Nikon Shows You How They Make the Glass in Nikkor Lenses in This Factory Tour
This is your chance to get a sneak peek at how Nikon makes their lens elements from scratch.
When it comes to lens quality, glass is everything. This is a message Nikon wanted to convey to their customers when they offered a tour of the Hikari Glass factory, a plant that produces the glass used in their Nikkor lenses. In this video, you get to go behind the scenes to see how each lens element is made, including the glass that is largely responsible for the high caliber of their lens.
The Hikari Glass plant was founded in Akita Prefecture in 1975. Since then they have been perfecting the process of making the high quality optical glass that is used in Nikon's Nikkor lenses. There are several things that set this company apart, including the fact that they are one of only a few plants that actually make optical glass, let alone from scratch. Furthermore, employees must adhere to strict guidelines to keep all elements made at the factory consistent, one of which guarantees a refractive index, a number that describes how light propagates through the glass, down to six decimal points to insure optimal accuracy.
If you're a fan of Nikkor lenses or if you're just into nerdy camera stuff like this, Nikon has several other videos in their "Philosophy of Nikkor" series that are worth checking out.
Source: NIKKOR Motion Gallery
