them to each other. I have Schneider lens heads for Retina or PZO enlarging lenses in mind as design examples.<br>

Do you really use Sigma or Tamron bags in the field? - I'm sad they demand lens hood removal.</p>

[David_Cavan]

<p>Conversational clutter?</p>

[David_Cavan]

<p>I'd be happy with my new stuff in a paper bag from the store - at least I can easily recycle that. The camera equipment goes straight into a bag, or onto a shelf where the equipment sits so it is easy to grab. Any packaging material goes into the garbage the next week - it's clutter, in the way.</p>

[steve_mareno1]

<p>The Germans do a lot better job on the packaging (although why this would be an issue is lost on me). I owned several Leica R cameras that came in "presentation" boxes that were lined w/ red velvet!!!, and those resided inside very sturdy factory boxes. The red velvet cases gave me the creeps, so I set them outside to be recycled by someone else into jewelry boxes or something. The irony was, what you were presenting was basically just a Japanese Minolta SLR, but hey, it said Leica in large letters right there on the front.</p>

<p>Everything gets recycled sooner or later. You just have to think in geological terms, not human.</p>

[Mike D]

<p>David ... this is the "casual photo conversations" forum. I'm old with a degree in marketing and over the years I've seen many superior products fail because of lack of marketing, including packaging. Go to any big box retailer and notice how superior packaging is essential for product success. As Nikon and Canon go "up-market" to achieve larger margins on higher end cameras to make up for declining sales volumes of lower priced cameras, their current packaging simply doesn't warrant their higher prices. (Leica does.) This may not make a difference for older photography enthusiasts, but it certainly won't help attract any new, younger enthusiasts who are used to the high end packaging of Apple, Microsoft, and Samsung products. </p>

[ilkka_nissila]

<p>But the thing is that the packages take a lot of space and will be in most cases trashed after purchase. The packaging should be such that it can be squashed in a compact form and environmentally fiendly. In the past Nikon used more styrox in their lens boxes but not as much now. The other important thing apart from recyclability is that it should protect the product during transport. I believe Nikon packaging do a reasonable job in both.</p>

[bebu_lamar]

<p>The Sigma lenses came from Japan. The Nikon 105mm f/1.4E came from China. There may be no difference in the quality of the products but if they package it in China, it shows. You said the Apple products came with nice packaging and I do know the IPhone's are made in China but any chance they are actually being boxed here in the USA?</p>

[Robin Smith]

<p>Sigma and Canon L lenses come in a case and a leatherette bag, respectively: can't say I have ever used any of them. Even the case that comes with a 70-200mm Canon is not much use. You are better off with a Lowepro equivalent. I wonder why they bother.</p>

[Ed_Ingold]

<p>Most lenses I've purchased recently comes with a custom leatherette or nylon case. I've never used them. I have a camera bag (in fact, many camera bags), so these nice cases are superfluous. Occasionally they find a useful life to hold something else for traveling or whatever. Zeiss lenses come in attractive boxes, but strictly for protection. I guess Zeiss lenses meant to be used, not coddled.</p>

<p>I bought a set of Sennheiser headphones, which came in a hinged box the size of a small suitcase. How useful around the work station or on the road ;). Bose, on the other hand, provides a small, zippered case into which the headphones fold up like a chick climbing back into its eggshell. That, I carry religiously.</p>

[Spearhead]

<blockquote>

<p>There may be no difference in the quality of the products but if they package it in China, it shows.</p>

</blockquote>

<p> <br>

It does? I've bought plenty of products that ship from China and nothing shows.<br>

</p>

<blockquote>

<p>You said the Apple products came with nice packaging and I do know the IPhone's are made in China but any chance they are actually being boxed here in the USA?</p>

</blockquote>

<p> <br>

I've had Apple products ship from China with perfectly fine packaging.</p>

[rossb]

<p>I just buy used stuff anyway. Usually comes wrapped in bubble wrap and peanuts. </p>

[glen_h]

<p>I once bought a refurbished iPad directly from Apple. <br>

They sent the tracking number, all the way back to China. </p>