I'm curious

[Sitarro]

What is the purpose of having a lens this color? Why would anyone that is trying to shoot photographs want to attract attention with a bright sun reflecting barrel like this? Is it available in a manly black finish or does it come with a can of spray paint for those that don't want the "hey look at me" look? The only design criteria I can see here is Canon's marketing department trying to get attention to the many systems they gave away to sports photographers. I talked to a guy at an airshow that shoots for National Geographic that told me he had received an offer from them to replace his Nikon equipment with theirs, he told them that they couldn't pay him to switch....... they offered to and yet he was still using a D-2Xs and a D-200 at the airshow.

I have a hard time taking a company seriously when their design doesn't follow function. They are very successful with this strategy though, I must admit.

[Abbey Marie]

For shooting polar bears and penguins?

[Sitarro]

For shooting polar bears and penguins?

HaHa, but the camera body is black.

I have seen a wildlife photographer that put some vinyl camoflage print on one.

[Abbey Marie]

HaHa, but the camera body is black.

I have seen a wildlife photographer that put some vinyl camoflage print on one.

Yeah, I guess a white lens on a black body is kinda pointless.

[Sitarro]

Yeah, I guess a white lens on a black body is kinda pointless.

Except to be noticed by budding photographers in the audience. I have always felt that a photographer has to be as invisible as possible to get the best shots, a blindingly bright telephoto kind of make you the object of attention.....the opposite of what you should be. At least they didn't go with Ferrari red.

[nevadamedic]

For shooting polar bears and penguins?

Abby's great

[Pale Rider]

What is the purpose of having a lens this color? Why would anyone that is trying to shoot photographs want to attract attention with a bright sun reflecting barrel like this? Is it available in a manly black finish or does it come with a can of spray paint for those that don't want the "hey look at me" look? The only design criteria I can see here is Canon's marketing department trying to get attention to the many systems they gave away to sports photographers. I talked to a guy at an airshow that shoots for National Geographic that told me he had received an offer from them to replace his Nikon equipment with theirs, he told them that they couldn't pay him to switch....... they offered to and yet he was still using a D-2Xs and a D-200 at the airshow.

I have a hard time taking a company seriously when their design doesn't follow function. They are very successful with this strategy though, I must admit.

It appears that once you reach 300mm in the fixed focal length lense line up, they turn white, and that's it. Why is a damn good question... but it doesn't seem to be the same case with the zooms...

[Jon]

What is the purpose of having a lens this color? ...

...I have a hard time taking a company seriously when their design doesn't follow function. They are very successful with this strategy though, I must admit.

Form does follow function. I'm not sure whether you really don't understand why some of Canon's lenses are white, or if you're just trolling?

Either way, for those that don't know:

Canon uses Fluorite in their pro lenses. AFAIK, Nikon doesn't currently.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorite

"...Fluorite is used instead of glass in some high performance telescopes and camera lens elements... Fluorite has a very low dispersion so light diffraction is far less than ordinary glass, and in telescopes it allows crisp images of astronomical objects even at high power..."

Unfortunately, Fluorite is temperature sensitive. Actually, all lens elements are affected by temperature in some manner. Painting the body of the lens white keeps the temperature inside the lens barrel cooler.

Nikon uses 'ED' glass in their lenses. I've read that 'ED' glass is a composite of several materials, including Fluorite. I've also read reports that the focus shifts with temperature on these Nikon lenses and that they are designed to focus past infinity to cope with this.

In short, if you're a fashion conscious photographer, buy Nikon and get color coordinated lenses. Otherwise, buy Canon and get (theoretically) more consistent lens performance.

[Pale Rider]

Form does follow function. I'm not sure whether you really don't understand why some of Canon's lenses are white, or if you're just trolling?

Either way, for those that don't know:

Canon uses Fluorite in their pro lenses. AFAIK, Nikon doesn't currently.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorite

"...Fluorite is used instead of glass in some high performance telescopes and camera lens elements... Fluorite has a very low dispersion so light diffraction is far less than ordinary glass, and in telescopes it allows crisp images of astronomical objects even at high power..."

Unfortunately, Fluorite is temperature sensitive. Actually, all lens elements are affected by temperature in some manner. Painting the body of the lens white keeps the temperature inside the lens barrel cooler.

Nikon uses 'ED' glass in their lenses. I've read that 'ED' glass is a composite of several materials, including Fluorite. I've also read reports that the focus shifts with temperature on these Nikon lenses and that they are designed to focus past infinity to cope with this.

In short, if you're a fashion conscious photographer, buy Nikon and get color coordinated lenses. Otherwise, buy Canon and get (theoretically) more consistent lens performance.

