Do you wish your 70-200L were black?

[Pi]

Also, once sunlight has heated the object, the radiated heat is at much lower frequencies and the emissivity is more or less the same then (this is somewhere on Wikipedia).

Actually it's quite the opposite [..]

Wikipedia: Lighter colors and also whites and metallic substances absorb less illuminating light, and thus heat up less; but otherwise color makes small difference as regards heat transfer between an object at everyday temperatures and its surroundings, since the dominant emitted wavelengths are nowhere near the visible spectrum, but rather in the far infrared. Emissivities at those wavelengths have little to do with visual emissivities (visible colors); in the far infra-red, most objects have high emissivities. ... The main exception to this is shiny metal surfaces, which have low emissivities both in the visible wavelengths and in the far infrared.

It is a fact that black surfaces get hotter, I do not know why we are even discussing that.

 

[M.ST]

No. White is perfect for me.

 

[Zv]

Be glad they don't come in bright hot pink with flashing LED lights! Perfect for wildlife!

I wonder which would be better on safari? Black or "putty"?

 

[Grumbaki]

At any rate, I don't mind the white 70-200. In some situations where I shoot, it adds an air of legitimacy to the fact that I'm standing around with a camera taking photos. I walked around a large city in China and never hesitated to pull it out. Of course the fact that I'm white was probably a bigger deal most of the time.

Exactly that. People tend to forget that many things are noticed when you are shooting before they notice the color of your lense.
Acting extremely obvious is often less threatening/disturbing to passer by than trying to get sneaky. I recently had a case of that: while i had no problems having "marginals" to pose to a 5d3, my shooting from the hip compadre had several arguments...

 

[Markus D]

In Aust, when cricket matches are on, the temperature can easily be 40celcius but there are still a plethora of Canon whites around the ground. Whilst I am nowhere near pro standards, I have owned the 100-400 L IS (and am eagerly awaiting the replacement), the 70-200 L IS 2.8, I now have the f4 and the 70 - 300 L IS. I take both to the bush in the middle of Australia and do not notice any issues with the performance of the lenses even on days when the temp is well over the 40 celcius level.

But to answer the original, I do feel somewhat prominent when using them around others and would prefer if they were black. I am sure that the quality of photos taken with black Nikon lenses in the majority of cases would not be that different to Canon white lenses to make a big issue.

I don't know about blue though! maybe a light aqua ;D

 

[Tabor Warren Photography]

I love the fact that my 70-200ii is a giant hunk of white medal. Similar to what iSy said earlier, it tends to set the paid photographer apart from the others, especially at a wedding. It also distracts babies, toddlers, and kiddos so they actually look at the lens. Additionally, it feels like you've somehow earned your wings once you upgrade your black tele to a white tele. I can't come up with a good way to end this paragraph, so I will end it... here. ;D

 

[vscd]

>somehow earned your wings once you upgrade your black tele to a white tele

There is no upgrade to a Magic Drainpipe!

 

[whothafunk]

No. White is perfect for me.

I second that.

 

[vscd]

@Whodafunk

>Canon 20-700L f2.8 IS USM II

...is this lense white, too? Of course this monster has to be White. I just imagine a 250mm aperture in my Hands :

 

[AvTvM]

I do not need lenses in screaming pink, fresh turquoise, champagne gold or in off-white.
I would prefer them all in matte black.

 

[Forceflow]

i am kinda torn on the white/black issue with Canon lenses.
I don't like the white look and I really don't like how it can attract unwanted attention. But the heat thing is something to keep in mind. I did a shoot some time ago in the blistering sun with no shade. Had my 100-400 connected to the camera and the heat difference between the body and lens was quite significantly. The lens at times was almost cool to the touch whereas the body itself began to heat up to uncomfortable levels. (At which point I began to make sure that the body itself was covered by a shirt or my own shade to give it some time to cool off)
Wouldn't have thought that the paint made that much difference, but it sure did.

 

[MiceBass]

I love the fact that my 70-200ii is a giant hunk of white medal. Similar to what iSy said earlier, it tends to set the paid photographer apart from the others

I agree, but sometimes that can be a bad thing if you're NOT a paid photographer and you're trying to sneak your kit in somewhere.

 

[AlanF]

The relationship between colour and temperature of bodies receiving radiation is not as straightforward as 99% of postings on the net say. Although black absorbs heat better than white, it correspondingly radiates heat better. The inescapable consequence is that black and white bodies reach the same temperature when they are in sunlight but black gets there faster. Conversely, the black body will cool down faster when taken out of sunlight. So, the Nikon lens heats up faster than the Canon L, but both eventually reach the same temperature and the Nikon cools down faster.

While not as straight forward as some postings would indicate, the basic fact that a typical flat black object will reach a higher temperature in the sun that a typical white painted object is correct. The black traps more of the suns energy, the white reflects it. That is why things like propane tanks are painted white. You can verify this yourself on a sunny day. Put one hand on some ashphalt surface and the other on same grass alongside it. The asphalt will be much hotter than the grass, guaranteed.

Near-white concrete will also feel far hotter than grass. Try it - also guaranteed. The transfer of heat is far more complicated than just colour.

 

[privatebydesign]

But we are talking about two similar built lenses, light concrete might be hotter than grass, but it is a lot cooler than black concrete or tarmac in the same sun.

I understood, and I vaguely remember this being from a Canon Lenswork book a long time ago, the white lens colour was introduced solely because of the specific contraction and expansion characteristics of the artificial fluorite elements. Indeed wasn't the first artificial fluorite element in the Canon FL300mm f5.6? It was black with a green ring (pre DO and FD!) and came out in the early '70's. When they did the same thing with the black FD300 f2.8 (that also had a green ring) they did have "issues" with focus, that is also the reason all Canon teles used to focus past infinity, so on the update of the 300 f2.8 they went white specifically because of the fluorite elements thermal characteristics and all the subsequent teles did.

I am sure it has since become a marketing tool, but there was a real reason for the introduction.

 

[theobdt]

Nope. I like it as it is because when you pull that lens out people know you mean business!

 

[neuroanatomist]

Near-white concrete will also feel far hotter than grass. Try it - also guaranteed. The transfer of heat is far more complicated than just colour.

But we are talking about two similar built lenses, light concrete might be hotter than grass, but it is a lot cooler than black concrete or tarmac in the same sun.

Yep.

Bottom line, a black-painted metal object in the sun will reach a higher equilibrium temperature than a similar object painted white. Did you try my hood of the car suggestion? Maybe it's been too cloudy lately... You could try reading this, instead: http://rack1.ul.cs.cmu.edu/hotcars/

 

[whothafunk]

@Whodafunk

>Canon 20-700L f2.8 IS USM II

...is this lense white, too? Of course this monster has to be White. I just imagine a 250mm aperture in my Hands :

oops, will fix it. had to read your post several times to see the problem hehe.

 

[MrFotoFool]

I do not need lenses in screaming pink, fresh turquoise, champagne gold or in off-white.
I would prefer them all in matte black.

Ooooh - champagne gold. I bet if they came out with a limited edition of these, they could sell for almost twice the price and people would buy them.

 

[neuroanatomist]

Ooooh - champagne gold. I bet if they came out with a limited edition of these, they could sell for almost twice the price and people would buy them.

I think they sort of tried that with the Jackie Chan 550D...

 

[privatebydesign]

They did an Anniversary gold IXUS too.

http://www.submin.com/aps/collection/canon/cameras/gold.htm