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[OM] Re: Initials before Zuiko?

Subject: [OM] Re: Initials before Zuiko?
From: Chuck Norcutt <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 07 Jun 2005 07:24:53 -0400
Hi Darin,
These responses are from The Olympus OM SLR FAQ at:
<http://brashear.phys.appstate.edu/lhawkins/photo/olympus.faq.html>

L3) What does the designation E.Zuiko mean? How about S-Zuiko?

        Early Olympus lenses have a letter designation before the word
        Zuiko which corresponds to the number of elements in the
        lens.  Thus, an E.Zuiko has 5 elements, an F.Zuiko 6 elements,
        a G.Zuiko 7 elements, and so on.  This designation was dropped
        sometime in the late 1970's or early 1980's (anyone know exactly
        when?)  On the other hand, S-Zuiko denotes Olympus' "economy"
        line of lenses.  Auto-S, Auto-W, and Auto-T stand for standard,
        wide, and telephoto lenses respectively, while Auto-Zoom
        denotes a zoom lens, and Auto-Macro denotes a macro lens
        that must be used with either the bellows or telescoping auto
        extension tube.

L4) What does MC mean? How can I tell if I have a multicoated lens?

        Many early Zuiko lenses were single coated.  Those that were
        multicoated were denoted by the MC logo, until most of the lens
        line was multicoated.  Then the MC logo was dropped.  It is
        generally agreed that the presence of any green reflection, no
        matter how faint, is evidence of multicoating, while predominatly
        yellow reflections denotes single coating.  Zuikos with the
        G.Zuiko type designation are more likely to be single coated.


Some here will probably argue whether the presence of green is a 
definitive indication of multicoating.  Another point not mentioned here 
is that multicoating evolved over the years.  Early lenses may, perhaps, 
be multicoated on only a few elements and not so marked.  When 
multicoating became a marketing issue the lenses were marked "MC". 
Later, when almost everything was multicoated the markings were dropped.

Chuck Norcutt
        


Darin Rhein wrote:

> Hello all,
> 
> Can anyone tell me what these initials; ie, E. Zuiko, F. Zuiko, G. Zuiko mean?
> I've been curious about this for a while, but I haven't had the guts to ask.
> 
> Also, are all multi-coated Zuiko lenses marked MC?



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