I wanted to try out some of the Zuiko lenses, and maybe compare them to the Zeiss ones I have. Now, I saw that not all of the Zuiko's have a "MC" in the name. Does that imply that all those are single coated, or is there some hidden knowledge about the lenses ? I do not think it is that bad not to have MC ( I had a single coated Chinon 21mm 3.4 that was way sharper than my 20mm 2.8 multicoated Flektogon ), I would like to get the MC ones.
In the end, you can be certain that ones marked "MC" are multi-coated and that any lenses in the series with serial numbers higher than those marked "MC" are also multi-coated because Oly dropped the designation but kept the coatings. On top of that, most of the "high end" (typically the faster variants at each focal length) were MC right from the start.
Ok, so I should relay on the fact that the Zuiko's are great lenses in general. I want to try the out esp. because of size/weight considerations ( only done a quick math and ended up at around 5kg for my camera and lenses - it's going to be tricky with the plane, since the tripod is another 3.6kg with head, and the Tamrac Expedition 7 is also no lightweight ).
Stephan, email me and I will send you an excel file that has a listing of the various Zuiiko's, the known serial numbers of the various lenses, lens designations printed on the lens (like MC), and user observations about the coatings.
That's only true of some of the Zuiko's. Others, like the Zuiko 24/3.5 shift have a redish front element. Then there were variations of the MC's through the years for many of the lenses. All the MC 50's I've had (50/1.2, 50/1.4, 50/1.8, 50/2 Macro, 50/3.5Macro) seemed to have different MC's. I believe their higher end lenses (like the 50/1.2) have different MC coatings, but then they were a very late lens in the OM line-up. I think the most colorful MC's on an OM lens I had was the 35-80/2.8 - also a very late lens.
theophilus wrote:
Just have the owner look at what color is reflected in the front element:
Purple-ish = single coated
Green-ish = MC
someone correct me if I'm wrong, but this is my experience between a 21/3.5 MC and 24/2.8 non-MC that I own.
All 24/3.5 shifts had the same multi-coating. Also the 50/1.2 from what I have seen. Those are both late lenses in the OM line-up. The 55/1.2 was originally single coated, and I don't believe it ever made the transition to MC.
I've had a couple people ask for that file on the Zuiko MC's. I'll have it coming your way as soon as I get home in a couple hours.
