why Canon's L lenses below 70 mm aren't white?

I just wonder and I didn't find threads about.

Oops, I meant "below 200 mm".

The white color is intended to reduce thermal expansion in larger optics. The big telephotos

tend to sit on tripods and monopods for hours in blazing sun at sporting events. The wide

and normal lens hang from bodies in sit in bags and thus have less expansion problems.

 

I often shoot on Hawaiian beaches and the white color makes a big difference in heat

attraction compared to black ones.

 

Canon has made a few silver EF lenses, e.g., EF 24-85 3.5-4.5 USM and 35-135 4.0-5.6 USM.

What Puppy Face said, but it's mainly because flourite ie sused in the larger lenses and flourite is much less resilient than other bits of glass.

 

These days it's about marketing 1st, technical reasons second.

 

JJ

Thank you! I was looking for the "technical" reason of course and I'm glad both you gave me.

So why don't black bodies fry chips?

it is indeed strange that they do not "protect" their FF models with a white shell instead of a black one : for sure the heat inside a body has a negative effect on the electronics inside

Silicon based integrated circuits don't have any problems with those temperatures, so white bodies would not be of much use.

This has been an interesting thread. Two questions I had wondered about but never got round to asking.

 

Of course, the 70-200's are white too.

 

P

Right Peter and I wrote "70 mm" instead of "200 mm" cause I mainly had the 70-200 f/4 L in mind.<br>

I'm planning to buy it and the 17-40 f/4L with a 30D and the question "why the 17-40 isn't white" came to me when I made a collage to show to my Love what is the gear of my dream : ))<div></div>

White L lenses can be used with the Teleconverters; black ones can't/shouldn't?

Tapas; The 135mm F2 L seems to work with a teleconverter. G.E.

Lenses above 135 mm can be used on the Canon teleconverters, both of which are white.

 

Why are Nikon long lenses black?

>>the post is a question,<<

 

Because Canon started making white lenses first so, if Nikon followed suit it would probably advertise for Canon...with their own glass!

The black Canon 180mm Macro Lens is compatible with bit the 1.4 and 2 converter.

The Nikon 70-200 is available in white.<div></div>

I've often wondered if the white lenses are a solution looking for a problem.

 

I switched to Canon from Nikon when I went digital after 20 years of baking

Nikon's long black lenses for hours on hot, sunny days. Not only did I never

have a problem, I never heard of a problem, in person, print,, among dealers,

pros - never, not a one.

 

From a marketing point of view it's genius though - when a gaggle of

photographers are seen at a sporting or press event, no-one can read the

camera logos, but those white lenses stick out like sore thumbs and advertise

Canon better than any print ad as it shows the pros use them more than any

other brand.

I think the advertising role is probably the most convincing. My wife and children all sit up and notice the white lenses because I have them.

 

P

I wrote to Canon about it just yesterday and the only reason they stated for the "white" color was for show; they didn't mention thermal/reflectance issues.

Because small (physically) lenses don't need to stand out in advertising.<div></div>

So, that's mainly marketing ?! orange lenses would have been better IMHO.

Yep! pure marketing, nothing else. Otherwise, glass or flurite coating, none will be damaged by heat when leaving under the sunshine.

This is pure Canon marketing genius. This company knows how to advertise their products, this should be obvious, but for some us no advertisment is needed ;-)

 

My first white lens will be the 70-200 f/4L which I'll get in about a month. I can't wait.

Fluorite can be damaged, but not all white lenses have fluorite elements. Also, Minolta's 300mm f/2.8 and 70-200mm f/2.8 are white. In addition, many Pentax telephotos and their 'Limited' series are whitish silver. For the most part, it is marketing.

Minolta made a (limited production?) white AF body, the 8000i. I think it was primarily a marketing gimmick.

 

--tom