How Lenses Are Made

[Visual Reality]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7_wL0ZZi6k

[downtrodden]

6 weeks to make one lens... and someone was complaining about how lenses should be cheaper because of technology! Looks pretty labor intensive to me!

nice find and very informative.. i think my 24-70 might be missing a spacer or something! :X

~Cory

[nism]

wow that was a real eye-opener for me
i now feel better about paying how much we pay for quality glass

[BLWNHR]

Likewise Nism, quality glass is worth the premium. Would be interesing to see how this process is more automated at larger manufacturers.

[nism]

there's one i watched while i was at it, which the assembly of the EF 500mm f/4 L IS
find the english version

[FLiPMaRC]

::cool: Very interesting

[T06]

VR good find, enjoyed that.

[VTEC_EATER]

Well, after watching that video, can anyone really complain about the price of the Nikkor 70-200/2.8 VR? I mean, theres only 21 elements in 15 groups in its construction. So it really should look like more of a bargain.

Cool vid. Actually it was slightly better than the Canon 500/4 video. The Canon would have been better if they didnt have to spout off the full name of the lens in every other sentence:

"The Canon EF five hundred millimeter f/ four point O, L, IS, USM, lens..."

[cdifoto]

It takes 6 weeks to make one lens if one person is making ONE lens. In a conveyor (ie typical manufacturing) process, the elements you make today go in next month's lenses. Lenses are made quite quickly in mass production systems. Canon and Nikon are most certainly not giving us bargains. They aren't exactly made-to-order. ;)

[faisal]

nice video.....

[Ken.]

In the old days, they'd polish slugs of glass into the right shape, now they press them precisely in molds and fine tune them with polishing and coating. Amazing. Since they can precision mold glass it's a lot easier to get complex element shapes faster. Add that they can make precision mechanisms in plastic now. Imagine the hassle of getting electronics into a metal lens mechanism.

I've seen view camera lenses disassembled/reassembled to repair/maintain the leaf shutters. It's like seeing an old world watchmaker at work. We've come a long way.