[Leica] 20D Leica portrait, now Not Invented Here

[mcyclwritr at comcast.net (mcyclwritr@comcast.net)]

It's disappointing? Hah. Just the opposite--it's encouraging. Perhaps Canon 
refuses to risk diluting product quality and reputation through the 
half-witted, half-hearted efforts of an outside supplier, aka, THE LOWEST 
BIDDER.

Sure, Canon puts out a few loss-leader lenses that have the substantive feel 
of  a Cracker Jack prize. However, since the company introduced the F-1 
system in the early 1970s, it has been relentless in building professional 
level equipment in parallel with consumer grade photo gear. Success depends 
on both lines delivering the reliability and image quality expected by its 
respective buyers. Which is exactly what they do.

Sure, Canon could contract Aki's Sushi Den and Lens Grinding Works for the 
odd lens element here and there, but they'd have to add a layer of quality 
assurance techs.

Remember how the world fawned over German automotive engineering and build 
quality a few decades ago? Mercedes' reliability ratings now reside with 
toilet bowl scum on the J.D. Power list. Why? Poorly controlled, if not 
utterly out-of-control, labor costs. Lousy work ethic. Could outside 
suppliers have been contracted to offset high salaries and spotty output? 

-Chris Lawson     

Karen writes:
 
> I interned with Canon once many many years ago. They suffer from two 
> things: 
> 
> * Engineering genius 
> * A serious case of NIH Syndrome (Not Invented Here) 
> 
> Basically Canon is very reluctant to work with other companies. They 
> don't contract their lenses or bodies out to other companies to 
> manufacture (unlike Nikon or Minolta) and they don't like other 
> companies producing lenses in EF mount, going to ends to break 
> compatibility. 
> 
> It's disappointing, really. 
> 
> Karen 
> http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/ 
> http://www.photoethnography.com/blog/ 
>