[denco@comcast.n]

Do you think the earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan could cause the Japanese made binoculars such as Nikon and Canon to be in short supply over the next year?

[Thing]

What do you reckon? 8.9 earthquake, tsunami, exploding power stations, economy in freefall. I'm guessing a few optics are way down the priority list.

[Sounds-a-tweet]

I have to agree; the whole economy and tens of thousands of lives are priority, rather than someone getting their fix of binos.

[Overread]

But surely someone getting their binos is part of the fixing the economy and Japan will need all the income it can get to pull itself through this disaster fully.

From what I've read Canon and Nikon have stopped production and some of their factories have come under some damage, though I understand that its not critical damage and that injuries (to direct employees) are minimal (and I don't think any are critical).

The bigger problem is that the infrastructure is broken - power supplies are erratic and import/export facilities and capabilities not to mention travel within the country are majorly messed up. It will take a long while for the roads to clear and for ports to reopen and also take on new import/export pressures (since some are totally out of action).

It will take time for Japan to repair its economy up to a working standard and most companies are still running around finding out the damage and repairs (repairs that might take longer because of the pressing need to work on housing, sanitation and internal infrastructure first). Many companies are also closed simple to let workers contact family and friends etc....


There is nothing wrong with discussing the effects of the disaster beyond the terrible suffering and cost in human life that it has caused and in a way we also have to remember that those who have survived will have to pick up the parts and carry on with life.

[eagle golden]

Originally Posted by Thing

What do you reckon? 8.9 earthquake, tsunami, exploding power stations, economy in freefall. I'm guessing a few optics are way down the priority list.

Well said thing, i think bino,s is the last thing on anyones mind with all the distruction that is going on, ?????? what a ridiculous comment.

[Sounds-a-tweet]

Originally Posted by eagle golden

Well said thing, i think binos is the last thing on anyones mind with all the defistation that id going on, ?????? what a riduculas comment.

Spull chequer at awl ???

[John Cantelo]

Personally, I think it unhelpful, if understandable & very tempting, to speculate about such matters at the moment,

[John S.]

Originally Posted by denco@comcast.n

Do you think the earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan could cause the Japanese made binoculars such as Nikon and Canon to be in short supply over the next year?

It should be obvious that a disaster of the magnitude experienced by Japan will have serious impacts on all phases of their economic activity. I don't know how any of us would be in a position to do more than provide unsupported guesses about how many Nikon and Canon binoculars might be available for purchase.

[WiscTJK]

Are not the vast majority of Nikon binoculars (except high end models) made in China anyways?

[brocknroller]

No doubt, Japan needs to first deal with the aftermath of the disaster and the immediate concerns of rescuing people, providing food, clothing, shelter, medical assistance, and protecting the population from low levels of radiation wafting into Tokyo and other cities from the nuke plants.

But after having dealt with those issues, putting plans in place for economic recovery will take top priority.

Many Japanese manufacturers probably have business continuity plans in place and might even temporarily move their operations off shore or to another part of Japan not as severely affected by the earthquake/tsunami if it takes long to rebuild their factories.

In the US, after 9/11, Congress passed a law requiring that all federal agencies have business continuity plans in place so they can get back up running ASAP. In addition, the US has a voluntary program for companies called PS-PREP, which stands for Private Sector Preparedness.

While it is voluntary at this point, the US federal government has been providing incentives for more private companies to put business continuity plans in place, particularly organizations involved in critical infrastructure such as water companies, electricity suppliers, and hospitals.

Something similar probably exists in Japan since they are no stranger to disasters.

As a result of this requirement in the US, a business continuity industry has been sprung up, and these consultants help govt agencies and private business put business continuity plans in place at their organizations. These include backing up all critical data on multiple servers in different parts of the country, so servers are destroyed in one area of the country, the data is backed up on intact servers elsewhere.

In a county as small as Japan, they might even back up their data in "the cloud" in other countries.

