Who made what

[David Kilpatrick]

Today I was talking to someone who had supported Photoworld over the years. They let slip that their lens manufacturing company had to invest in new multicoating equipment because -

'we had to make a 70-300mm Carl Zeiss lens or something for Sony Alpha'

Well, the Carl Zeiss bit was wrong. Who would have guessed?

Can not and will not say any more!

David

[InTheSky]

Today I was talking to someone who had supported Photoworld over the years. They let slip that their lens manufacturing company had to invest in new multicoating equipment because -

'we had to make a 70-300mm Carl Zeiss lens or something for Sony Alpha'

Well, the Carl Zeiss bit was wrong. Who would have guessed?

Can not and will not say any more!

David

You are now becoming the master of rumor The good thing is that we know that what you are saying have more chance to be true than other place.

Lets now see how this lens will deal with the actual 70-400mm G ... depending of the aperture, it can be a cheapest substitute ...

Frank

[Greg Beetham]

This person works for the aforementioned 'lens making co.'? oops no it wasn't actually mentioned...but anyway he doesn't know very much, first he got the lens brand wrong and then he wasn't overly sure about the lens type either, too quote "or something" duh. How could you work for a lens making co. and describe a lens as 'or something'
I really would like to know which company it was so I can give it a wide bearth...or something.
Greg

[pakodominguez]

Sigma? That's new...

[agorabasta]

How could you work for a lens making co. and describe a lens as 'or something'

Easy - they make mostly the glass. The brand is put onto the metal parts elsewhere.
That's normal.

[Greg Beetham]

Well I think you are both wrong, Sigma has been nice to Photoclubalpha yes but has no direct ties to Sony that I know of, they don’t have access to OEM lens ROM chips for a start, so I would not be thinking Sigma on this one. David was obviously talking to someone he knew from times past but not, or no longer directly associated with the lens manufacturing section of the camera industry any more, thus the rather vague reference to the ‘or something’ lens, but nonetheless knew that a branch of his company was involved in lens making for Sony.
So it’s option (1) agorabasta’s, It was a CZ lens with elements supplied from CZ so the lens could be ‘finished off’ in this guys companies lens making facility with the metal/plastic barrel assembly and the ROM chip supplied by Sony. Highly unlikely that David would run across such a guy from an associated mythical lens assembly plant, in Scotland.
Or option (2) it’s not a CZ lens (it never was, I’m pretty sure), it’s a lens made from the ground up in a complete lens making facility, elements, barrel assembly, ROM chip the works…
I’m not thinking Tamron or Tokina or some Chinese lens maker that would most likely have no representation in the UK either, so where does that leave us?
Not a bad little question….
I’ve got an idea, but it’s the same one that I mentioned a long time ago, the one that DK poo poohed.
Greg

[Javelin]

Lens making company as in whole lenses like Sigma and Tamron. do they really do their own coatings or does the lens maker as in the glass do it? like Schott or Zeiss. Schneider... Hoya...

[David Kilpatrick]

All more or less wrong, but not far off. You must remember that the glass bits of lenses are often contracted out, and the final purpose of the components might well not even be known to the subcontractor. In this case, the company involved has worked for CZ and does make CZ component elements, and could have been introduced to Sony/Minolta's team to provide a specific type of element (I would guess a low or extra-low dispersion glass).

I think the lens referred to is the 70-300mm G SSM and the parts involved would be glass only. The Carl Zeiss reference 'or something' probably just indicates ignorance on the part of a senior manager about the exact details of a contract he was not involved with, and the naming used by Sony for lenses.

But on the rumour front, I could be wrong, and there might indeed be a CZ 70-300mm (can't think why) in development to replace the 70-300mm SSM G.

It's also quite possible that the very expensive coating system used was sourced from CZ, but in my opinion the 70-300mm G coatings don't resemble CZ T*, or the ultra hard coatings used by Hoya and Pentax. I'd have guessed that the G was more similar to traditional Minolta coatings.

I would guess that Sony buys in lens glass, moulded aspherics, ED/SLD/LD/ULD lenses, and hybrid aspherics from all the lens makers you could name - Sigma, Hoya (Tokina), Tamron, Cosina, Shanghai Optical, Carl Zeiss.

Lens quality is mainly down to measurement and collimation of the optical components in a precision mount so ultimately it's the assembly and QC production line which determines whether your lens is amazing or just ordinary.

David

[Greg Beetham]

I know at least one camera co. that invented a special process for coating their lenses, these days there could be a number of optical fabs that do special vacuum flash deposition coatings, I'm thinking something Japan based, I'd be surprised if it's European based in this case.
Greg

[Greg Beetham]

Isn't photographic lens design very complex, how can you get matching groups from different manufacturer to mesh in with others? And aren't the intenal steps that elements sit on now moulded out of plastic in the exact position that they have to be in, rather than the old way of threaded seats? If that's the case one would think the entire element group in a lens would have to be made in one place...wouldn't they?
Greg

[alphaomega]

Let me first admit that I am totally ignorant of the process of making a 70-300mm lens (and any other lens I may add). I would never the less like to add my little bit. Sony only have the Tamron derived 70-300mm D or whatever it is called and that G that DK is referring to. It is not a Tamron derived lens as Tamron has just released this Pico upgrade with built in motor. (I would expect a Sony branded version at some point). So it must be an improvement to the G lens (or E-mount if the senior manager is sufficiently ignorant of the difference between A and E mount). That brings me to another issue. I have found the Sony 18-250 to be useful for video on my A580. What about Tamron re-working their new Pico 18-270 to E-mount including contrast detect for AF? That would make my day for my NEX-5. I am fed up with the idea of having to buy the 55-200mm and then have four lenses to cover W/A to tele (16mm, W/A adapter, 18-55 and then 55-200. With A580 and Tamron10-24/Sony 18-250 I can cover more with only two lenses.

[Lonnie Utah]

I could be wrong, and there might indeed be a CZ 70-300mm (can't think why) in development to replace the 70-300mm SSM G.

I can think why, it's easy $$$$ or £££££'s as the case may be....

[Dusty]

Isn't photographic lens design very complex, how can you get matching groups from different manufacturer to mesh in with others? And aren't the intenal steps that elements sit on now moulded out of plastic in the exact position that they have to be in, rather than the old way of threaded seats? If that's the case one would think the entire element group in a lens would have to be made in one place...wouldn't they?
Greg

No, because it's now so easy to get everything made anywhere the equipment is available. If you design a lens to be ground on a Beetham 123 computer controlled lens grinder and I have one, all you have to do is e-mail me the input program, and mine will be exactly like yours. Then you can have Pako, who has the same machine, grind the next element. That way neither of us could steal your design in whole. DK and Lonnie make a few more of the elements, Javelin makes the lens bodies, and Alphaomega assembles it all at his plant in Singapore, where your CZ trained QC people check it all out and pass or fail it.

This is why the 3rd world now has all the manufacturing jobs!

Dusty

[Dr. Harout]

...and I would be making the hoods...

[pakodominguez]

I would guess that Sony buys in lens glass, moulded aspherics, ED/SLD/LD/ULD lenses, and hybrid aspherics from all the lens makers you could name - Sigma, Hoya (Tokina), Tamron, Cosina, Shanghai Optical, Carl Zeiss.

How about Nikon?