Why isn't my camera body white?

Question

If I leave it in the sun for a few minutes, even in winter, it gets pretty hot. In summer, I'd have to shade it as it has been too hot to touch. This makes remote-triggered wildlife photography and landscape time lapses difficult. Doesn't that kind of heat affect the memory card and internal mechanical components?

Everyone understands why a camera interior has to be as black as possible, but I'm mystified by the exterior being black. Even the rubber components get mushy from that kind of heat. I remember Sony had a few white NEX models that only sold in Japan; were there other models that were once white? And while we're at it, why are bigger telephoto lenses white, but not ALL lenses?

(And yes, I did see the lens question asked here in 2013. Has anything changed since then?)

Answer 1

This is purely speculation, so take it with a grain of salt. But the outside of a camera can benefit from being black for the same reason the inside does, to prevent light bounce.

This may not be as big a deal in wildlife photography, but in studio work, having a white camera would add a fixed reflector to every lighting setup. Anything in your lighting setup you can't control is a hindrance. Incidentally, this is the same reason I always wear very dark colors when I'm working in the studio.

In the old days when my camera had brushed metal surfaces, I'd sometimes have to drape a piece of black fabric over it to prevent it from reflecting the backlight back onto the subject. I've never had a problem with my camera heating up in the sun, but I imagine having a light colored fabric cover would work just as well. You could even use a suitable camouflage material to provide you both shade and to better hide you from your quarry.

Answer 2

From a marketing perspective, black tends to be a safe colour to choose because it's the least offensive and most subdued.

From an manufacturing perspective, if a pigment is involved (such as the case with paint, colouring plastics, or powder coating metals), black tends to be the safest and cheapest colour to go with for a number of reasons:

• black pigment is cheap (typically carbon black)
• carbon black is immune to fading and discolouration
• carbon black protects plastic against UV degradation. This is why black nylon zip ties exist in addition to the uncoloured (white) nylon zip ties.

A popular, good white pigment that doesn't fade and protects against UV is titanium dioxide and tends to be one of the pigments in higher demand thus making it expensive. It's also just more expensive than carbon black by default.

So the pigment is the likely explanation if the exterior of the camera is mostly plastic. This is why if you need to colour a plastic something other than its native colour, black tends to be the default.

If you choose to make your camera exterior out of metal, well that's just expensive to begin with. If you use paint or powdercoat, you are back to the pigment argument.

If you choose to colour your metal without involving pigments then that leaves plating and anodization. I don't know of a white plating or anodization (though I have never gone specifically looking for one) but black ones are common.

But if your case is already metal and you don't want to use pigments then perhaps you could just give it metallic finish Well that might involve more material costs since it could involve nickel or chrome if steel, brass, or copper is involved. Or perhaps just plain if it is aluminum or magnesium. And then would need to it to be sandblasted, brushed, or, dare I say, polished to a mirror shine. And you do see this often...on the few metal parts on the exterior because metal is expensive. You might see it more often if more cameras had significant metal exterior.

Answer 3

Why not leave it bare metal (assuming metal construction)? Or polish it so that it reflects 100% of the light? And why do so many wildlife photographers put camouflage on their white lenses?

A white surface is a better reflector than a black surface is, but that doesn't mean the surface will be cooler to the touch. That has more to do with what the material is made of and how well it transmits the heat. I.e. a lens with dark neoprene camouflage cover is very likely to feel cooler on the surface than a white lens will; and actually be cooler internally as well.

The big white Canon lenses are white to reflect more heat; Canon even changed the formula so that the white finish is more reflective of IR wavelengths not that long ago.

Yes excessive heat can adversely affect the camera/components... but making them white isn't really much of a solution for that level of abuse.

Answer 4

Your camera is not white because:

A. You did not buy the white version, or

B. You have not painted your camera white.

Sometimes A might not be an option but B always is if you want a white camera.

However it is worth considering that leaving a camera out in the sun for a extended times is not traditionally considered a good idea. Heat is bad for electronics and lubricated mechanisms. Also bright light is a risk to film.

Might be worth using a camera with a plastic shell if your photography is seriously dependent on handling cameras left in intense sun without gloves.

Answer 5

There's a definite market for black equipment. I specialise in "candid" photography, and want my equipment to be as inconspicuous as possible. Black simply draws less attention than white or chrome, and I've been happy to pay a bit more for black DSLR lenses and bodies, where necessary.