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For made in China, using is believing

By Hong Liang (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-11 07:42

Interviewed on television, a Chinese weapon expert laments that domestic arms makers enjoy no advantage in precision machining.

I know nothing about weaponry. But in the areas I know something about, such as photography and audio, there are quite a few Chinese manufacturers who are well-known among demanding enthusiasts for their highly refined products that allow close to zero tolerance.

Manufacturers with such capability are mostly privately owned small enterprises located either in the Pearl River Delta river region or in Shanghai. Their products usually cost much less than those of equivalent standard produced by specialty firms in Europe or Japan.

A magnifying eyepiece that corrects the tunnel vision of a typical DSLR (digital single lens reflex) camera can be had for less than 200 yuan, including mailing cost, from a manufacturer in Shenzhen. Most camera makers don't produce such an accessory ostensibly to protect the sales of their expensive high-profit-margin full-frame models. Those who do produce magnifying eyepieces sell them at more than 2,000 yuan apiece.

The one I bought direct from the Shenzhen manufacturer works as expected on my reduced-frame Canon 40D. The slight darkening caused by the extra optics is more than compensated by the expansive view that rivals that of the full-frame film camera that I have kept.

Proper testing with precision equipment may review traces of the undesirable artifacts that come with magnification. Distortion and darkening at the corners may well exist in the view through the magnifying eyepiece. But they are miner issues.

The materials of the outer body of the eyepiece seem to be of high grade, and confidence in the device is further boosted by the tight fit that requires extra care in screwing the body no to the mounting frame. No degree of misalignment is tolerated.

When I was in Hong Kong a few months ago, the manager of one of the oldest camera specialist shops told me that all the lens adaptors with reverse-engineered electronics contact strips were made on the mainland. I bought one that he recommended to use my Leica R lens on the Canon camera body.

I have several such adaptors without the chips. Some made in Japan and the others in Germany. This one made by a small workshop in Shanghai is the best I've ever used. The Japanese ones are too loose, making the lens feel wobbly when mounted, and those from Germany are too tight, making it impossible to remove the lens alone when mounted on the camera. The entire set has to be removed as one from the camera body.

The one from Shanghai, which is not cheap, has almost perfect fit and the right amount of tension, indicating precise engineering and highly skilled workmanship. The chip on the ring does only one thing. It activates the focus confirmation function of the camera when lens of other makes are mounted. But that's all we need.

In one of my earlier columns, I wrote about the highly desirable vacuum tube amplifiers produced by a number of workshops in Shenzhen. It was based mainly on the rave reviews published in several highly regarded audio magazines in the United States and Japan.

A few weeks ago, I experienced for myself the excellence of made-in-China audio equipment at a specialty shop in Beijing's electronics city. The owner let me try a pair of ear buds, which he claimed was the best in the world. Ear buds usually cost no more than 100 yuan a pair. This one, the product of a Shenzhen factory, has a sticker price of nearly 1,000 yuan. You really have to hear it to believe it.

Given the right incentives, there is no doubt that engineers and workers in China, as in other places in the world, can fabricate products of excellence.

E-mail: jamesleung@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/11/2009 page4)