When life gives you lemons, …Make your lemonade stand bigger and better.
Duclos Lenses recently suffered a fairly substantial set-back. Our shop was broken into in the middle of the night and a decent amount of stock was stolen. Most devastating was the thirty, nearly finished 11-16mm conversion lenses (do the math, $3,500 a piece) just about ready to ship to customers who had already been waiting months for their lens. As most of you know, these lenses are hand built here in our shop and the demand has increased over the past six months. We had been working our hardest to keep up with demand but now we have to scratch 30+ lenses and start that batch all over again delaying the current orders and pushing back other projects, like our 70-200mm that we have yet to begin production on. In addition, several other items that were for sale and some personal material were lifted in the heist. Luckily our security measures ensured that the losses were certainly not as bad as they could have been. Duclos Lenses is no slouch when it comes to security. There are several redundant systems in place and even a remote video surveillance with off-site backup that we are working with the authorities to utilize. Customers’ lenses that are here for service are placed in a very secure vault to rule out client losses. The primary upset, for us, is time. The 11-16mm lenses take time to locate from Tokina, and even more time to disassemble, machine, re-assemble and adjust. There is no twenty person assembly line, no export to China, just three guys turning wrenches six days a week right here in our shop in Canoga Park, California. That’s a lot of time and labor down the drain.
This leads me to the bright side of this post. In lieu of our recent misfortune, as well as the need to expand and improve, we’ve decided it was time to upgrade the Lens Lab to something a little more respectable. We’ve already found a new location and will begin the transition in the very near future. I put up a post a few weeks ago about how jealous I am of Leo Laporte and Greg Hren because they are moving to bigger, better locations, and now get to join their ranks. It’s a great feeling and as some customers who have visited the current Lens Lab will tell you, much needed. There will be more posts in the near future showing the new digs and the progress we are making.
Back to business. I’ll be providing a downloadable PDF of every single stolen lens make, model, and serial number. We will be asking EVERYONE to spread the word and pass on the list. We’re asking anyone who sees one of these serial numbers or even a lens with the serial number removed or scratched out, to contact us as soon as possible so we can get these guys. This is very personal to us and really impacted the entire family operation. We greatly appreciate any help and cooperation in this matter. Thank you, everyone.