Business continuity plans also include cross training employees to do multiple jobs so that if a worker or executive in one department is lost or is out sick due to a flu epidemic, for example, others can take his/her place so the business can carry on.

Companies that don't have business continuity plans in place could go out of business. For example, there was a US meat company had been in business for over 50 years. After a major recall, they didn’t have a plan in place to deal with this situation, and it took so long to get back in operation that the supermarkets the company served hired other meat vendors, and they went bankrupt.

If, for example, had the meat company made prior arrangements with other vendors to process their uncontaminated meat while they got back on their feet, they would have lost some money since those vendors would have charged them to use their facilities, but at least they would have kept on serving their customers and still been in business when their plant came online again.

So while the timing of Dennis' question might seem inappropriate, it raises very real concerns about the future of Japanese businesses.

Brock

[Alexis Powell]

Originally Posted by Sounds-a-tweet

I have to agree; the whole economy and tens of thousands of lives are priority, rather than someone getting their fix of binos.

Why are you wasting your time reading posts in this forums rather than doing something to help?!

--AP

[Alexis Powell]

Originally Posted by John S.

...I don't know how any of us would be in a position to do more than provide unsupported guesses about how many Nikon and Canon binoculars might be available for purchase.

If any of us knew where the Japanese made Nikon bins were made, or how stocks compare to the rate at which they are sold, then we might be able to provide some real answers. These sorts of things are better known for camera production, and there have been informed discussions on photography enthusiast sites. Nikon has provided some information itself
http://nikon.com/about/news/2011/0314_01.htm
It seems very likely that the impact on the Nikon Sendai plant's operation will affect availability of its top-end digital SLR cameras (D700, D3s, D3x) and the release of their anticipated replacements (e.g. the D4), and impacts at the Tochigi plant will affect their Japanese made lenses. These issues are especially relevant for the company since Nikon already has a poor track record with photographers for supplying enough of their top-end products to meet demand.

--AP

P.S. I just checked prices for the D700 and they have spiked substantially, almost to suggested retail price. Remarkable for a 3 year old model that is/was about to be replaced.

[Keith Reeder]

Originally Posted by Alexis Powell

Why are you wasting your time reading posts in this forums rather than doing something to help?!

...And you know he's not doing both how, exactly?

The original post is an insensitive and poorly thought-through question - and nobody needs your permission to think that.

[Alexis Powell]

Originally Posted by Keith Reeder

...And you know he's not doing both how, exactly?

The original post is an insensitive and poorly thought-through question - and nobody needs your permission to think that.

Since you've edited your original post to better explain your position, I'll do the same. I can't see what is insensitive or poorly though-through about the original question. It seems a completely legitimate question to me, unless you somehow think that all aspects of life and all conscious or expressed thought should be sublimated in the face of human tragedy and discussion/action with direct impact on morbidity and mortality. Hence my my facetious reply, which was meant to say "Why are you wasting your time reading posts in this forums rather than doing something to help" with THAT time and energy. There's no way the time and energy invested in this forum could be employed to do two tasks, and I wasn't making a claim about the poster's overall investment of his life energy and concerns. Given the way you misunderstood my post, it seems you ought to be able to apply the same assumptions to the original poster. How do you know what other questions he is asking in other places, what other things he is concerning himself with, what other trials and grievous insults to our existence he is contemplating?

He doesn't need my permission, but if it were mine to give, I would, freely. And I rest assured that the world is neither a better or worse place for that.

--AP

[mayoayo]

Originally Posted by John Cantelo

Personally, I think it unhelpful, if understandable & very tempting, to speculate about such matters at the moment,

I very much agree with John´s statement here.

[ceasar]

Japan has no natural resources to speak of. Other than it's people of course. They have survived worse and they recovered. They will recover from this. What is deemed most important will be done first naturally.

In the big scheme of things binoculars are small. This might be advantageous in them making a relatively quick comeback. Judging from what we have seen in this forum making binoculars seems to be a sophisticated kind of cottage industry. Even with the ones made in Europe. Think of how many were made for WW II and how quickly they were made.

