> This related link should also be read: Single versus Multi-coated > Lenses http://medfmt.8k.com/mf/flare.html
These are very hoary old arguments left over from decades ago. While there is much more difference between single coating and no coating at all than there is between single coating and multi-coating, there is no doubt that, if you're looking for the last increments of best quality, multi-coating is useful. Of course, certain manufacturers make liberal use of single coating. What do you think Nikon's "IC" stands for? Integrated Coating. Why "integrated"? Because it's applied in a single layer. In other words, some Nikkors are single-coated or partially single-coated...to this day. Some Canon lenses are too. In fact, many cheap lenses are single coated, and most of then are indeed "good enough." On Nikon's and Canon's _better_ lenses, however, they use multi-coating where they can't get away with single layers. And yet, as we've seen recently, when _Popular Photography_ wants to do an article on shooting into the sun, what do they use? Old SMC Taks. Note also that lenses are not "single coated" or "multi-coated." We refer to them as thought they're one or the other. Many lenses, in fact, employ both techniques simultaneously in the same lens (and in many cheaper lenses, certain surfaces may not be coated at all). When the lens maker Angenieux (the French Panavision, essentially) made a few "carriage trade" 35mm lenses in the 1970s and '80s, they took the innovative step of multi-coating every single surface. This was unusual enough at the time to be remarkable. What makes Zeiss lenses special? Zeiss has been using some of the same basic block designs for decades now. It's its T* coatings (still very similar to SMC) that make the difference. You can make great pictures with any lens at all, including single-coated ones. However, I know people who've done direct comparison tests between Pentax, Zeiss, Nikon and Canon lenses directly into the sun, and the multi-coated lenses handle these extreme situations better, no question. Overall, flare is not a huge problem with lenses these days. Whether one should care whether one's lenses are multi-coated or not is an individual matter. But one thing's for sure: with the very best lenses, you won't see the makers trying to get by with single coating, or with multi-coating only on a few surfaces. --Mike
