How to Buy the Same Photo Equipment but Cheaper
Disclaimer: The details presented in this article are for informational purposes only and constitute mere observations. No statements, implications, or references herein should be construed as indicating any form of partnership, affiliation, endorsement, or formal association between any of the companies mentioned. All references are based on publicly available materials and do not imply any contractual or business relationship.
Who is Who
I guess it comes as no surprise to anyone that in this day and age, many brands that market and sell products as their own do not necessarily manufacture them. Instead, such products are sourced from companies commonly referred to as the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), a term predominantly associated with the automotive industry which relies on extensive supply chains. So far, so good.
Obviously, there is a bit more nuance to this hidden underbelly so let us explain a few crucial differences that will be relevant to our buyer's guide to the galaxy:
- In-house manufacturing is when a company directly produces what it sells under its own brand. It is likely the one you would want and expect because it is unique to them and presumably of better quality/reputability.
- White labelling is when a company produces generic unbranded products for other companies to sell on under their own name with minimal to no modification. There also exist other variants such as grey labelling, black labelling, private labelling, etc., if you are interested, although those differences are not relevant for our argument.
- Original equipment manufacturing is when a company produces customisable products to another company's specification which are then marketed and sold under that other company's brand. The difference with white labelling lies in the higher degree of customisation which also results in higher costs.
With the above understanding of how the global industry operates, let us see if we can save some money.
Ultra Portable Travel Tripod
When looking for the most ultra portable and lightweight travel tripod, I first came across the Tamrac ZipShot tent pole folding abomination. It weights mere 312g but looks incredibly flimsy, is out of production for over 10 years now (must be for a reason), and I am certainly not going to attempt a DIY recreation of it either. A close second in terms of weight but with definitely more rigidity and a better build quality is any one of the carbon tripods shown at the very top of this blog post.
Ken Rockwell sings praises of the Oben CTT-1000L compact carbon fibre tripod so it surely must be good. If you do not know him, Ken Rockwell is like Chuck Norris of the photographic world, he even makes onions cry.
Regarding his Oben tripod review, Ken says that "It's all metal and carbon fiber with no plastic that I can see", and that the only other negative apart from the screw on column is that it is "...made in China rather than the U.S.A., France, Germany or Switzerland." He also recommends you buy one from B&H just like he did.
Well, good that those plastic shims are inside the twist locks so that Ken cannot see them, otherwise he would have retracted his glowing review. But he is right in one thing: This tripod is indeed made in China, though I am not sure I would recommend getting one from B&H like he did. Let me explain...
One Tripod, Seven Brands, Eight Different Price Points
At first glance, it might not be immediately obvious but the below compact travel carbon tripods have an uncanny resemblance to one another. I am certainly not the first person to notice similarities between some of them either. They are likely variants of the same baseline design manufactured by two OEMs, in this particular case Fotopro and Aoka Photographic Equipment, both headquartered in Zhongshan, China. To quote from Aoka's website (I am sure it sounds better in Chinese):
At the beginning of its establishment, it [Aoka LTD] was specially for the OEM photography tripod of well-known photographic equipment brands in South Korea and Germany. After the precipitation of technology and time, it established its own brand "AOKA" in 2013.
Whether they collaborated on the tripod design or one company copied from the other we will never know. However, their tripods are being marketed and sold under different brands and different price points around the world with only a few minor differences separating them. Comparing their specifications and physical properties can yield interesting conclusions, especially for niche products such as under 500g carbon tripods which are few and far between.
