Are you assuming deceit where common stupidity might suffice? Given the option I'd bet on the latter.... Why would he misinform people in this way and make up something completely false? I can't think of a practical reason why making something up about that symbol would be to his or anyone else's benefit.
I was looking more into this and found this wiki link explaining it better: China RoHS - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia More specifically: "Environment Friendly Use Period (EFUP) is the period of time before any of the RoHS substances are likely to leak out, causing possible harm to health and the environment.[SUP][2][/SUP] Each product is labelled with a circle composed of two arrows containing a number that gives the EFUP in years; for example, a circled 10 indicates an EFUP of 10 years." And Ken Rockwell's definition of what it means: " ↓10↑: 10-year life expectancy before its lead-free (RoHS) solder grows tin "whiskers" that ensure its circuitry becomes unrepairable. In other words, a 10-year expected life before being thrown away." This guy's background is what, engineering? And he always claims to take so much time doing his reviews, yet doesn't even check something as basic as this. Why would he misinform people in this way and make up something completely false? I can't think of a practical reason why making something up about that symbol would be to his or anyone else's benefit.
Thanks Paul! Another reason to dislike Rockwell, he says it's in regards to the life expectancy of the soldering.
that's funny, I think that with proper care, lens lens could last 100 years or more. maybe not so much the G lens, because of the motors, and electronics.
My oldest lens now is from 69 or so, which 43 or so years. Many of my lens are over 25 years. Proper storage, is key.
One worry, is over time, people that have the skill to repair lens will disappear. We are so much a throw away society, and folks that can huddle for hours over a bench, taking apart precision parts, and understand exactly how to fix/clean/lubicate a lens will be harder to find.
I drop lens off at my local shop,, and am so happy that this old gear can be maintained. I wonder if you send a 40 lens to Nikon repair, if they will still work on them.