I use my cameras in hot weather quite a bit, especially the desert southwest and tropics. The body and lenses being black, doesn't help keep the equipment at a reasonable temperature. I would sure love to see a chrome body/lenses as an option.

-- Steve Rasmussen (srasmuss@flash.net), July 29, 2001

Answers

I believe there are tests of black vs. non-black camera bodies, in which an internal sensor was used to measure the temp at the focal plane - or there abouts. The tests are probably what you would expect, or could figure out, without the elaborate science. Also, there are articles advocating what you are, and some, if I recall correctly, are not based on actual camera tests but on car interior temps (I think the government and/or insurance companies still do tests like this, based on different exterior and/or interior color combinations, and the resulting interior temp after sitting in the sun). Nevertheless, the principle is the same. What is rather curious is that the authors of the articles couldn't discover why, exactly, most every classic SLR is black in the first place. When several prominent Japanese landscape photographies voiced concern of this years ago, I believe Olympus offered all-white OM-3's called "White Savana" or maybe just "Savana"; Olympus also acknowledged that doing so was very cost prohibitive, though that didn't stop them from making a 50mm 1.4 & 100mm f2 in all-white. At one point in time Nikon did something similar, perhaps with the F2-F3 titanium, or whatever it was. I believe Sigma offered their 35mm in white as a limited edition, and if you now by a SA-5, you still get a non-black color option. Many EOS L-series lenses are basically white. Well, none of this adds to or answers the Pentax question, but it does seem odd that so much of medium format is JET BLACK.

-- Michael Tolan (mjtolan@kbjrmail.com), August 30, 2001.

I can't speak to the original question per se, but do know of two outfits making sun sheilds for medium-format cameras. I saw a review of one recently, perhaps in "Practical Photography". I also saw an advertisement/review article for one, I think in the last issue of "Outdoor Photographer". They are basically a canopy to protect from elements, but work as a sun sheild too (an earlier reply mentioned car interior temps, and a shield like this offers the same sort of reduction as those reflectors people put un the dashboard of their cars - at least that is what one product reviewer claimed). One of the makers was OP-Tech or OpTech or something, and I think the second was made by a Dutch outfit, but labeled and sold under a Japanese marker starting with the letter "K" - perhaps Kenlock or Kenko, or K?.

-- Miles Stoddard (p67shooter@yahoo.co.uk), September 12, 2001.