peterm1
Veteran
I stumbled on an article with the above title today and thought it interesting enough to put a link up here. https://alikgriffin.com/worst-lens-company/
His focus is on the plethora of new(ish) offerings by Chinese companies - some of which do not always have the best reputation for quality assurance. I cannot really comment in depth as I have not personally tried lenses from any of the companies he mentions other than a Samyang / Rokinon 12mm f2 for M4/3 (which actually is really rather good both optically and mechanically - no complaints from me). His assessment is also necessarily limited by his own experience so I am doubtful that his dismissive comment about 7 Artisans might be regarded as balanced given their most recent offerings (though some people have reported problems with some of them).
But some here may have experience with lenses from some of the companies mentioned, and even if not, may find his comments (mostly from his own experience) useful. Caveat emptor as "they" say. And fore-warned is fore-armed as I say.
As for me I am optimistic. Even if you agree with his assessments, the arc of economic history suggests that these are early days and over time the relevant companies will master the skills and processes needed to reliably manufacture good kit. Many are already showing promise. Or, of course, they may go out of business.
When I was a kid (a baby really) I recall that Japanese items being sold here in Australia often had a reputation amongst my parent's generation as being poor quality junk. Not so of course with Canon, Nikon etc photography equipment (which was outside of most peoples' experience) but in general that was the view of anything labelled 'Made in Japan" (no doubt affected somewhat by their experience of the Pacific War and some residual antipathy towards the Japanese nation). But of course all of that changed over time and the rest is history. I imagine the same will happen with Chinese stuff, even that which today is regarded as a bit of a crap shoot or "dodgy" in the QA department.
His focus is on the plethora of new(ish) offerings by Chinese companies - some of which do not always have the best reputation for quality assurance. I cannot really comment in depth as I have not personally tried lenses from any of the companies he mentions other than a Samyang / Rokinon 12mm f2 for M4/3 (which actually is really rather good both optically and mechanically - no complaints from me). His assessment is also necessarily limited by his own experience so I am doubtful that his dismissive comment about 7 Artisans might be regarded as balanced given their most recent offerings (though some people have reported problems with some of them).
But some here may have experience with lenses from some of the companies mentioned, and even if not, may find his comments (mostly from his own experience) useful. Caveat emptor as "they" say. And fore-warned is fore-armed as I say.
As for me I am optimistic. Even if you agree with his assessments, the arc of economic history suggests that these are early days and over time the relevant companies will master the skills and processes needed to reliably manufacture good kit. Many are already showing promise. Or, of course, they may go out of business.
When I was a kid (a baby really) I recall that Japanese items being sold here in Australia often had a reputation amongst my parent's generation as being poor quality junk. Not so of course with Canon, Nikon etc photography equipment (which was outside of most peoples' experience) but in general that was the view of anything labelled 'Made in Japan" (no doubt affected somewhat by their experience of the Pacific War and some residual antipathy towards the Japanese nation). But of course all of that changed over time and the rest is history. I imagine the same will happen with Chinese stuff, even that which today is regarded as a bit of a crap shoot or "dodgy" in the QA department.
