Using lens out in the hot sun....

[andretan]

Will the heat damage the lens in any way?

That day at Botanical gardens, after some shooting in the late morning, I felt that my lens was pretty warm

 

[revenant]

Got direct expose to the Sun?

 

[andretan]

Originally posted by revenant
Got direct expose to the Sun?

i had my camera + lens on the tripod for at least 7 minutes while trying to attempt a macro shot under the sun

had some shade, but didnt think it's enough to call it "direct exposure"
but after that, i touch the lens barrel, a bit warm lor. :[

 

[ckiang]

Originally posted by andretan

i had my camera + lens on the tripod for at least 7 minutes while trying to attempt a macro shot under the sun

had some shade, but didnt think it's enough to call it "direct exposure"
but after that, i touch the lens barrel, a bit warm lor. :[

It's okay. People have been using black lenses for ages. If you are afraid, invest in either the white Canon L lenses, the white Nikon AF-S lenses, or the white Minolta G lenses. :devil:

Regards
CK

 

[andretan]

Originally posted by ckiang
It's okay. People have been using black lenses for ages. If you are afraid, invest in either the white Canon L lenses, the white Nikon AF-S lenses, or the white Minolta G lenses. :devil:

Regards
CK

CK, yah, will do so when I strike 4-D!!! :bsmilie: :bsmilie:

 

[Ian]

Originally posted by andretan
Will the heat damage the lens in any way?

That day at Botanical gardens, after some shooting in the late morning, I felt that my lens was pretty warm

7 minutes and your worrried about a lens heating up?

There will be no noticable degradation if you leave a lens out in 40+ C direct sun for the whole day. The exception being Canon lenses that use Fluorite elements as FL elements change their 'figure' with quite small temperature rises as FL has a high co-efficient of expansion. This overheating problem is the reason why Canon lenses are white.

Nikon lenses and others that use ED type elements are not effected by significant temperature rises and I regularly use my long lenses out in the field for 8-10 hours in full sun with no adverse image quality.

 

[ckiang]

Originally posted by Ian


7 minutes and your worrried about a lens heating up. There will be no noticable degradation if you leave a lens out in 40+ C direct sun for the whole day, with the exception being Canon lenses that use Fluorite elements as fluorite as a lens material has a lousy co-efficient of expansion and goes out of figure fast in hot conditions, which is why Canon lenses are white.

Nikon ED and the other manufacturers ED compounds aren't plagued with this problem to a significant level.

:bsmilie: :bsmilie: :bsmilie:

Regards
CK

 

[Wai]

Originally posted by Ian

I regularly use my long lenses out in the field for 8-10 hours in full sun with no adverse image quality.

wah...8-10 hours under hot sun? one will get sun burn or heat exhaustion before the heat can kill the lens

ok..other than the lens, will the heat melt the rubber parts of the camera such as the grip? may be leather should be used instead of rubber...just like my antique SLR

is it possible that the lens mount expand due to heat and then u can't remove the lens from the camera?

last questions...for digital camera, since hot pixel is due to heat generated by the CCD/CMOS sensor when current pass thru it....will u see more noise/hot pixel on the pic if the camera is hot?

 

[ninelives]

ian, will the batteries explode in your camera?

 

[andretan]

Originally posted by Ian


7 minutes and your worrried about a lens heating up?

There will be no noticable degradation if you leave a lens out in 40+ C direct sun for the whole day. The exception being Canon lenses that use Fluorite elements as FL elements change their 'figure' with quite small temperature rises as FL has a high co-efficient of expansion. This overheating problem is the reason why Canon lenses are white.

Nikon lenses and others that use ED type elements are not effected by significant temperature rises and I regularly use my long lenses out in the field for 8-10 hours in full sun with no adverse image quality.

Wah. Are you promoting for Nikon lenses?

(JOKING)

Anyway, thanks for the info, and no... it wasn't really 7 minutes. It was around more than an hour... but I just wanted to give an example

And yes, another good reason for me to get an L lens :rbounce:

 

[Ian]

Originally posted by kamwai
wah...8-10 hours under hot sun? one will get sun burn or heat exhaustion before the heat can kill the lens

Use sunscreen and lots of it. It's worse in a 'hide' when shooting wildlife in summer, as it's like being baked slowly.

Originally posted by kamwai
ok..other than the lens, will the heat melt the rubber parts of the camera such as the grip? may be leather should be used instead of rubber...just like my antique SLR

I've never encountered any problems with anything melting, though I've had cameras heat up hot enough that holding them was uncomfortable for a few seconds while the heat dispersed in to my hand.

Originally posted by kamwai
is it possible that the lens mount expand due to heat and then u can't remove the lens from the camera?

No it doesn't happen and I've not heard of it happening with any half decent camera and lens. If you stop and think about it, good cameras use the same materials in both the bayonet and ring on the camera and there is sufficient tolerances to stop the units expanding and jamming.

Originally posted by kamwai
last questions...for digital camera, since hot pixel is due to heat generated by the CCD/CMOS sensor when current pass thru it....will u see more noise/hot pixel on the pic if the camera is hot?

Yes you may .. that's one of the reasons why CCD based astro-cameras use massive peltier cooling systems to reduce the temperatures and thus noise levels. However the size of the problem is a complex issue to resolve and requires extensive knowledge of the particular CCD chip, and it's properties as well as any associated electronics as well as quite a few other factors.

 

[Wai]

Originally posted by Ian

......

thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience

 

[kueko]

I just sent my lens to minolta for servicing! There's a fungus like mark on the lens element but the technician told me and that it's not really a fungus but a bubble like defect may be cause by the sudden change of temperature and advise me to let the lens cool down before i keep it in the dry box! Anyone has the same experience or any idea what causes it?

 

[Ian]

Originally posted by kueko
I just sent my lens to minolta for servicing! There's a fungus like mark on the lens element but the technician told me and that it's not really a fungus but a bubble like defect may be cause by the sudden change of temperature and advise me to let the lens cool down before i keep it in the dry box! Anyone has the same experience or any idea what causes it?

Sounds very much like the coating cracked or something along those lines.

Yes it can happen if optics are subject to rapid temperature changes in a short time but I've not heard of it happening with camera optics before, normally it's a problem with precision optics such as telescope lenses and mirrors.