South Korean lens maker Samyang has warned customers to expect a shortage of lenses following the Japanese earthquake and tsunami which destroyed one of its factories.
The news is a sign that firms based outside Japan are beginning to feel the effects of the disaster on supplies.
Samyang?s European distributor has confirmed that there may be ?some temporary shortage? of Samyang lenses in ?late April? and ?early May? after a Japanese factory was ‘destroyed by the tsunami wave’.
Though Samyang assembles its lenses in South Korea, some ‘special’ lens parts are made in Japan.
The shortage will hit lenses including the recently announced 7.5mm fisheye and 35mm f/1.4, a spokesman for the firm confirmed to Amateur Photographer this afternoon.
?This is due to suspension in deliveries of optical lenses produced in Japan by factories located in the area destroyed by the tsunami wave that hit Japanese shores on 11 March,? he said.
The company has not released details on which lens parts come from Japan.
Earlier this month Samyang announced the upcoming release of a new 7.5mm f/3.5 lens (pictured), a prototype of which went on show at Focus on Imaging in Birmingham.
The Samyang 7.5mm 1:3.5 UMC Fisheye MFT is billed as an ultra-wideangle manual lens delivering a 180º angle of view.
Samyang is also set to debut a 35mm f/1.4 AS UMC, a concept version of which was first shown at the photokina trade show in Cologne, Germany last year.
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