Zeiss 50mm Distagon flare

I have a single coated 50mm Distagon for an SL66 that flares quite easily even

with the hood. I have resorted to additionally holding a 4x5 darkslide, but

even that doesn't always help. Would adding a high quality MC filter work? I

know it is yet another air/glass interface, but I need to do something. I

compared my lens with a friend's 50mm T^* pointed at a wall with a

window well outside the frame, and the results were like night and day.

<br><br>Aaron

As you said, all you are doing is adding another air/glass surface. My 50/4 Distagon is the only HFT lens I own in SL66 mount so I'm feeling particularly lucky about that ebay strike at this moment!

How does your lens look when you shine a light inside? It could just be hazy and require a service.

Without multi-coating, avoid bright sources of light directly on the front lens. That's why all my lenses for SL66 are HFT.<br>

If the lens hood is unsufficient, try the compendium shade for 50-250mm lenses. Its reference is # 98080. It offers a better protection that the classic 50mm lens hood.<br>

Thanks Jean, I've got a cokin compendium that I might be able to fit with an adapter ring.

Mike, it's clear inside through the center, but you know how if you clean the front of a lens and don't get right to the edges, you can leave a slight residue in the crevas between the glass and mount. That's what it looks like on one of the inner elements.

Could this residue you see be the black flocking paint coming off? There was a 250/5.6 Sonnar I bought for cheap in SL66 that had flaking black paint on the inner part of the front cell. It was advertised as separation but I had a hunch it wasn't.

Once I disassembled and cleaned all the black paint flecks out of there, cleaned and repainted the black paint, the lens is a stellar performer.

Jean-Louis is correct to a point - with the longer lenses you can eliminate most flare issues simply because the lens has a narrower angle of view and you can use longer lens hoods. I don't feel I'm losing much by having the double Zeiss coatings on most of my SL66 lenses.

There is also a Lee compedium hood for about $60 that fits the Cokin P holder. This is what I've been using on the SL66 and large format lenses I own.

Mike, it's not flaking. I had a Schneider that did that. This is more like a very slight blue haze, but like I said, only on the outer circumference of the element. I'm not sure if it's the problem or not, since I have never owned any other single coated lenses.

Cheers,

Aaron

I don't know if the net effect of an MC filter will be better or not and have never seen info to say one way or the other.

BUT, the very BEST thing you can do is to use a compendium shade rather than a hood. The hoods are shorter than the more precise and adjustable compendium shade.

I use one on my CF version 50mm and 60mm lenses to give these wide angles better flare protection and they are not overly sensitive to flare; but I get better contrast when using the compendium shade in bright light than using the plastic hood.