Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/02/28

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Multi-Coating
From: Marc James Small <msmall@roanoke.infi.net>
Date: Sat, 28 Feb 1998 23:34:14 -0500

At 08:23 PM 2/28/98 -0600, Eric Welch wrote:
>How could that possibly be, when Leica designs the coating formula for each
>lens (even element) individually? Or are you referring to the overall way
>Leica designs coatings for lenses and applies them?

Coatings can be viewed as a two-step process:  there is the mechanical
method of applying the coatings, which was controlled under a Zeiss and
Pentax patent.  I would suspect that this is now expired, as it dates from
1969 or so.  Second, there is the precise mix of chemistry used for the
lens and the number of coatings.  This is controlled by the lens
manufacturer.  Thus, Leica figures out precisely what chemical bath they
wish applied, and the number of coats to use, and then employs a
Zeiss/Pentax developed method to apply it.

Marc


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