Attention please ! Black ef 70-200mm f/2.8L IS

Peter Dumont

May I have your attention please.

As a streetphotographer, I would love to have a Canon ef 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens.
But..... these lenses are painted white.
I know this is done for a reason; something to do with the temperature inside the lens.
BUT,
It is impossible to do street photography without making
everyone around staring at you, while toting a big white lens.

And how about when you are a photojournalist in a war situation ?

Would you worry about lens temperature or about
all the attention you are attracting with that white lens?

I would like to ask you, and I want you to respond if you do :

Would you be interrested in buying a BLACK 70-200mm f2.8L IS lens ? :bow

If the respons is sufficient, I can assure you it will come to the attention of Canon.
A black ef 70-200mm f/2.8L IS can be made a reallity .
After all, Canon doesn't have to redesign this lens,.....all it needs is a different spray of paint !

Peter Dumont
visit my website at: http://www.pbase.com/peter_dumont

HiSPL

I don't care either way, but there is always the magic drainpipe....

http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/camera/lens/ef/data/telephoto_zoom/ef_80~200_28l.html

These can be found used in good shape on eBay...

ziggy53

Good luck trying to convince Canon there is a need for black versions of their "white" lenses. I suspect there will be some resistance to multiple inventories of the (esentially) same item. Canon did try to market some of their consumer lenses in silver, but that has not gone over too well.

(How many people know you can get a "white" Nikon lens? OK, it's really light gray.)

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/278173-GREY/Nikon_2140_70_200mm_f_2_8D_VR_G_AFS.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/234174-GREY/Nikon_2128_Telephoto_AF_S_Nikkor_400mm.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/242161-GREY/Nikon_2124_Telephoto_AF_S_Nikkor_300mm.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/248293-GREY/Nikon_2134_Telephoto_AF_S_Nikkor_600mm.html

ziggy53

In the mean time, you can get a "LensCoat" in black for the Canon EF 70-200mm, f2.8L IS USM:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/465878-USA/LensCoat_LC70200BK_Lens_Cover_for_Canon.html

cmason

I think photographers notice the white lens. People on the streets notice somebody with a big camera taking pictures...I suspect they have no idea what white means.

The fact that a bazooka is pointing at them is likely more of an issue....maybe you need one at DO lens (black btw) or get a Sigma 18-200...

pathfinder

Peter Dumont wrote:

May I have your attention please.

As a streetphotographer, I would love to have a Canon ef 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens.
But..... these lenses are painted white.
I know this is done for a reason; something to do with the temperature inside the lens.
BUT,
It is impossible to do street photography without making
everyone around staring at you, while toting a big white lens.

And how about when you are a photojournalist in a war situation ?

Would you worry about lens temperature or about
all the attention you are attracting with that white lens?

I would like to ask you, and I want you to respond if you do :

Would you be interrested in buying a BLACK 70-200mm f2.8L IS lens ?

If the respons is sufficient, I can assure you it will come to the attention of Canon.
A black ef 70-200mm f/2.8L IS can be made a reallity .
After all, Canon doesn't have to redesign this lens,.....all it needs is a different spray of paint !

Peter Dumont
visit my website at: http://www.pbase.com/peter_dumont

Peter,

Despite the demurs stated by other posters, I agree with your thesis completely.

I understand the stated goal of keeping the lens interior cooler for flourite optical elements in the heat of the sunshine - and for a 500mm f4 that sits on the sideline in the sunshine all day long I might even accept that it does help optically. But I suspect that a significant part of the reason is to advertise Canon's big white lenses on the sideline during the NFL games and at the Olympics. Nikon seems to manage with an all black 500f4 without optical impairment. Harry's bird shots are proof of that - shot in Florida sunshine too. (One argument that white is valuable in a big lens, is that a great many very high quality astronomical telescopes do sport white exteriors, even though they are used at night.... )

As for a 70-200 f2.8 IS L in black - I would prefer that over white myself. I think big white lenses are a severe disadvantage for candid street shooting.

On that point, I submit as evidence, that Michael Reichman shoots on the street with a 70-300 IS DO frequently - a smaller, less noticeable black lens. He does own a white 70-200 f2.8 IS L also, but shoots a lot of candids with the smaller black DO lens. Maybe there is a reason.

Tamron has a new 28-300 f3.5 - f6.3 Di VR that is smaller ( 67mm filter size), black, and less striking also. I have been shooting with it a bit to explore its utility and optical quality. I have not come to any final decision about it yet - generally I like Tammy's telephotos and macros, even with having to accept some of the limitations of variable aperture zooms.

SavedByZero

Peter Dumont wrote:

M
But..... these lenses are painted white.
I know this is done for a reason; something to do with the temperature inside the lens.

Really I thought they did that to seperate their lens and photographers from the Nikon group at major sporting events and the such. But if this thing out lens out side getting hot then why not make their entire lens and body line up white??

Peter Dumont

drainpipes

HiSPL wrote:

I don't care either way, but there is always the magic drainpipe....

http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/camera/lens/ef/data/telephoto_zoom/ef_80~200_28l.html

These can be found used in good shape on eBay...

I've seen them, and They are quite good,
but they are about 20 years old.
Canon won't repair them if you break them:tough
They don't accept a TC, and they don't have USM nor FTM
and they are not 100% parvocal.

Tee Why

Consider the 135mm f2L for it's black color and much smaller size.
You can also get a Sigma 70-200 and a Tamron 70-200mm f2.8 as well.
If you want IS, then I guess you can use gaffer tape on the lens to make it black and less conspicous.

claudermilk

As has been mentioned, Canon's reason for the off-white paint is the fluorite lens element which is apparently highly sensitive to temperature. Of course, now marketing & recognition is as much a reason (BTW, Mamiya & I think Minolta also have/had white lenses).

I'd go with ziggy's suggestion if you really want it black. However, my experience is that cmason's observation is true. We photographers notice the white lenses more than the general public. Everyone else notices a great big camera with a great big lens. My 24-70 gets at least as much attention as the 70-200--paint color seems to have no bearing--it's just the huge lens effect. I also think that you will have as much luck in convincing Canon to paint the lenses black as you would trying to adjust the Earth's orbit.

If you really want to be inconspicuous & take covert street shots, go with the classic street camera: a rangefinder.