John TF
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Senior Member
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Posts: 1,363
Re: To John TF Re: SSC coatings ...
Marco Nero wrote:
John TF wrote:
Marco:
Do you happen to know whether this Super Spectra Coating is used on other EF-M lenses?
The EF-M 11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM lens DOES have Super Spectra Coatings and we all know how well that lens performs!!. The other M-series lenses have some special coatings on them but not the SSC (to my knowledge at this time). I don't own all the other lenses (just three at the moment) so I'm not certain what they have. The SSC coatings are used on mostly L-series lenses and it is the modern version of Canon's older 'Spectra Coating' which was developed way back in the 1960s. The difference ought to be noticeable in performance. I'm pondering whether or not I need to buy a quality filter to protect the outer element on the 32mm lens since I may not use a Lens Hood with this lens ...and I know that a firm knock or an abrasive surface will mark i (although it appears to be recessed slightly and will be well protected).
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Protecting Lens Coatings...
There are several EF-M lenses that I don't bother to use a filter with. Out of all my lenses (EF included) I don't use a filter on the 22mm and 28mm because they are small optics, easy to clean and have a basic anti-reflective coating.
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* One thing that can damage lens coating (presumably some and not all) is sunscreen... which can be destructive to optical coatings (it contains powdered nanoparticle elements that are abrasive and contains chemicals that can penetrate between the layers of a coating on a lens in some cases - LINK to DISCUSSION ). The process of delamination seems to affect the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM more than any other lens I've encountered. No doubt Canon will have resolved that issue by now.
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The Super Spectra Coating improve image quality in several ways and SSC is featured on a lot of EF-S lenses plus the super expensive top-of-the-line EF White L-series lenses. It's also on a number of telephoto lenses plus the "nifty fifty".
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It's featured on most of my L-series lenses from the EF family. They've even placed SSC BELOW the Air-Sphere Coating (new Canon tech coatings for lens flare) on the EF 100-400mmL II.
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Thanks, Marco.
Roger Cicala mentions a relatively new coating technology called “nanocoating”. I have read that SSC tech has changed over the decades. Do you know if Canon uses nanocoating and whether it is currently part of the “SSC brand”? Or is that what SWC is? And if so, I wonder why they are using an older tech on this very new lens?
You would think lens coatings would be a small, inexpensive detail, but apparently it can be quite expensive to apply multiple coatings to multiple lens elements. Which, if SWC is more expensive to apply than SSC, would explain the use of SSC on a lens where price matters.
SSC is obviously a good thing because it has been used on so many L lenses...