Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/08/04
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>According to someone I contacted via email at Stan Tamarkin (they >advertise in Shutterbug, etc), the 50mm Summicron collapsibles are "not >coated for color photography". Does this mean they do not have modern >multi-coating, etc, or that the optics are not coated at all? Some of the earlier lenses are coated, but not as well color-corrected as later lenses were. Sometime in about the early 1950s, color films started becoming popular enough that a lot of manufactuers needed to tweak their lens coatings--the coatings not only control reflections, but help remove any color casts the glass in the lens might have. When most photography was B&W, slight color casts were not a big issue. I don't know if this is the deal with the collapsable Summicrons, but I'd be surprised if this was the case with a lens made as late as this one was. The only problem there might be is a slight color cast. A lot of people do shoot color with them! - - Paul