Fotopro P-2 + P2-H
This is a budget version because of lower carbon fiber layering, different ball head, plastic twist locks and no spike feet. The legs end in 1/4" screws so the rubber caps can be replaced with aftermarket spikes if needed. Also, missing is a screw on extensible centre column which is only included with some of the pricier models making this by far the cheapest one in the line up. Where to get |
AOKA CMP163CL + KB20
This is likely the OG version with a screw on extensible centre column, metal twist locks, and removable rubber feet that cover the included spikes. It looks identical to Oben CTT1000L in all aspects apart from the different colour accents, branding and most importantly the price. Notice how the ball head housing tapers down towards the legs. It is a very unique design feature that I have not seen elsewhere, well apart from the OEM variants of course. Where to get |
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AOKA CMP163CL + BC16
This is the exact same CMP163CL tripod but with a different BC16 ball head which is a blatant copy of the Really Right Stuff BPC-16 Micro Panning Ball Head (costing ~$200). The number 16 in the name corresponds to the ball diameter in millimeters. There are other Chinese copies in circulation such as this Leofoto MBC-20 (also with a 16mm ball---they did not get the naming memo it seems) and many more worth an article on its own. Where to get |
Neewer TP16
This looks mostly similar to AOKA CMP163CL + KB20 but without the extensible centre column. Instead, it comes with a mobile phone holder. Furthermore, the ball head is missing small cutouts making it a few grams heavier than the AOKA. The pull out tabs are also different. It is no longer listed by Neewer nor Amazon so it is safe to assume that it is out of production. The mini version is still available, nonetheless. Where to get |
Cullmann CARVAO 816TC
This looks identical to AOKA CMP163CL + KB20. The legs are also made of 8-layer carbon fiber and the centre column is included, too. Where to get |
Dorr 380182 Slim Hopper
This looks identical to AOKA CMP163CL + KB20 including the extensible screw on centre column. The legs are made of 8-layer carbon fiber, unlike the 10-layer of Aoka. Where to get |
Explorer GX-PROK + GX-02
This looks identical to AOKA CMP163CL + BC16 but in a different colour scheme. Furthermore, there is no screw on centre column included and, therefore, it is marketed as a table top tripod only. However, it costs more than double the price of the original AOKA. Although I personally do like the silver accents which are likely going to wear badly anyway, the price difference is indeed staggering. Where to get |
Oben CTT-1000L
This looks identical to AOKA CMP163CL + KB20 including the extensible screw on centre column but in a different colour scheme. It, too, costs more than double the original but Ken did not seem to mind. Where to get |
The Mini
Similar comparisons and conclusions can be drawn from the mini versions of this tripod:
- Fotopro P-2 Mini
- Aoka CMP163C + KB20 and CMP163C+BC16
- Neewer TP02
- Cullmann CARVAO 816TCS
- Oben CTT-1000
Interestingly, there is no Dorr mini equivalent that I can find, and the Explorer mini, i.e. Explorer GX-KIT, seems to be sourced from a different OEM. By the looks of it likely from Keensure Industries Limited in Shenzen, China. Each to their own as they say.
The Leica 'Tax'
Now that we have established the basic principles and looked at a few worked examples with brands you have almost certainly never even heard of, let us take a look at more of a household name.
Leica have been on the market for the past 100 years now and are world famous for producing high-end luxury camera equipment. They are especially revered for their build quality but also steep price often dubbed as the "Leica tax".
Having said that, I would of course not expect them to manufacture every single accessory or every little component that goes into their products themselves. Especially in terms of leather goods which are not their core business, partnering with the likes of Schedoni or Hermes before that (who actually use to be 36% shareholders in Leica Camera AG nearly 20 years ago) makes sense.
What might be a bit more surprising, however, is that not all of their seemingly core products are of their own making. The first comparison is an older reference since those accessories are no longer available in their catalog. Nevertheless, it demonstrates that even reputable companies such as Leica are more than happy to market and sell OEM-produced items under their own name.
In a single sweep they picked up and rebranded all of the following:
- FLM CB-24 FB with PRS-45 as their own Leica Ball Head 24 (14113);
- FLM CB-38 FT with PRS-45 as their own Leica Ball Head 38 (14114);
- FLM CP-26 carbon tripod as their own Leica Travel Tripod (14101).
I am not suggesting for a moment that Leica was actively trying to hide this partnership. However, if you read the corresponding press release in detail, you notice how they are proudly proclaiming that those Leica accessories are "Made in Germany" but never mention FLM anywhere. The truth is that FLM (Foto Light Metrology) is indeed a German company. But the press release was expertly crafted to play into the customers' Leica-made quality expectations without mentioning the true source of those goods. The bottom line is that those unsuspecting customers ended up paying a premium for effectively the same products just because they had a red dot logo on them.
Before anyone accuses me of being a cheapskate who could never afford their products, please note that I am currently some $20k US in Leica gear and counting, but only on those items where it makes sense. I simply do not like being taken advantage of and neither should you!
Fujifilm Instax vs Leica Sofort
To provide a more recent example, we do not even need to go that far. The cheapest "brand" new Leica camera currently on the market is their instant Sofort line.
Apart from a) the surface-level differences; b) the f/2 lens on the Fuji vs the variable f/2-f/16 lens on Leica; and c) their respective mobile apps; all the other specs between the two cameras seem identical. And the price difference for the privilege? Mere $200 US more for the Leica version. Of course, there is yet another master class in press release writing associated with that product so that alone must be worth that Leica tax.
I am not even going to go into all of their mobile phone-related portfolio but if you are interested, you can do your own research about the Leitz Phone series in Japan and Xiaomi collaboration in China. A sceptic might conclude that these are simply shameless money-grubbing attempts trying to extract even more revenue from the luxury oriented buyers in Asia but I am not going to do that.
Adorama Flashpoint vs Godox
The next example is definitely one of the stranger ones. After B&H, the second best known mail order retailer of photo and video equipment in the US is Adorama. They are a retailer and an online reseller but certainly not an electronics manufacturer. Yet, they offer their own Adorama Flashpoint branded lighting and studio equipment.
