Glass country of origin??

What's the difference in quality for glass made in say Japan vs. China vs Philippines? Is one country generally better then the other for scopes and/or binos? If so please let me know which way one is better then the other

I've been second hand window shopping and have seen the "country of origin?" question a lot
Thanks guys
 
Japan has clarity and very good coatings (In their good glass, every where has different price points.)
Philippines are very good at copying Japanese manufacturing techniques.
Every ChiCom I have ever looked thru was dim and kinda foggy.
Most scopes that use Japanese glass use Sightron glass, as their main business is lens brokers/manufacturers.
Sightron glass is world class, close to German and American glass in my opinion.
 
Glass quality which is typically based on resolution, contrast, clarity and coatings.

European (Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia)
Japan
Philippines & Korea
China
 
Originally Posted By: West.Mass.HunterBut why? What does(in your opinion) Japan do better then Philippines? And both of them do better then China?

Japan acquired much of their optics knowledge from Germany after the war. They've been making exceptional optics including Binoculars and camera lens (Nikon & Canon to name a couple) for many years. Top line Japanese scopes in many cases will rival or surpass lower end European glass.

China copies everything with no regard to trademarks or patents but IMO doesn't have the technology or quality to compete with the Japanese.

I'm almost 100% sure that the Philippines does not actually produce lenses. They do assembly of scopes for Nikon and Burris brands which is primarily due to the cheaper labor rates.
 
You also must understand that scope lenses also come in many different tiers of quality/clarity/coatings.
It's the same with scope quality,in general,you get what you pay for. No matter where a scope is made,the quality that the scope company pays the producing factory determines just how well it is made.
Optics have come a long ways from a decade or two ago. Scope brands have demanded better quality from the factories,and in most cases it really shows. Athlon has several series that come from China,and they will perform just as well as any Japanese,European,or American scope in their class. Other companies are doing the same.
 
Having worked in the optics industry in a past life, most people would be surprised to find out there are only a few manufacturers in the world that make glass lenses...all in Asia. They make glass products from soda bottles to lenses for NASA telescopes. It's not the origin of the glass that makes it more clear, better contrast, etc; its the finishing, polishing and coatings. That's where Europe and Japan excel. I was astounded when I first found this out.
 
Originally Posted By: Txhillbilly
Optics have come a long ways from a decade or two ago. Scope brands have demanded better quality from the factories,and in most cases it really shows. Athlon has several series that come from China,and they will perform just as well as any Japanese,European,or American scope in their class. Other companies are doing the same.

So, does Athlon have QC in the Chinese factory? I ordered both
a Talos and an Argos and was very pleasantly surprised with
clarity.
 
IMO and experience, Japan is the best but it depends on the manufactures coatings to. To date, my Gen II Vortex Razor HD 4.5-27 is the clearest, most crisp image ive seen in a scope, in all lighting. Sold my two NF NXS after comparing them side by side to the razor in low light. All having Japanese glass. Havent played much with S&B or some of the other top tier German optics but i hear they are some of the best. For value, youll get a lot out of some of the Philippine made optics.
 
Athlon is surprisingly well made optics! and they do have a lifetime warranty.. I have 3 of them. My latest is a Argos 2-10x40 that surprised me with its quality. Actually, it is only slightly brighter than the Neos & Talos, but the internal adjustments are very tight indeed. However,there top tier scopes are just to costly! Myself,before I paid the asking price of there top scope line, I would be thinking Leupold,Vortex,Burris, Ect-ect..
 
Originally Posted By: redhavenHaving worked in the optics industry in a past life, most people would be surprised to find out there are only a few manufacturers in the world that make glass lenses...all in Asia. They make glass products from soda bottles to lenses for NASA telescopes. It's not the origin of the glass that makes it more clear, better contrast, etc; its the finishing, polishing and coatings. That's where Europe and Japan excel. I was astounded when I first found this out.

Many years ago - Leupold published a article about how they get their glass for their scopes. The article stated that they shop around for different company's in different country's looking for the type of glass/quality that they wanted.

Like redhaven is saying, just a few make the glass anymore. I think Burris was the only one making glass in the USA, but that was years ago and for their scopes only.

Japan and Germany are probably the top of the line now days. If memory serves me correct, Leica lens are on board the Hubble space telescope.

I bought my 1st pair of Bino's back in 1982, 10x40's Zeiss, great optics! Now I own 2 pair of Leica Bino's and they are super also!

One day a friend of mine came over and showed me his new Zeiss 3x9 Conquest (I think that was the model) and I compared it to my Luopld 4.5x14 AO 50mm. Wow, what a difference in brightness, that Zeiss was quite a bit brighter than my Leupold!!!
 
Last edited:
Back
Top