The Making of a lens

[Tronhard]

If you ever wondered...​

How a lens was made, this is a comprehensive video of the step-by-step process in the Sigma factory. Sigma make all of the parts for all of their lenses - unlike many other manufacturers. This has meant that they have not been so vulnerable to the component and materials resourcing or logistics issues that have plagued some makers.
What I find most interesting is still the strong human involvement and the skill of those on the production line - especially at the final assembly and testing stages. You can see the deft familiarity and skill of those workers in the precision and economy of their moves and their clear involvement in examining each process the components go through to make each subunit, right up to final assembly.
This is the application of the principles of Kaizen, which is defined as a continuous effort by each and every employee (from the CEO to field staff) to ensure improvement of all processes and systems of a particular organization. It was introduced into Japanese industry by William Edward Deming during the post-war period and make Japanese industry the powerhouse of quality and quantity it is today.
It also underscores the cleanliness of the production line and why it's not a great idea to engage in DIY fixes on these precision instruments.

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[West Coast Birder]

My professional career involves manufacturing of computer chips and in particular, the industrial high-precision lenses that are involved. I can really appreciate the skill involved in making these amazing engineering marvels.

 

[Joeseph]

Very interesting! thanks for sharing

 

[davidedric]

Thanks Trev, a very enlightening video. As you say, I don't think I'll be taking one apart anytime soon.

I'll never again think lenses are expensive

 

[Tronhard]

Thanks Trev, a very enlightening video. As you say, I don't think I'll be taking one apart anytime soon.

I'll never again think lenses are expensive

Absolutely, and that is not even considering the huge amount of design work that goes into creating the configuration and the precise setup of all those automated handling processes that must be consistently precise to avoid damaging the lenses. Amazing...

 

[West Coast Birder]

Let's assume that around 2000 BCE was when humans started thinking in what we may call today an analytical or deductive way. The beginnings of science and reason. In Egypt, India, Greece, etc. So it has taken us, say 4000 years to get to our current state of technical prowess.

I've sometimes wondered what would happen if there was some sort of cataclysm today and everything got wiped out, except for some humans. Obviously, we have the benefit of all those years of thought development to help us. But our knowledge is so fragmented. I know a lot about how to manufacture computer chips, but don't know the first thing about medicine or agriculture or metallurgy or, for that matter, how to make complex machinery. How long would it take the humans who survive, with their fragmented knowledge, to piece together everything and for humanity to be back at this point in time, technologically? Surely less than 4000 years but maybe a couple of centuries? Even less? Let's assume that in our wisdom, some kind of books and documentation survive, so we at least have something to refer to.

Sorry for the aside, but the amazingly esoteric art of making lenses brought back this train of thought to my mind.

 

[Tronhard]

If you look for a series called Survivors - there are actually two of them. The first from the mid-70s' and the later one around 2008.

In the scenario of both series, 99% of humankind gets wiped out by a virus and the survivors have to use the initially abundant leftover resources from a tech society. To begin with, the difference in tech is, of course, amazing - for the first episode, then it all boils down to much the same thing. Without energy and the sophisticated resources of modern society, humans are required to fend for themselves at a much more simplistic level. This gives them some time to learn how to support themselves in the long term, with the use of old fashion books to learn unknown skills, and other legacy technology to apply them.

Apart from that is the question of security and power struggles for critical resources. They are worth looking for.