360Photography

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

After the official launch of the X-Pro2 recently in Tokyo, Fujifilm invited a select group of press to visit its Taiwa assembly plant near Sendai to see the camera being put together. As well as the X-Pro2, we were also able to see the assembly lines for the X-T1, X100T, and several lenses. Fujifilm has been making optics since the 1940s, and although the construction workers of that time would not recognize much of the technology used in lens construction today, a lot of the assembly is still done fairly traditionally, by hand. 

The first step when visiting any assembly plant, is to sterilize yourself. No, not like that, but by donning head-to-foot protective clothing and scrubbing your hands with alcohol. It’s a time-consuming, uncomfortable but necessary step in order to prevent contamination of the assembly line. I do very much regret keeping a sweater on underneath the overalls though. 

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

Here, a worker in Fujifilm’s Taiwa plant uses a sonic motorized screwdriver to assemble the company’s 56mm F1.2 prime lens. 

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

Journalists take photographs of the various lens groups that make up the new 100-400mm zoom, laid out on a table at Fujifilm’s Taiwa plant, which is about 20 miles outside of the city of Sendai. 

The elements themselves are not ground and polished in Sendai, but like other components they are shipped in, ready to be turned into complete lenses. Fujifilm has three additional facilities in Japan that mold and polish glass lens elements and machine various other components.

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

Here, a worker performs the delicate job of attaching the PCB to Fujifilm’s new 100-400mm telezoom. 

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

The 100-400mm zoom takes roughly 4 hours to assemble, in its progress from a box of bits to a finished lens. These lenses are almost complete, and await the final assembly and testing phases of their construction. 

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

Fujifilm’s new 100-400mm telezoom being assembled. As with other factories we’ve visited in Japan, a lot of the assembly is done by hand, and aside from calibration, there’s little automation in the assembly lines of either lenses, or cameras in Fujifilm’s factory. 

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

Here, a 100-400mm zoom undergoes final testing. This process (which involves racking the zoom and focus ring to various points, repeatedly) is partly automated – presumably to avoid the human operators from getting repetitive strain injury.

Almost all of the other calibration tests and checks are confidential, which means no photos. None taken by humans, anyway.

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

A 100-400mm gets the finishing touches added, prior to being boxed up for shipping. 

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

Several completed 100-400mm zooms are placed in plastic trays before being wrapped and boxed-up for shipping.

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

Here, a worker examines one of the groups destined to become part of Fujifilm’s much smaller 35mm F2 prime lens. 

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

Again, a majority of the steps in the assembly of this lens are manual, with little automation. 

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

We were impressed by just how many of the stages in assembly appear to be visual inspection. A single worker might inspect hundreds of these components in a day.

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

Here, lens groups are arranged in trays ready to be inspected.

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

Ultraviolet light is used to ‘cure’ the cement that holds elements securely in their groups. Gone are the days of screwing elements together using friction and using shims to adjust their precise alignment.  

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

Here, several 35mm F2 primes sit in trays awaiting the final stages of their assembly.  

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

The front bezel of the 35mm F2 is attached with four screws. Once this is done, the screws will be concealed by the nameplate ring. 

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

And here are the finished lenses with their nameplates attached, ready to be boxed and shipped. Much simpler than the 100-400mm zoom, the 35mm prime takes only about 80 minutes to assemble, in total. 

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

The day we toured Fujifilm’s factory was the first ‘official’ day of production for the new X-Pro2. Of course workers have been putting final shipping cameras together now for some time, under a veil of secrecy ahead of the product launch in mid-January.

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

Although outwardly similar to the original X-Pro1, the X-Pro2 is a completely redesigned, considerably more complex camera than the first X-series ILC. It should be – Fujifilm has had four years to gather feedback from users of the original camera. 

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

Like the lenses, the X-Pro2 arrives in Sendai as a collection of partly-finished components ready for final assembly. Here, a worker performs the delicate job of connecting the various wires and ribbon connectors that will bring the camera to life.

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

The X-Pro2’s firmware isn’t ‘hardwired’ but has to be manually uploaded to every camera individually, in one of the final stages of assembly before the cameras are boxed up for shipping. Doing it at this late stage decreases the risk that firmware will need to be loaded more than once if an update is required. 

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

Here, a worker is attaching the small plastic window over the X-Pro2’s focusing lamp before applying the leatherette material that covers much of the outside of the camera’s body.

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

One of the trickiest (and most manual) stages in the construction of the X-Pro2 is applying the leatherette material to the camera body. This is done slowly, carefully, and entirely by hand.

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

The material is carefully pressed into place around the lens throat, and various control points. Bubbles are worked out by scraping the material gently with a plastic ‘spudger’. 

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

The X-Pro2’s grip is attached using a very strong adhesive, and firm adhesion is ensured by placing the camera in a mechanical press that applies firm and even pressure to the join. 

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

Here, finished X-Pro2 bodies await final checks before being boxed up for shipping. 

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

The X-Pro2 isn’t the only camera that is put together in Sendai. Fujifilm also assembles the X-T1 in the same facility. Here, a collection of X-T1 top-plates await assembly.

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

And this is what happens next. The X-T1’s magnesium-alloy top-plates are introduced to the electronic viewfinder assembly, ready to be mated with the main body of the camera, further down the assembly line.  

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

Dials! Thousands of dials! Here, trays and trays of X-T1 ISO dials sit waiting to be introduced to their host cameras. 

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

A well as the X-Pro2 and X-T1, the Sendai plant is also home to the X100T assembly line. We wanted to take this lonely-looking X100T home with us, but apparently that’s not allowed.

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

That’s OK – we like the black ones more anyway. Here, a number of almost-finished X100T bodies sit in trays waiting for their rear control plate and LCD screens to be added. 

Sendai was badly hit by the earthquake of 2011, and some of the buildings at Fujifilm’s Taiwa plant had to be abandoned due to structural damage. One of those buildings housed the original assembly line for the X100, and after the earthquake, assembly was moved across the street and into the building that we visited.  

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

And here’s where they all end up – X-Pro2s, X-T1s, X100Ts and lenses. These large boxes contain finished products, ready to be shipped to retailers and distributors worldwide. 

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

Well, almost ready. Even once they’re placed in their retail packaging and stacked in the larger shipping boxes, one in 10 of all the cameras and lenses assembled in the factory are removed, unboxed, and checked by hand to ensure that any given batch is free from manufacturing defects. ‘Made in Japan’ really does mean something, even today. 

Behind the Scenes of Fujifilm’s Factory in Sendai, Japan

Happy 5th anniversary, Fujifilm X-series!

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)