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| The
big, bold cover-up: What's
wrapped within the Phoenix P-5000's jazzy
exterior (front)? A Minolta X370N (rear).
You select the cosmetics you like. |
A
few years ago when most major-brand Japanese SLRs
were made in Japan, I picked up a Minolta X370N
one day and flipped it over. I was surprised to
find it engraved "Made in China" since
in prior years, it had been Japanese-made. "What
gives?" I asked Minolta USA.
Minolta
USA was equally puzzled, but in checking with
Minolta headquarters in Osaka, Minolta USA learned
manufacture of the camera had been switched
to China.
By
now, we all have become accustomed to cameras
made "offshore" as the Japanese put
it. One of the first SLRs to quit Japan manufacture
was the Hong Kong assembled Pentax K-1000. I
saw its parts being made and put together in
Hong Kong maybe 15 years or so ago. Now, about
80 percent of all Japanese SLRs are made in
such exotic locations as Malaysia, the Philippines,
Indonesia, Taiwan, and Thailand.
China,
now the manufacturing spot for most 35mm and
APS point-and-shoot cameras, is becoming a greater
player in the SLR game. Eventually, predicts
the Japan Camera Industry Association, all SLRs
will be Chinese-made.
Don't
bite your nails in anguish over this supposedly
deplorable situation. Don't race to your local
camera store to buy a 100-percent Japanese-designed
and -manufactured SLR camera before they vanish
from the earth. Be it known that the products
made in Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, or Thailand—whether
lenses or cameras—are equal to, and in
some cases better than, the home-made variety.
Designing and engineering remains in Japan,
but to keep production costs to a minimum, Japanese
SLR makers have, like many U.S. companies, transferred
the actual manufacturing "offshore."
Does
this mean a loss of quality control? No. I've
visited many a Thai, Indonesian, and Malaysian
SLR factory and discussed quality maintenance
with Japanese supervisors. The native employees
take great pride in their work. While pay may
be low by U.S. (or Japan) standards most offshore
workers have never made so much money in their
lives or enjoyed such pleasant working conditions
(at least in the offshore Nikon, Minolta, and
Canon factories I've visited). No sweatshops
or child labor either.
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