My new Canon 70-300mm L is usm isn't white.

Hi, I finally received my new Canon 70-300mm lens today. I was opened the package and the lens was not white as seen on many pictures and youtube videos. Its a light greyish, pinkish white color. Is it a fake?

The new shade of white in Canon L lenses may not be exactly a pure white depending on lighting: https://www.google.com …Canon+70-300mm+L&tbm=isch.

A counterfeit lens is unlikely, since the manufacture of precision optics is non-trivial.

Thank you. I was expecting a bright white lens. I thought the same thing. I took the lens outside and its a medium to lite greyish off white color.

I don't think I have ever seen a Canon L telephoto that was what I would call "Bright white". Of course these days I do tend to think of "Bright white" as something with Optical Brightening Agents mixed in, to make it "glow" slightly thanks to the UV in sunlight

I have also felt the exact colour of the L Whites does seem to depend on the colour temp of the light you are viewing the lens under. This sort of shift is usually not noticed with "white" objects, as we tend to know that they are white and automatically compensate.

Alan

beingaliveisnotliving wrote in post #17979176
Thank you. I was expecting a bright white lens. I thought the same thing. I took the lens outside and its a medium to lite greyish off white color.

That is the normal color. Prior to 2010 they were slightly more beige in color. They have never been white.

Early EF 70-200mm 2.8 IS II and EF 2x Mk III

Mike's photos look rather warm which he admits freely (except for that last one, too cool in WB). Here is a photo of the 70-200mm f/4L IS lens next to its box, which I shot many years ago

I should have mentioned that my point was that you can not tell the actual color just by looking at a photo.

Every camera will be different, every white balance will be different, and each monitor you view it on will be different.

Mine isn't pure white, but closer than the photos above (monitor & white balance notwithstanding). My photos are a bit on the cool side, but you can compare with the box:

https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1453571

Nethawked wrote in post #17984505
Mine isn't pure white, but closer than the photos above (monitor & white balance notwithstanding). My photos are a bit on the cool side, but you can compare with the box:

https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1453571

Never mind white, your lens looks blue in those photos.

Just paint it black

NemethR wrote in post #17985344
Just paint it black

I see a red door and I want it....

beingaliveisnotliving wrote in post #17979176
Thank you. I was expecting a bright white lens. I thought the same thing. I took the lens outside and its a medium to lite greyish off white color.

I am not sure why you were expecting a bright white lens. I have, like all of you, seen hundreds, if not thousands, of Canon L lenses, and never have I seen any that were white. All the ones I have ever seen, and all of those that I have owned, have been a light grey color.....sometimes this grey is a mid-to-slightly-cool grey, while other times it has been a warm grey that is almost beige. But never, ever have I seen a white Canon lens.

Could you please explain to us why you were expecting the lens to be bright white?

.

The competency of my photography raises dramatically when I switch from a dark hued lens to a white one. Imagine how much better Avedon's portraits would have been if only he used white lenses.

Maybe because in Canon's marketing pieces they're all depicted so? Just looked at Canon's catalog and all of them whites are, well, bright white. I've two 'whites' that are beige. I was mystified too when I got them, especially my EF 400mm f/5.6 L, the beiger of the two.

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But before you ordered your lenses, hadn't you seen a bunch of other photographer's off-white Canon lenses? I mean, they are practically everywhere. Many of the places I shoot have dozens of photographers using Canon L series telephotos. Or when you meet up with friends to shoot together, don't the friends have the off-white Canon lenses? Or when you go to photo club events, don't a lot of the other members bring their off-white Canon lenses? How could one not notice the color?

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