Larry H. writes:
<< My Zuiko MC 50mm f1.4 serial #854836 coating reflects reds, pinks,
yellows & whites, but I see no greenish like my 100mm 2.8 or 28mm 2.8
(and 50mm 1.8 for that matter). Is this a less effective multicoating
formulation, or an extremely early version of the MC version of this
lens? Or, is this a newer version..(or probably equally effective as the
greenish cast ones, whenever it was made?). Any opinions? >>
Here is something I just put together on this - a topic repeated
discussed on this list:
The belief that MC has to be on a Zuiko lens for it to be multi-coated
is a misnomer. Unfortunately last month's Peterson Photography magazine
furthered that misinformation. Olympus dropped the MC moniker on the
identification ring after they had 100% multi-coating across the entire
lens line. That was in the mid 1980s, after the existing supply of MC
marked rings were exhausted for all lenses. Thus, a Zuiko lens without
MC is always (but see *) a later production version than one with MC.
Anyone who only buys Zuikos with an MC on the ring are buying older ones
than than might have otherwise bought.
There were three versions of the 50mm f/1.4:
1. The early G.Zuiko version with what we have come to call "single"
coating (SC).
2. The MC Zuiko version with the same optical formula as the SC and with
only an internal element or two multi-coated.
3. The Zuiko version with all elements multi-coated and an updated
optical formula with much enhanced performance (as per my lens tests at:
http://members.aol.com/olympusom/lenstests/default.htm
Multi-coating was getting a lot of advertising hype and Olympus had to
respond with some kind of improvement, albeit a stop gap measure to
multi-coat only an element or two. This very same scenerio is true for
the 50mm f/1.8, which I like to differentiate as: SC, MC1, MC2.
* Any lens that went to repair for a filter ring dent might have a
different identification ring than the one it had before the repair!
Among manufacturers, I only know of Leitz replacing rings with the very
same serial numbers AND marking the serial number with an asterisk
indicating that it was a replacement ring.
Gary Reese
Las Vegas, NV
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