I just took delivery of the Sony A7Riii and was surprised that it says, "Made in China". I'm a bit puzzled because I believe this is the first Sony (A7 series)made there. The supply chain and work force must adhere to Sony's conformity...right? Cameras made in Thailand were owned by Sony and managed by Sony, so adherence to protocol seemed more assured, but then again look at the Nikon D600. While the camera seems very nicely built, almost as nice as my Fuji XT2, i'm not sure i'm comfortable with this given the current political climate. Yes, I know many high end companies are outsourcing and it's hard to get around this, but that's kind of the point.
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Thoughts on manufacturing the Sony A7r3...
- Thread starter jdphoto
- Start date
V
Vivek
Guest
Are you returning the camera?
FWIW, I just got my made in Germany Leica monochrome after its disintegrated sensor was replaced with a new one.
Would you like to trade?
FWIW, I just got my made in Germany Leica monochrome after its disintegrated sensor was replaced with a new one.
Would you like to trade?
Bugleone
Well-known member
So you are troubled by the thing being a Chinese product (did you not research a product costing several thousand dollars/pounds before purchase?) but you are apparently unfazed by buying a massively overpriced item with huge depreciation from an organisation with a long history of bad and doubtful marketing policies and methods, who, in just a few brief years will not repair it or even make spare parts available..........
....Strange and weird.
The Leica Mono will, of course, retain some value long after the A7 has been forgotten, and spare parts will probably be stocked for several decades.
....Strange and weird.
The Leica Mono will, of course, retain some value long after the A7 has been forgotten, and spare parts will probably be stocked for several decades.
V
Vivek
Guest
Thanks! Excellent value for money and it is currently listed for sale for a bargain price of €3100. Grab it!
Perhaps I did not research with due diligence because I assumed it would be manufactured at the Sony Imaging factory in Chunburi, Thailand. I am not going to contribute to the illegal trade practices and human rights violations that are so pervasive in today's society.
I got mine two days ago, did not notice and don't care if it is made in China or Timbuktu. My iPhone X as already mentioned was made in and shipped from China, as were my previous iPhones.
I agree, the world is not fair, never has been in its entire history. The strong will always exploit the weak, and this applies to individuals as well as nations.
In this context, if you do not like to use things that are made in China, you would find it difficult to survive in today's hi-tech world. Yes, you can buy a camera that is made in Japan or Thailand, but a huge number of things we consume or use in daily life including our food, cars, home appliances, clothes, luggage, and most electronics have at least some components sourced from China. That country has made incredible progress in just 25 years, I highly recommend a visit if you haven't been there. Way ahead of the US in so many fields. We may not like its politics but a lot of people do not like those of the present US administration either. Nothing and nobody is perfect.
It is a bit like saying I am going to hide my private information from the government or other agencies. Today, that is almost impossible if you live anywhere on the grid.
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Vivek
Guest
Well said, Pradeep!
It is possible though to live off the grid in the US as the unabomber showed!
It is possible though to live off the grid in the US as the unabomber showed!
Michiel Schierbeek
Well-known member
No problems with high tech made in China. Love my Huawei phone. Best one I ever had.
Making huge progress very rapidly. At least they have a plan against pollution.
Better is to ask yourself through wich supplyer you buy your stuff.
I prefer to buy from medium big supplyers instead of Amazon for example. They really know how to exploid there workers.
They even measure how long you go to the loo.
One chain less off exploitation of cheap labor.
But then I never buy Coca-Cola or go to MCDonald, Starbucks and all those huge companys that make this world into one grey soup.
Making huge progress very rapidly. At least they have a plan against pollution.
Better is to ask yourself through wich supplyer you buy your stuff.
I prefer to buy from medium big supplyers instead of Amazon for example. They really know how to exploid there workers.
They even measure how long you go to the loo.
One chain less off exploitation of cheap labor.
But then I never buy Coca-Cola or go to MCDonald, Starbucks and all those huge companys that make this world into one grey soup.
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Well said, Pradeep!
It is possible though to live off the grid in the US as the unabomber showed!
True, but it requires extreme measures and you may then end up like he did especially if you behave as he did. He may have had some valid arguments but clearly was off his rocker. A similar analysis of human development is laid out very well in Noah Harari's book 'Sapiens'. I don't agree with many of his statements (YOU will realize what I am talking about when you read it), but overall it is quite an indictment of industrialization. An even harder hitting book though it deals with a different topic is Timothy Pachirat's 'Every Twelve Seconds'.
Thoroughly OT for this thread :grin:
Bugleone
Well-known member
JDphoto......If the A7 having a Chinese origin is troublesome to you, perhaps causing you to 'see' Chinese troops urinating on Tibetan prisoners when you put the camera to your eye, you can probably deflect these feelings of self-loathing by reflecting that Sony is a Japanese company and retraining yourself to see the rape of Nanking instead (Oh wait! that's 80 years ago now so probably does'nt count anymore)......
