Canon primes in white !?!

[Sheiky]

Haha yeah I read that once... hilarious [Y]

[Daniel Browning]

Isnt it better having black telephoto lens which makes it more "paparazzi" like & hardly noticable?

Yeah, that would be nice. Sometimes the white helps you blend in, like when you're shooting in the snow. []

[Brendan7]

The reason Canon has white paint on the supertelephotos is they are often used for sports; at the 1984 summer (I think) olympics Professional photographers complained that their lenses were overheating due to the black color. Canon then produced white supertelephotos. While this does make them extremely noticeable, Canon had professionals, and not amateurs, in mind when they made this change. If you watch a professional football, baseball or soccer game on TV you will notice there is a sea of white lenses on the sideline, and then maybe one or two Nikons (if that). This popularity with professionals is largely due to the color change.

IMHO, i do prefer all canon zoom lens line to be in black & all primes in white

Might be a good idea, but most people use black lenses. Canon's white paint eventually chips, so painting all primes white would increase production and retail costs and decrease resale value.


I own a 300 f/4 prime and love it; I use it in 25º weather and after bringing it inside the lens barrel is still 25º for 20 minutes [:P] but then again, when I shoot in the Florida sun it stays cool.


brendan

[Daniel Browning]

If you watch a professional football, baseball or soccer game on TV you will notice there is a sea of white lenses on the sideline, and then maybe one or two Nikons (if that).

That used to be true, but I think it changed when Canon had all the autofocus problems with the 1D Mark III and Nikon came out with the excellent D3. Now it seems like half and half.

This popularity with professionals is largely due to the color change.

I don't think so. I'm pretty sure that other features of the lens and camera system are what do it. Canon had a much better line of image stabilized supertelephoto lenses for a long time, I think that was a big factor. When digital came along, their 1D series was better than everything Nikon had, especially in the low light needed for sports. Until the D3 came along, at least.

[photosurfer]

I still think canon has a much more extensive super tele prime range, I think it's almost 2 to one L series to G series in 200mm and up primes if i'm not mistaken. . .

[Brendan7]

I still think canon has a much more extensive super tele prime range, I think it's almost 2 to one L series to G series in 200mm and up primes if i'm not mistaken. . .

true. Canon has more lenses overall.

[Keith B]

If you watch a professional football, baseball or soccer game on TV you will notice there is a sea of white lenses on the sideline, and then maybe one or two Nikons (if that).

That used to be true, but I think it changed when Canon had all the autofocus problems with the 1D Mark III and Nikon came out with the excellent D3. Now it seems like half and half.

I read an article about the 1D IV. A Pro sports shooter said a lot of guys didn't go with the 1D III because of the AF issues. He said a lot stayed with IIns and only a "few" jumped ship to Nikon. He didn't give numbers but made it sound like most of those Canons you see out there are still IIns.