John Hudson wrote:
>...What sort of photographic / lighting / atmospheric situations could
present
>themselves which should prompt the use of the SC version over the MC
>version or vice versa such that the final photograph, whether print or
>slide, is superior to that had the other coating option been chosen?
Oh dear, I already know I'm in a minority here in thinking of SC as normal.
I bought a green MC version of the 50mm f1.8 entirely because of the
overwhelming favour members of the list feel towards MC lenses, but when I
took it out and tried it early one sunny Sunday in late Summer, I was
initially disappointed with the results. The detailed shadows that I would
expect to have in the prints from my old familiar SC 50mm were almost black
and the contrast was harsh. I'm an occasional watercolour painter and I
expect to see tonal recession outdoors but this MC prime lens killed it
dead. It may be 'technically' better but it's at the expense of
pictorialism. A scanned print's contrast can be easily increased if
required - just decide where you want to lose detail, but not so readily
reduced because you can't bring back detail that's already lost.
I think Olympus got it right first time round - multicoating only when a
lens had a large number, or area, of glass surfaces. It seems to me they
started doing it unnecessarily only in response to the competition. Anyway,
the MC 50 didn't cost much and I shall think of it a brightener of murky
days, so it's no loss.
Looking at many of my outdoor b&w pictures taken in the 'sixties, it reminds
me that we had lots of misty, foggy days caused by rampant, uncontrolled air
pollution back then, when lenses were either single or uncoated. It's ironic
that multicoating has come along just when it's no longer needed :-)
Regards,
Keith Berry (Birmingham, England)
keith_r.k.berry@xxxxxxxxxx
http://homepages.which.net/~k.berry
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