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Ever considered adding an after market protective coating to your lens?

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Applying to the glass elements or the lens body? Either way it's a bad idea. The ceramic coating doesn't appear to be meant to be used on a camera lens. The coating itself might be transparent but it will significantly affect the optics of the lens. The lens was designed and optimized for the coatings applied by the manufacturer. Applying another coating just puts another layer in front of the light and one that the lens isn't optimized for. It's like putting a bad filter on the lens. It'll destroy the image quality but this one isn't removable.
 
Skip to 8:40 in this video and watch a pro photographer deliberately damage a lens, then present before and after shots, see if you can see a difference:
 
SoCalWill said:
Skip to 8:40 in this video and watch a pro photographer deliberately damage a lens, then present before and after shots, see if you can see a difference:
Click to expand...
Always got a laugh out of the crab claw bit! I've shown this to several friends that insist on having a screw on UV filter at all times for "protection".
 
He lost me when he stated that is "really easy to replicate the effect of a polarizer...in software"

No it isn't , in fact it can be impossible.

go on , show me how easy it is to get this :

11e86863093c4e539729131825f9e5bf.jpg

or this

5346d17110ea4d5ba55dc8d23deb0a86.jpg

or this

aaf3838e3bb242698448a26ba355e0cf.jpg
 
Last edited:
Chris Stirrup said:
Hey guys,

I wonder if there would be any significant repercussions to adding a ceramic protective coat.

Back in the days when i would shoot with my GoPro, this would be common place especially for the hydrophobic proprieties.

EG: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hendlex-Ce...rs=11652019031&ie=UTF8&qid=1544132721&sr=8-20

Anyone any knowledge on why this is a bad idea on my lenses?

Thanks for your time :)

Chris
Click to expand...
I'm going to assume that the engineers at Nikon are smarter than I am. If they thought a ceramic coating would be good for the lens, they'd of done it already.
 
From what I understand, optical coatings must have a refractive index which is intermediate between the refractive index of the glass and of air, or whatever medium the lens is designed to be immersed in. Any random coating will likely have an opposite effect, increasing lens flare. Also, glass generally is extremely hard and scratch resistant, although it can shatter easily—but a coating can't help with this problem.

Also, it needs to be applied precisely, with extreme tolerances on the molecular level, otherwise the image quality will degrade sharply. You can't spray it on: the resulting picture quality will be garbage and there will be no benefit otherwise.
 
Mark Scott Abeln said:
From what I understand, optical coatings must have a refractive index which is intermediate between the refractive index of the glass and of air, or whatever medium the lens is designed to be immersed in. Any random coating will likely have an opposite effect, increasing lens flare. Also, glass generally is extremely hard and scratch resistant, although it can shatter easily—but a coating can't help with this problem.

Also, it needs to be applied precisely, with extreme tolerances on the molecular level, otherwise the image quality will degrade sharply. You can't spray it on: the resulting picture quality will be garbage and there will be no benefit otherwise.
Click to expand...
A nice smear of Vaseline is useful for aging models.
 
Your front lens has a nano coating

Can you do that?

Open a business
 
Chris Stirrup said:
Hey guys,

I wonder if there would be any significant repercussions to adding a ceramic protective coat.

Back in the days when i would shoot with my GoPro, this would be common place especially for the hydrophobic proprieties.

EG: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hendlex-Ce...rs=11652019031&ie=UTF8&qid=1544132721&sr=8-20

Anyone any knowledge on why this is a bad idea on my lenses?

Thanks for your time :)

Chris
Click to expand...
Nope. If I'm going to be shooting in such bad conditions that my lens needs extra protection, I'll use a clear protective filter. More likely, though, I wont be shooting in such conditions. As a hobbyist and not a pro, I don't need to be taking chances like that with my gear. It's insured, but I've no desire to take un-necessary risks.
 
[No message]
 
Not that I would make a blanket condemnation of the things.

I do, personally, think they're buttugly, but that's a matter of individual taste and I'm sure there are circumstances where they are highly useful, I just don't find myself needing one.

Makes me think of the article Steve Huff did where he dipped a Leica in some sort of black rubber coating crap :)
 
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SoCalWill said:
Skip to 8:40 in this video and watch a pro photographer deliberately damage a lens, then present before and after shots, see if you can see a difference:
Click to expand...
apart from the misleading comments about PL filters, here is another sample of misleading comments.

So you see the guy hammering away scratching the lens.

Then after he cleans the lens with his shirt, this is what you see :

c842311a3346495393814a6e616f4e2b.jpg



f3b446552e9c47c39f3075e7922fa02c.jpg



keep in mind that he states that "probably" you will not see the difference.

OK, lets say you don't see the difference in your photos , you will see the difference in the sale price .
 
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There are less dangerous methods that won't screw-up the optical quality. Remeber, a lens is usually ground and polished to about 1/500,000 of an inch accuracy today. Think that "ceramic" (plastic) crap "sprayed on" will keep that polish? Automotive shops carry liquid or wax materials that are made to apply to glass and are hydrophobic.
 
Trafford2 said:
Mark Scott Abeln said:
From what I understand, optical coatings must have a refractive index which is intermediate between the refractive index of the glass and of air, or whatever medium the lens is designed to be immersed in. Any random coating will likely have an opposite effect, increasing lens flare. Also, glass generally is extremely hard and scratch resistant, although it can shatter easily—but a coating can't help with this problem.

Also, it needs to be applied precisely, with extreme tolerances on the molecular level, otherwise the image quality will degrade sharply. You can't spray it on: the resulting picture quality will be garbage and there will be no benefit otherwise.
Click to expand...
A nice smear of Vaseline is useful for aging models.
Click to expand...
Do you have to cover the entire model or is it OK to just hit a few spots?
 
Leonard Migliore said:
Trafford2 said:
Mark Scott Abeln said:
From what I understand, optical coatings must have a refractive index which is intermediate between the refractive index of the glass and of air, or whatever medium the lens is designed to be immersed in. Any random coating will likely have an opposite effect, increasing lens flare. Also, glass generally is extremely hard and scratch resistant, although it can shatter easily—but a coating can't help with this problem.

Also, it needs to be applied precisely, with extreme tolerances on the molecular level, otherwise the image quality will degrade sharply. You can't spray it on: the resulting picture quality will be garbage and there will be no benefit otherwise.
Click to expand...
A nice smear of Vaseline is useful for aging models.
Click to expand...
Do you have to cover the entire model or is it OK to just hit a few spots?
Click to expand...
ROTFL. . .
 
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