I received this little email from Gary Reese and we thought that
it would be a good idea to post it to the list. It addresses
some of what we know about lens coatings and the misleading
information that the SC/MC debate spews forth. We must remember
that true single-coated lenses pretty well were discontinued in
the sixties and early seventies. Most if not all Zuikos have
multiple coatings but it wasn't until Pentax took multi-coating
into their own marketing domain that it became an "issue". I
remember magazine articles essentially saying "so what's new?"
at that time. It became chic to put a green coating in there to
address the apparent shortcomings of the lens design.
It is hard to determine what the major differences are in the
coatings between some of the earlier Zuikos and the later ones
based on transmission/reflectance numbers. Improved glass
manufacturing and grinding techniques could have been as much of
an improvement as coating changes. Anyhoo, here is Gary's
email:
AG-Schnozz
> As a champion on silver nosed / SC lenses, I thought my latest
> theory
> might interest you. It's within the eBay description for:
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1353330165
> which is a black snouted H.Zuiko 24mm f/2.8
>
> ****************
> . . . there is a microscopic coating flake (spot) near the
> periphery of
> the front element, revealing a blue secondary layer. So, yup,
> there is
> multi-layer coating on the front element (see further
> discussion on
> coating history below) . . . This was my personal lens,
> retained as the
> best of three different samples tested over the course of
> doing my
> Olympus OM System Lens Tests. . . . This lens has a 8 element
> in 7 group
> optical design. Its coating represents an unanswered mystery
> in
> determining what constitutes a so called "single-coated" Zuiko
> (incorrectly described, but the way I listed this one on my
> lens tests
> page) versus a "multi-coated" example. This example reflects
> four colors
> from its coatings. While often called a "single coated" lens,
> perhaps
> such a designation should be restricted to early Zuikos with
> mostly a
> single (often yellow) color reflection, like the 75-150mm zoom
> and the
> 55mm f/1.2.
>
> Based on the serial number, this lens was produced close to
> the 1981
> announcement date for the third generation "MC Zuiko" lenses
> and the
> 1982 release of the fourth generation "Zuiko" labeled lens.
> But were
> these really evolutionary improved versions? For example, the
> "Zuiko"
> version only has three color reflections from its coating.
> Serial number
> gaps, often associated with changes to coating formulations or
> mechanical specifications in the evolution of other Zuiko
> lenses, do not
> correspond to the changes in 24mm f/2.8 ID ring nomenclature
> (i.e., from
> chrome snout H.Zuiko, to black snout H.Zuiko, to MC Zuiko, to
> Zuiko). My
> theory is that among certain Zuiko lenses, Olympus
> experimented with
> various coating formulartions and technologies, eventually
> settling on
> the most cost effective coating. The conventional wisdom that
> the modern
> "Meade green" multicoating is superior may not necessarily be
> the case,
> especially in comparing the performance of this lens to my
> "Zuiko"
> example, also posted on my lens tests page (they are
> essentially a
> toss-up). Some of the intermediate formulations may have been
> more
> expensive and elaborate (like seen this sample's 4 color
> reflections),
> but by ca. 1985, Olympus settled upon a system-wide
> multicoating
> formulation which perhaps minimized escalating early 1980s
> production
> costs in Japan, while simultaneously meeting consumer demand
> for
> "multicoating" of all elements. While some claim that no one
> but Pentax
> has true "multicoating," I feel safe in saying that Olympus
> had
> multi-layer coating on some or all of the optical elements
> among their
> pre "MC Zuiko" and "Zuiko" labeled lenses and that this lens
> is proof.
> Eventually, someone will sort this all out, given the
> collectability of
> the OM System.
> ************
>
> At any rate, I think folks have greatly oversimplified by
> saying:
> X.Zuiko = single coated and "MC Zuiko" or "Zuiko" =
> multicoated.
>
> Gary Reese
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