In many (most?) cases researchers use coating and are happy with results.
However, as with any additional step in specimen preparation, coating may induce artifacts. If you have field emission SEM, you can work at low voltages (0.5-1.5 kV) without any coating. The same true if you have environmental SEM, but with ESEM you will work with higher voltages - can be useful for BSE and EDS. FESEM can reach pretty high magnifications even in low voltage and environmental mode.
Limited or non-conductive material samples require carbon and/or metal coating. Generally sputtering is used , 2-20 nm of electrically-conducting metal such as gold (Au), gold/palladium (Au/Pd), platinum (Pt), silver (Ag), chromium (Cr) or iridium (Ir) prevents charging.
In many (most?) cases researchers use coating and are happy with results.
However, as with any additional step in specimen preparation, coating may induce artifacts. If you have field emission SEM, you can work at low voltages (0.5-1.5 kV) without any coating. The same true if you have environmental SEM, but with ESEM you will work with higher voltages - can be useful for BSE and EDS. FESEM can reach pretty high magnifications even in low voltage and environmental mode.