AFS 105mm macro out of stock everywhere? (north america)

molested_cow · Mar 17, 2012

I was just goofing around, still drooling at the AFS 105mm macro and realized that I can't find it on Amazon, BnH and Adorama. Most of the ones on ebay are used. Any idea what it is?

Also, I can get a brand new one here for about US$866. Is that a good price?

Overread · Mar 17, 2012

Could just be limited stocks, I don't know if Nikon is up to full production in all their factories, or they might be having trouble sourcing certain parts. It could also just be that the last production run cleared the shelves before a new batch production has been able to replace it. So it might mean nothing at all.

I certainly can't see them pulling their macro lens from the market and whilst stopping production in anticipation of a new release is common I'd be surprised that they'd let the stocks run dry (esp on a key lens in their range) without any notice. Of course it could mean that a new one is on the cards. It was the first with VR, but now canon and sigma both have IS/OS macro lenses and canon their own special macro AF feature on their latest AF systems (7D, 1DMIV and assumed on 5DMIII) - so nikon could want to do a new model; slight glass improvements; af performance and improved VR.

molested_cow · Mar 17, 2012

but but never improved price tag

Overread · Mar 17, 2012

Sadly not, though I hazard that with only a very few macro lenses in their range Nikon can't afford to price it too high otherwise they risk losing the whole macro segment to 3rd parties. So high price yes, but I'd be surprised if it breached £1000 (launch/MRSP might breach that but retail would be less, though with the current at £600 I could see them with a relaunch (at retailer after initial price release) at £800 or maybe even £900 if they were bold.

Also in checking the price had a peek, its on backorder with most of the UK retailers as well.

Ps canons current 100mm is just under £700 so I'd expect Nikon to match close to that.

molested_cow · Mar 17, 2012

BTW the early ones were made in Japan but they moved the production of this lens to China, so the new ones are Chinese-made. Do you think this matters?

Obviously I am not being ignorant by asking "where is it made" question. I am from Taiwan and I know production quality control. However, real life experience also told me that Japanese made products are superior in quality and reliability than the same product made else where. When I was young, we had a Sony TV made in Japan. It lasted 25 years still going strong. We then bought the same TV later which was made in Thailand, and it went broken in 5 years. In fact, there was a big price difference between the Thai and Japanese made ones.

Overread · Mar 17, 2012

I think any country can make good products, the problem is the typical reason to outsource to a place like China is to lower ones production cost. Part of that comes from cheaper (less skilled) labour but it can also come in many others forms and I'd argue that there are a lot of products in service today which are either designed or by result of poor quality components only to last a short amount of time before being expected to fail/be replaced.

However I'd be very surprised if Nikon allowed production of a top lens lens for them to fall down as a result of outsourcing and I'd suspect that the reason is simply that they've been unable to restore factories/production in Japan itself (I'm not certain but I think Nikon got hit worse than Canon in Japan and in Thailand)

molested_cow · Mar 17, 2012

Well, there are many reasons to move production out of Japan. I highly doubt Nikon moved the production of the lens because of the disaster. It takes extensive planning to set up a production line, plus redirecting logistics, customs and legal matters. If Nikon moved the production, they'd have planned for it long time ago. There are cases of products with initial production run in a certain country first, then continue at another location. Mostly due to readiness of the eventual location as well as schedule restrictions. However, of all cases I've known, they are planned, not due to unexpected changes.

Anyways, I need to live around more bugs(roaches not included but they are already all over the house) to justify buying this lens.... or may be not?

Overread · Mar 17, 2012

You mention logistics - but remember many of the smaller component companies in Japan were destroyed - Canon and Nikon had to pretty much rebuild most of their logistics from the ground up (though I gather the glass manufacturing plants survived, but were just without suitable power for a long period after - in fact because its not in the common news anymore I don't even know if full industrial level power along with consumer has been restored in Japan).

KmH · Mar 18, 2012

Nikon currently offers 75 DSLR lenses. It is my understanding most of those lenses get made in serial production, not continuous production.

Consequently, even when no natural disasters have intervened, less popular lenses or low volume sales lenses sometimes go out of stock.