Back in October, we shared some photos taken inside a small Chinese studio lighting maker named NiceFoto. Now we have a look at what operations look like at a much larger manufacturer: Godox. It’s reportedly the second largest studio lighting producer in all of China.
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Want to see how studio lighting equipment is made? David Selby of Lighting Rumors was recently invited to tour the Shenzhen factory of a Chinese lighting company called NiceFoto, which sells gear both under its own brand name and to various international distributors under different marques. He snapped a number of photographs showing various workspaces where equipment is assembled.
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When Sony unveiled its “One Sony” game plan back in March after posting billions in losses, the company highlighted digital photography as one of its three main pillars going forward. It was a bit of a surprise, then, when Sony announced today that it will soon be closing a large lens manufacturing factory in Japan as part of the restructuring efforts.
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Swedish YouTube user AnteboyanRox received an interesting surprise after purchasing a brand new HP laptop recently. After finding the operating system already configured, he/she discovered the above video sitting inside the “My Documents” folder. Apparently an assembly line worker at a factory in China was testing the laptop’s camera and then forgot to wipe it afterward. Chinese manufacturing companies are generally quite secretive, so candid videos like this one aren’t easy to come by. Last year something similar happened to camera megastore B&H.
Here’s a photograph by the The Bangkok Post showing Sony’s sensor manufacturing plant in Thailand submerged under flood waters roughly 3 meters (~10ft) high. The shutdown of the 502,000 square foot, 3,300 employee plant doesn’t just affect Sony, as other companies — including Nikon and Apple (in the iPhone 4S) — rely on Sony image sensors as well.
(via Bangkok Post via Nikon Rumors)
Image credit: Photograph by Pattarachai Preechapanich/The Bangkok Post
Japanese camera site digicame-info is reporting that an upcoming announcement of a D700 successor (possibly the D800) has been cancelled due to the ongoing flooding in Thailand, and that Nikon’s product supply has nearly come to a standstill — affecting existing products in addition to upcoming ones. Even if the D800 is being manufactured in Japan like the D700 is, some components may be produced in Nikon’s flood-damaged factory.
(via digicame-info via Foto Actualidad)
Thailand is experiencing the worst flooding it has seen in more than 50 years, and Nikon is also getting hit hard. A statement released by the company today (and photos emerging from the area) reveals that the company’s entry-level DSLR factory there is now swamped with water:
The 1st floor of all buildings at the premises are presently submerged. Details of the damages are now under investigation. [...] We are continuing to investigate details of the damage, but are unable to predict how soon operation will be resumed. We will set up our recovery support system and endeavor to restart its operation as early as possible.
This may lead to a shortage in supply and an increase in prices — the same thing we saw after the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan earlier this year.
Notice on the damage from the flood in Thailand (via Nikon Rumors)
Image credit: Photograph by Noppatjak Attanon and used with permission
A couple days ago we featured a video showing how memory cards are made, and now here’s an older video about an older medium. It’s a short documentary created back in 1958 showing how Kodak creates its film. The narration is in Dutch, but there’s English subtitles.
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Here’s interesting behind-the-scenes video shot at a Leica factory that gives you an intimate look into how $7,000 Leica M9 digital rangefinder is assembled. Each of the cameras receives a lot of tender loving care.
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