[Pål Jensen]

I too am unsure why they are not directly saying that HD is better than SMC...

Maybe because it isn't?
I suspect real SMC is too expensive. I've notice a decline in flare supression from Pentax since the 70's....

[Blue]

This is a cross post but they kept smc on the new super zoom, at least as per PentaxImaging.

smc PENTAX DA 18-270mm F3.5-6.3 ED SDM

PENTAX - smc PENTAX DA 18-270mm F3.5-6.3 ED SDM

[macTak]

Maybe because it isn't?
I suspect real SMC is too expensive. I've notice a decline in flare supression from Pentax since the 70's....

To be fair, in general the trend since the seventies has been to lenses with more elements (and indeed zooms), which can itself impact flare suppression. However, your notion that Pentax has (at least at times) cheapened out on SMC coatings of their lenses is demonstrably true. Lentip.com/optyczne.pl, when they tested some Pentax lenses, did test transmission

The results (in percent lost per surface):
DA 17-70mm 0.3%
FA 43mm Ltd 0.4%
DA 35mm f2.4 0.4%
DA 100mm WR Macro 0.5%
FA 50mm f1.4 0.6%


It is a secret (although perhaps an obvious one to some) that coating quality decisions at Pentax are made on a per-lens basis. While they may have several general levels (SMC, HD, Aerobright), just calling it SMC is no guarantee of the newest, best SMC coatings (even in the seventies, after all, Pentax claimed that SMC resulted in a loss of only 0.2%), and one should expect cheeper lenses to have lesser coatings.

[gazonk]

Maybe because it isn't?
I suspect real SMC is too expensive. I've notice a decline in flare supression from Pentax since the 70's....

Really? I'm not sure how a lens could be more flare resistant than my DA35 Ltd.

[bossa]

Sigma has mention of "Super Multi Layer Coating" now on their lenses. Example here: SIGMA 85mm F1.4 EX DG HSM Lens | sigmaphoto.com I don't recall them using this particular wording before. I'm wondering If previous owner Hoya had an information sale or swap with SIgma at some point. Now that they are using HD perhaps they sold their old technology off?

I recall something from either Sigma or Hoya in a older announcement that got my attention on this subject in past but don't have that reference.

Yes, I read that Hoya 'helped' Sigma with their Multi-Coatings so I would not be surprised if the pimped out the SMC to anyone they could.

[donras]

Really? I'm not sure how a lens could be more flare resistant than my DA35 Ltd.

I suppose anytime there is any flare, there is room for improvement. Not knocking the DA 35 Limited, which I dearly love, but even the legends can flare. Beyond the obvious in the attached picture made with the DA 35 Limited at f5.6, there are also rays of flare which show up on prints as noticeable streaks through the hair and across the black blouses.

[donras]

ooops --- here's the attachment --- but it's for the DA 15 Limited (equally legendary re: flare), not the DA 35 (also a great lens)
-- Don

Attached Images

View Picture EXIF

File Date

 

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Last edited by donras; 09-14-2012 at 06:04 PM. Reason: correct name of lens

[Blue]

At least Pentax has been consistent over the past 6 or 7 years with confusion.

High-grade multi-layer HD coating and SP (Super Protect) coating ensure image fidelity, reduce lens flare, and provide additional protection to the lens elements.

Treated with the newly developed, high-grade multi-layer HD (High Definition) coating,