.........If this fails you can always remember that at least it's not a Leica, although there is an increasing view that the 6 million Jewish deaths were really an invention of the Israeli Secret Service to deflect responsibilities over illegal kibbutz building in Palestainian lands, but, as ever take care believing what you read or get told by the BBC.......
.........If this fails you can always remember that at least it's not a Leica, although there is an increasing view that the 6 million Jewish deaths were really an invention of the Israeli Secret Service to deflect responsibilities over illegal kibbutz building in Palestainian lands, but, as ever take care believing what you read or get told by the BBC.......
Obviously, photographers have a choice in what cameras they use. I've owned beautifully hand crafted 4x5's and panoramic cameras made in China by gifted artisans. But I've educated myself a little more into China's trade manipulation and labor practices and find it abhorrent in today's modern society.
You are probably right, I have not educated myself in this regard. However, it is an inescapable fact that the world runs on the cheapest solutions today and it is indeed a flat world. When you need an answer to your computer problem or want to talk to your credit card company, it is far cheaper to keep a poor guy awake all night in India because it costs so much more to have the same service supplied by an American.
The Chinese may have bad labor practices but the plight of the poor Bangla Deshi workers in their garment factories is much worse, all to give us insatiable shoppers cheap, discounted clothes every major holiday sale.
When you want a dozen roses for your loved one in the middle of February, the real price for these is paid by the farmers in Kenya and Ecuador whose land is slowly being poisoned by the pesticides used to meed the USDA requirements.
Let us face it, we are part of a hedonistic society driven by consumerism and selfishness. I am as guilty as anyone else.
I just checked my large format Epson printers - both are made in China. There is no way out of this. If I want to continue doing what I love to do - which is to take photographs using the best options out there and print them to the size I want, I cannot escape the fact that the tools I need are made in a country that is not renown for its human rights record.
Even if it says "made in Japan" or "made in Thailand", that most likely doesn't mean that all of the components that are used for assembly are sourced from Japan or Thailand. Willing to bet there's plenty of "made in China" elbow grease still in those "made in Japan" cameras.
We are all surrounded by things made in China and other countries these days. Agree with their politics/business practices or not, there's not really a way around it. As Pradeep mentioned, I don't really see it possible to practice digital photography without anything made in China.
At the end of the day though, if one is uncomfortable with a "made in China" camera, return it and stand up for your beliefs. There are plenty of other cameras out there these days that will do the job.
We are all surrounded by things made in China and other countries these days. Agree with their politics/business practices or not, there's not really a way around it. As Pradeep mentioned, I don't really see it possible to practice digital photography without anything made in China.
At the end of the day though, if one is uncomfortable with a "made in China" camera, return it and stand up for your beliefs. There are plenty of other cameras out there these days that will do the job.
The pervasive nature of exploited, cheap labor products is most certainly hard to mitigate, but it is possible to do. Apple is one of the worst, but i read somewhere that Apple might begin manufacturing certain products in the US.
GrahamWelland
Subscriber & Workshop Member
All I’ll add here is that folks might want to look into where the rare earth materials in battery technologies come from and under what conditions ...
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Vivek
Guest
Add Lithium (batteries) to that list as well as Copper. The biggest mines (from S. America) are owned by Gina.
iiiNelson
Well-known member
Apple already does (and has) assembled many product in USA. I expect with the new Foxconn plant in wisconsin that perhaps iPhones will begin some manufacturing here as well. I really dont have a dog in this fight and the more important quality factor are the efficiency, skill of the labor, and QA/QC practices that companies employ in their manufacturing process. I really don’t feel this is the place to get into geopolitics, how and what practices larger countries use to secure precious metals/minerals, or morality because it’ll likely not end well.
What I will say is that any country can make a great product and poor ones can come from any country as well. Cultural distinction plays some role (German and Japanese engineering have positive reputation for a reason) but as they say one size doesn’t always fits all.
Have you experienced any negatives in build quality with the A7RIII?
True.
I am old enough to remember when Japanese goods coming out in the early '60s were called 'bogus' because of shoddy workmanship compared to what the Germans or Brits were making. Then in the late '80s the cheap electronics from China used to fall apart within a few days. Had the sad experience of buying some. Look how far we've come now.
OTOH, European manufacturing seems to have slid from its pinnacle of perfection. British made goods are no longer as sought after.
I believe every country on the path to development has a long learning curve to overcome. Given the right opportunities, every one can do it. In a truly level playing field and a flat world, barriers to trade would be overcome with greater ease and there would be full transparency. Much of this depends upon local political will and of course the interest of individual nations involved.
Coming back to the question, it is a bit soon for me to comment on the workmanship of the A7Riii, suffice it to say it looks great so far.