Are lenses affected more from hot or cold tempatures?

1 year 8 months ago #740928 by Glen Mosley
Lenses breath and contract all over based on temperature fluctuation correct?  So which is more detrimental to a cameras lens... heat or cold?  


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1 year 8 months ago #740932 by Razky

Glen Mosley wrote: Lenses breath and contract all over based on temperature fluctuation correct?  So which is more detrimental to a cameras lens... heat or cold?  

Heat.


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1 year 8 months ago - 1 year 8 months ago #740946 by TCav
In general, and especially for lenses with black barrels, the side of the barrel in sunlight will expand more than the side in the shade, causing the optical axis to become distorted.

That's why many large lenses have white barrels.


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1 year 8 months ago #741028 by Colorado Mike
Don't lenses breath regardless of hot or cold? 


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1 year 8 months ago - 1 year 8 months ago #741035 by TCav

Colorado Mike wrote: Don't lenses breath regardless of hot or cold? 


When focusing and zooming, yes.

But more to the point, the coefficient of expansion of steel is 6 millionths of an inch per inch per degree Fahrenheit, brass and aluminum almost twice as much, while the plastic and glass used in lenses is almost zero.

All linear measurement is based on 68°F (20°C). A lens at 118°F will expand as much as the same lens a 18°F will contract. And that's the ambient temperature. A lens in direct sunlight would be warmer than the ambient temperature, especially if the barrel were black. So a lens with a black barrel would expand more in hot temperatures than it would contract in cold temperatures.


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1 year 8 months ago #741050 by Street Shark
100% heat is the big one, cold is just a pain if you need to come inside quick and still have camera ready, the lens will fog up. 


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1 year 8 months ago #741293 by Finn
Which is why Canon lenses are white.  


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1 year 8 months ago #741407 by Kenta
So what actually happens with heat that is noticed?


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1 year 8 months ago #741443 by TCav

Kenta wrote: So what actually happens with heat that is noticed?


The lens barrel will expand, and the mechanisms can become misaligned. Optical groups can come loose. The lubricant for the diaphragm can liquefy, causing the diaphragm blades to become sticky and slow to respond, causing exposure errors.

There may be more, but I can't come up with anything else off the top of my head.


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