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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Troubador" data-source="post: 3169130" data-attributes="member: 109211">Cutesy humourist Chosun is right.An optical company defines the required parameters and desired performance characteristics and designs optical systems to achieve these.What consititutes a factory or what defines manufacturing becomes as much a question of personal taste as anything else. How many car manufacturers make their own brakes, suspension units, a/c units, steering wheels, wheels, headlights/backlights/sidelights, pistons, piston rings, crankshafts etc etc etc? Yet we don't scorn car companies for being mere assemblers, probably because designing cars to comply with safety regulations around the world and designing platforms that support a large number of models is an artform in its own right.Even describing a company that buys off the shelf bins covered in their chosen armour and with their name on it, as the lowest dregs is a little unkind. Not every company has the available capital to develop every product required for a full line up and surely if the off the shelf bins are well chosen then this is an honourable way to achieve a full product line.There are probably as many answers to the OP's question as there are BF members to answer it.Lee</blockquote>