There are actually only a handful of glass manufacturers in the world making glass for photographic lenses. Some manufacturer's ads claim that their lenses are superior because they make their own glass, and control every step of the process. Nikon even claims that they go so far as to make the platinum crucibles that they melt their glass in to achieve maximum quality. Frankly, optical glass is optical glass. It doesn't matter who made it so long as the glass has the right and specified properties.
Some of the most costly lenses (e.g., Zeiss) are made with optical glass from another manufacturer (e.g., Schott). Some makers of optical glass also sell their glass to their competitors as a profit center, so their glass make be in somebody else's lenses. However, it is also true that some manufacturers have developed their own special glass formulas (e.g., Nikon, Leitz) for particular optical requirements (e.g., ED glass, APO glass).
It is equally true that competitors then study these new glasses, determine their formula, and reverse engineer similar glasses. So the research and development labs at Nikon or Canon may be hailed for developing a new glass formula (e.g., ED glass instead of fluorite for long telephotos). But these improvements are likely to shortly appear in other third party lenses, often at a much lower cost. Similarly, some third party lens makers are developing their own glasses for competitive advantages too.
In summary, you will often find OEMs such as Canon, Nikon, Pentax and others introducing new lens designs, often based on new glass formulas and computer design improvements. So if you need or want these improved lens, you will have to pay the costs of OEM lenses. However, if you can afford to wait, you will find substantially lower third party lens designs using similar processes and designs to achieve similar results. But part of the higher cost of OEM lenses is a substantial fraction of costs due to these research and design efforts, and that's what you pay for too!
Designing lenses in the past used to be a pretty arduous process, involving hand calculation or punched card decks and multiple weeks of batch computer runs. Today, software programs make the design of lenses much less burdensome, and much less costly. Many more runs can be made to optimize a particular lens design for a variety of parameters. However, lens design still involves a large degree of human insight and experience. Lens design is a high value added activity, especially compared to manufacturing.
So you can understand why Vivitar, for example, is trying to get into the higher value added activity of designing lenses rather than commodity manufacturing activities of physically grinding and making their own lenses. This hollowing out of manufacturing in Japan has led to the creation of a number of overseas factories, particularly in other Asian countries such as China, Thailand, and Malaysia. These factories provide the lower cost labor which manufactures and assembles lenses for Vivitar, Nikon, Canon, and other manufacturers.
This non-Japanese manufacturing often raises concerns in some purchasers minds because they question whether a given third world country can meet the same high standards of manufacturing as the parent Japanese companies. But it was Deming (an American) who introduced the key quality concepts and methods to post-WWII Japan. The same process can be used to transplant the quality ethic into other nations too.
The key is not who makes your lens, but how they implement their quality programs and the specifications that they can meet. In general, such lenses are statistically tested (albeit often not 100% individually tested) to meet the various OEM's quality standards for that lens. The Japanese manufacturers claim that these quality standards are the same, regardless of where the factory may be located. Furthermore, some Japanese OEMs employ Japanese quality control inspectors to ensure meeting their corporate quality standards.
However, you can frequently find a prejudice against outside manufacturing. This prejudice is not limited to Japanese lenses made in other Asian countries. Collectors of Leica lenses also pay less for Leitz lenses made in Canada than in Germany, and even less for lenses and bodies made in Asian factories. The manufacturers vehemently protest that the manufacturing standards are identical, but that the labor is being outsourced to Asia due to the low costs there.
There is some truth to these prejudices, at least where some manufacturers have decided to trade on their name recognition and prestige rather than on the quality of their products. We are seeing a variety of Asian made cameras which are virtual clones of other manufacturers cameras, but sporting a well known camera name. A possible example is the new Hasselblad X-Pan camera, which appears suspiciously like a Fuji made camera but at a higher price point (albeit with some extra features).
Speaking of medium format cameras, we should note that third party lenses are pretty much limited to 35mm cameras. Medium format cameras have rarely had third party lenses available, due to the natural desire of the manufacturers to profit from lens sales (using protected lens mount patents). It is also true that the market for third party medium format lenses is thought to be less than for most 35mm systems. There have been a few major exceptions, chiefly the Kiev- Pentacon- Exakta series lenses (by Schneider, Zeiss, Arsenal..) and the Bronica S2/EC series. The Bronica S2/EC series had OEM lenses by both Nikon and Zenza, and third party lenses by Komura among half a dozen other sources. In general, medium format lens options are restricted to the OEM, unless you decide to homebrew your own lenses.
From Minolta Mailing List;
Date: Thu, 04 May 2000
From: TRUCCO Martin TENCO [email protected]
Subject: RE: APO vs. regular
What is the differences between an APO lens and one that is non-APO,
besides the price? Is it worth paying the extra money for an APO lens?
APO stands for apochromatic. Achromatic lenses are designed to
focus two of the three main light colors at the same point, and the other
near enough. Apochromatic ones focus the three main components of light at
the same point.
Be careful. When Leica says that a lens is apochromatic it really
is at all focusing distances and settings. Some lenses are only at
specific settings. I was told that some lenses named APO are not even
apochromatic, they just say APO as part of the name (tricky, eh?!)
HTH
Martin Trucco
Proud Member of the Foto Club Argentino
www.martintrucco.com.ar