Bartek
Veteran Member
I was wondering why Canon decided to paint their long L lenses in white.
This is probably not due to aesthetics as the whites doesn't look any better with the black bodies, actually black lenses are more elegant and don’t scream so loud "I'm an expensive white lens".
After some time I figured out that there is one good reason for Canon to paint the long lenses in white. I wonder if there is another one, maybe even more reasonable?
Imagine a sports shooter standing for many hours a day at the open stadium in the full hot sun with his very long and precise lens attached to the body and monopod (like during summer Olympic games).
If the long lens having large external surface exposed to the sun was matt black the sun would heat up the metal made lens to extreme temperature changing the relative position of lens elements to each other by slight values but probably enough to change its precise optical characteristics.
So cool lens would have different relative optical elements alignment than the hot one as the metal elements holding the glass would extend itself by some value.
As no one has yet developed an air-conditioned lens
) I think that painting the lenses white was a good move by Canon in order to prevent them from extreme heating by reflecting the sun rays outside.
Any other thoughts?
--
Bartek
This is probably not due to aesthetics as the whites doesn't look any better with the black bodies, actually black lenses are more elegant and don’t scream so loud "I'm an expensive white lens".
After some time I figured out that there is one good reason for Canon to paint the long lenses in white. I wonder if there is another one, maybe even more reasonable?
Imagine a sports shooter standing for many hours a day at the open stadium in the full hot sun with his very long and precise lens attached to the body and monopod (like during summer Olympic games).
If the long lens having large external surface exposed to the sun was matt black the sun would heat up the metal made lens to extreme temperature changing the relative position of lens elements to each other by slight values but probably enough to change its precise optical characteristics.
So cool lens would have different relative optical elements alignment than the hot one as the metal elements holding the glass would extend itself by some value.
As no one has yet developed an air-conditioned lens
) I think that painting the lenses white was a good move by Canon in order to prevent them from extreme heating by reflecting the sun rays outside.Any other thoughts?
--
Bartek