Learn something new every day. Very cool.

[Jon]

... but it doesn't seem to be the same case with the zooms...

That image is missing a few white zooms.





"Posing from left to right are the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM Lens, Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L IS USM Lens, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L USM Lens and Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens."

[Sitarro]

Form does follow function. I'm not sure whether you really don't understand why some of Canon's lenses are white, or if you're just trolling?

Either way, for those that don't know:

Canon uses Fluorite in their pro lenses. AFAIK, Nikon doesn't currently.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorite

"...Fluorite is used instead of glass in some high performance telescopes and camera lens elements... Fluorite has a very low dispersion so light diffraction is far less than ordinary glass, and in telescopes it allows crisp images of astronomical objects even at high power..."

Unfortunately, Fluorite is temperature sensitive. Actually, all lens elements are affected by temperature in some manner. Painting the body of the lens white keeps the temperature inside the lens barrel cooler.

Nikon uses 'ED' glass in their lenses. I've read that 'ED' glass is a composite of several materials, including Fluorite. I've also read reports that the focus shifts with temperature on these Nikon lenses and that they are designed to focus past infinity to cope with this.

In short, if you're a fashion conscious photographer, buy Nikon and get color coordinated lenses. Otherwise, buy Canon and get (theoretically) more consistent lens performance.

That's very good, sounds like the marketing department at Canon has worked overtime to come up with that one. I wonder when all of the greatest lens makers of all time will catch up to Canon (including the guys that make the lenses that shoot films such as Lord of the Rings)? As for telescopes, are those telescopes from Walmart the only ones with that high tech shit? Most of the bery high end telescopes I have ever seen were black.

I would say, buy Canon if you want to go with the crowd led by slick marketing campaigns and fanboys, go with Nikon if you want what the NASA crews take on the shuttle along with their Hasselblads(Gee Hasselblad hasn't figured out that temperature deal either).....

Oh and by the way, that is some ugly ass shit!

[Abbey Marie]

Sitarro, I own a non-digital Nikon. Black.

[darin]

That's very good, sounds like the marketing department at Canon has worked overtime to come up with that one. I wonder when all of the greatest lens makers of all time will catch up to Canon (including the guys that make the lenses that shoot films such as Lord of the Rings)? As for telescopes, are those telescopes from Walmart the only ones with that high tech shit? Most of the bery high end telescopes I have ever seen were black.

I would say, buy Canon if you want to go with the crowd led by slick marketing campaigns and fanboys, go with Nikon if you want what the NASA crews take on the shuttle along with their Hasselblads(Gee Hasselblad hasn't figured out that temperature deal either).....

Oh and by the way, that is some ugly ass shit!

So....you WERE trolling?

[Jon]

That's very good, sounds like the marketing department at Canon has worked overtime to come up with that one. I wonder when all of the greatest lens makers of all time will catch up to Canon (including the guys that make the lenses that shoot films such as Lord of the Rings)? As for telescopes, are those telescopes from Walmart the only ones with that high tech shit? Most of the bery high end telescopes I have ever seen were black.

Zeiss, for one, has been using Fluorite for ~100 years:

<iframe src="http://www.zeiss.com/C125716F004E0776/0/BE59C476797B9013C125717C003E9E02/$File/Innovation_15_8.pdf" width="100%" height="500"> </iframe>


Nikon has also used Fluorite in the past, and now uses 'ED' glass.

You really must be joking, right? Either way, it should be plainly obvious to you why telescopes with Fluorite elements don't need to be white. Here's a hint: Is the sun in the sky when you're typically using a telescope?

I would say, buy Canon if you want to go with the crowd led by slick marketing campaigns and fanboys, go with Nikon if you want what the NASA crews take on the shuttle along with their Hasselblads(Gee Hasselblad hasn't figured out that temperature deal either).....

Funny that you brought up the shuttle. You do know why the majority of it is white, don't you?

http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/...s_sys.html#sts

"4. Low-temperature reusable surface insulation white tiles are used in selected areas of the forward, mid-, and aft fuselages; vertical tail; upper wing; and OMS/RCS pods. These tiles protect areas where temperatures are below 1,200 F. These tiles have a white surface coating to provide better thermal characteristics on orbit."

The Hasselblads they use inside the shuttle don't need to be white because they're being used in a climate controlled setting. Lenses used outside of the shuttle, if there are any, just might be 'fanboy' white.

Oh and by the way, that is some ugly ass shit!

Ooh! Burn!

Weren't you just making a comment about design following function? So which do you want? Pretty matching lenses, or functional mismatched lenses?

[Jon]

So....you WERE trolling?

Obviously. I don't know why I keep humoring him.