Meanwhile there are bigger worries in the world.

Bob

[seggs]

Still cannot believe such a question and debate!

[fugl]

Originally Posted by seggs

Still cannot believe such a question and debate!

I'm with you there. Speculation about the implications of this tragedy for our little hobby is not only callous but pointless (unless the idea's to rush out & buy what we can before it’s too late!).

[David Swain]

Please lock this thread.

It is unbecoming of BF.

[lilcrazy2]

Originally Posted by David Swain

Please lock this thread.

It is unbecoming of BF.

It is quite ridiculous to try to censor or cut off discourse merely because some disagree with the question posed by the OP.

I wonder how many of the "negatives" have actually made any monetary contribution to the Red Cross or any other relief organization. Perhaps that should be the testament and purpose of this thread - Relief Contributions.

[Pileatus]

Originally Posted by denco@comcast.n

Do you think the earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan could cause the Japanese made binoculars such as Nikon and Canon to be in short supply over the next year?

Yes.
http://optics.org/news/2/3/12
http://www.nikon.com/about/news/2011/0314_01.htm
http://www.canon.com/news/2011/index.html

[Mono]

Japan is a big country, Honshu itself is bigger than the UK, with the third largest economy. In most of Japan it is business as usual. For those in the UK with satellite TV it is telling to compare the "Everything's going to hell in handcart" coverage on the UK news with the "Keep calm and carry on" coverage on NHK.

[denco@comcast.n]

Originally Posted by fugl

I'm with you there. Speculation about the implications of this tragedy for our little hobby is not only callous but pointless (unless the idea's to rush out & buy what we can before it’s too late!).

I guess a better way of asking the question would be how long do you think it will take for Japan's economy to come back and will some goods that they produced be in short supply. They have been talking about it on the news every night especially as it pertains to Japanese made automobiles. I guarantee you I sympathize with their tragedy but one area essential to their recovery is that their economy does come back. I for one have donated to their cause and I am sure they will recover quickly in all areas. I have faith in them. Sorry if some people took the question the wrong way.

[John S.]

Originally Posted by Alexis Powell

If any of us knew where the Japanese made Nikon bins were made, or how stocks compare to the rate at which they are sold, then we might be able to provide some real answers. These sorts of things are better known for camera production, and there have been informed discussions on photography enthusiast sites. Nikon has provided some information itself
http://nikon.com/about/news/2011/0314_01.htm
It seems very likely that the impact on the Nikon Sendai plant's operation will affect availability of its top-end digital SLR cameras (D700, D3s, D3x) and the release of their anticipated replacements (e.g. the D4), and impacts at the Tochigi plant will affect their Japanese made lenses. These issues are especially relevant for the company since Nikon already has a poor track record with photographers for supplying enough of their top-end products to meet demand.

--AP

P.S. I just checked prices for the D700 and they have spiked substantially, almost to suggested retail price. Remarkable for a 3 year old model that is/was about to be replaced.

Yes, I expect that for much of 2011 discounts for Japan branded goods will be difficult to find. I suspect that the resale price for popular used bins like the EII will tick up as well.

Japan is of course a highly developed country with the financial, physical and human resources to respond to a calamity of this magnitude. One estimate on NPR yesterday suggested that their GDP will take a 00.5% hit in 2011 but will largely recover in 2012.

[Jonathan B.]

Originally Posted by denco@comcast.n

I guess a better way of asking the question would be how long do you think it will take for Japan's economy to come back and will some goods that they produced be in short supply. They have been talking about it on the news every night especially as it pertains to Japanese made automobiles. I guarantee you I sympathize with their tragedy but one area essential to their recovery is that their economy does come back. I for one have donated to their cause and I am sure they will recover quickly in all areas. I have faith in them. Sorry if some people took the question the wrong way.

Dennis,

Sorry to see you get trashed for your original question, which innocently raised a lot of hackles. The situation in Japan is heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, and scary. I (and I'm sure all of us) watch in disbelief every day.