Taking Flashpoint XPLOR 100 Pro as an example, one can easily see that the only "upgrade" over Godox AD100 PRO is the difference in printing on the carboard box, the instruction manual and on the unit itself. There is also a branded rubber label on the textile box where it used to say Godox to be exact. Everything else seems to be the same including the price of the OEM version as listed by their main competitor B&H. And according to online forums, this has been going on for decades with different brands being white labelled by Adorama:
Flashpoint itself is just an Adorama house brand, and they've used it previously to cover strobes made not just by Godox, but also by Jinbei (before they realized the confusion it was causing to have the same brand for both companies, so they rebranded the Jinbei RT gear as Orlit until Westcott became the exclusive Jinbei distributor in North America).
Even more curiously, Adorama themselves are not trying to hide the fact either with plenty of Godox references throughout their website.
So with this one, you will have to excuse me for being puzzled. Why would a commercial retailer go into such a length as to rebrand an otherwise perfectly acceptable OEM brand but then infrequently refer to it, too?
One Reditt user speculates that Godox being able to offer lower prices in places such as AliExpress must be due to them "skimping on QA and testing and support and probably sourcing components from supplies who do the same". Since both flashlights are pretty much guaranteed to be manufactured in the same factory and on the same assembly line (we already established that only the printing seems different), that itself seems rather unlikely.
Then there is the argument that it is going to be easier getting warranty support from the US rather than from China, and that by branding those products differently, Adorama can distinguish them from the rest. Flashpoint by Adorama offers a standard 1 year warranty plus additional 90 days for any replacements. In addition, there is also an out of warranty coverage offering refurbished products at discounted rates. Nevertheless, distinguishing if products are covered by one's warranty can surely be done by requesting a proof of purchase.
So one still has to wonder why to go to such lengths only to offer the same product in a differently colored box, yet still sell it for the same price as their main competitor. If warranty was the only issue, they could have rather put the effort into better customer service like the famous "Never Knowingly Undersold" pledge by John Lewis in the UK.
Hasselblad Lenses
The final pandora's box in this blog post relates to the origins of lenses marketed and sold by Hasselblad. This particular exploration will not necessarily save you any money since there are no cheaper OEM equivalents that I know of. Nevertheless, it is still an interesting exercise to understand where your expensive Swedish camera gear really comes from.
According to an article in their Victor magazine:
Over the decades, Hasselblad has worked with a number of highly skilled partners for manufacturing lenses: Fujinon, Kodak, Rodenstock and Schneider. But if any lens manufacturer is specifically associated with Hasselblad, it is certainly Carl Zeiss.
In the good old days when 500-series cameras were still new, one could easily tell who made this or that lens because it was written on them. However, the times have changed and the provenance of individual lenses is far more difficult to trace these days.
The original line up of the Hasselblad XCD lenses was manufactured by Nittoh Inc., in Japan as confirmed by Hasselblad Product Manager Ove Bengtson in a DPReview interview back in 2016. Since then, the Chinese drone maker DJI acquired a majority stake in Hasselblad and customers started to notice "made in China" engravings on some of their latest lenses. With this knowledge, I am now going to sit in my Chinese-made Volvo and contemplate the meaning of life.
Conclusions: Do Your Homework
Manufacturing of photographic equipment is a complex and expensive process. Large quantities of the same assemblies need to be sold in order to achieve the desired economies of scale and thus financial viability. This is where the OEMs come into play. They produce the fully finished goods with only a few variations that do not hamper their scalability but rely on other companies to market, distribute and sell those goods to the end users.
Now that we appreciate the sheer prevalence of this commercial model across the $100bn+ US global photographic industry, all that remains to do is to research individual products and look for their cheaper alternatives. The process itself is relatively simple, albeit time-consuming.
- Search for lookalikes. Physical similarities can be relatively quickly discovered through image searches via major platforms. Google, Amazon, eBay and many others have this functionality already built-in. There are also tools such as Thieve, Search By Image, and AliExpress Image Search made specifically for this. Even if you are only looking for a better price on the same product, most resellers use the default manufacturers' images so it easy to find all of them via reverse image search.
- Compare their specs. Predominantly identical attributes are a telltale sign that the branded version and a cheaper alternative are actually produced by the same OEM. Some variations due to how the OEM business model works are expected but in many cases the exact same shape, dimensions, quirks and features are always shared between the alternatives.
- Read online forums. If you are still unsure, it is likely that others were too. This is where forums come really handy for exchange of information and knowledge. First hand experience, reviews, comparisons, etc., are all invaluable in such a search.
Using this process, you can identify and build your own factory-like fit kits, for instance for cross-polarization to remove glare and reflections when photographing artwork. If you want to save the time looking for the respective components, we have a ready-made kit available in our online store.
