Pursuit of ideal

January 2017 marked exactly 5 years since the passing of Michihiro Yamaki, my father who was also the founder of SIGMA. The years since have seen significant changes in the camera market, with even this company having reinvented itself in many ways. As more and more people who never knew my father are coming into the company, I realize that the baton is being handed over to a new generation.

It is because of this, or come to think of it, it is because these 5 years have passed, I have come to realize every day how much of an influence my father has over the company.

Michihiro Yamaki was a product of his generation; although dressed like a gentleman at first glance, his appearance belied a strong-willed stubbornness prevalent among his peers.

Not least when it comes to craftsmanship where their commitment is nothing less than outstanding. This is certainly true in the case of the elaborate structure of interchangeable lenses. ‘Alignment’ is a widely practiced technique where the glass inside the lens is lined up by making adjustments to get the best out it, but our predecessors were very much unconvinced by this: “The idea that alignment is the key to performance is a fundamental mistake. We instead believe that it comes from completely focusing on the precision of the parts”.

They also added that “the polished surface of a lens should be like a bamboo split open”. Straight ‘interference patterns’ and round ‘newton rings’ (image above) appear when an examined lens is tilted in the light and is used as an indicator of how close the lens is to the desired shape. The less lines, the closer it is, with the ideal ‘interference pattern’ effect figuratively expressed with bamboo. I thought it was surely difficult to go beyond the precision achieved by the machines we have, but everyone tried their best to achieve what the previous generation had in mind.

Although other manufacturers are at present following the same pragmatic approach by adopting the alignment process for their lenses, in the case of SIGMA, our basic mentality is not only the pursuit of making parts as precise as possible, but to fine-tune our lenses; not based on the assumption that the parts in our lenses are not to standard, but to maintain the same philosophy of patient craftsmanship that has defined SIGMA. However much time has passed, the presence of my father continues to be felt within us.