The Chinese made versions are usually much more reasonably priced than the daft prices the metal ones get jacked up to. They are also a little lighter and just as well made as the Taiwan or Japan made ones in terms of function. Because they are more recent than the often worn-out or abused older Japanese ones, you can also find them in far better condition. So don't fall into the trap of assuming metal is good, plastic is bad. The metal ones hold their value more only because people have anti-plastic attitudes, so if you don't like photography based on taking great photos, but you do like making money selling gear, the Chinese version is no good for you.
I found the Chinese version to have a very strong top and bottom plate, a more basic prism focus centre, but it had a much better designed film pressure plate and roller system in the rear panel. One website I read was banging on about the Chinese having worse internal parts made of plastic and cheap metal, but mine was exactly the same as the Japanese version. Taking apart the Chinese version is much easier than the Japanese. After once owning the Chinese version, I came to the realisation that a lot of people are wrong to dismiss it just because it's not got a metal top and bottom.
Another way of thinking about it is that the A-series SMC lens system by Pentax has lots of plastic parts inside and with overall build but people love them and are willing to buy the lenses for seriously inflated prices. Plastic does not mean lower quality in terms of the photos you take with the gear.
Another way of thinking about it is that all modern cameras and all those built from roughly 1980 onwards have some aspects of plastic cases, tops, bottoms, and internal parts. It doesn't mean they are "bad" or dysfunctional.
Last edited by Nick Crumpler; 01-17-2020 at 04:23 AM.