[keos]

I ended up getting a silver 77mm limited on eBay, but something seemed a bit off. So I rented a black version from lensrentals.com and they are physically different (apart from the color). The black lens is about a few mm taller than the silver one. Their color rendition is also different. Is this normal? or do I have a counterfeit (or bad copy)?

Thanks.

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[Adam]

I ended up getting a silver 77mm limited on eBay, but something seemed a bit off. So I rented a black version from lensrentals.com and they are physically different (apart from the color). The black lens is about a few mm taller than the silver one. Their color rendition is also different. Is this normal? or do I have a counterfeit (or bad copy)?

Thanks.

I'm not sure, but they could simply be focused on a different spot. Can you post a picture of the two?

[BigMackCam]

Could you post a few photos of both lenses, perhaps? It would be much easier for us to identify if something is unusual about the one you bought...

EDIT: Adam beat me to it (and not for the first time)

As Adam says, they could be focused at different points - or, if focused on the same point, they might require different amounts of AF fine adjustment.

[JHfwp]

(And the two of you beat me.) That sounds strange. I have an older 77 which was made in Japan. It's possible that there are some slight differences with the newer ones, which I believe are produced in Thailand, but I've never heard that.

Are you including the extendable hood in your measurements? Do you notice any other differences between the two, like the number of contacts, thread size, cap material, etc?

I haven't examined your pics up close yet, but can you give us pictures of the lenses themselves? The more the better. (JPGs would be best.)

[keos]

here's a side by side of the two.
also noticed the silver glass is reddish at more angles than the black lens when reflecting my CFL bulb.

the silver lens also says made in Japan, but the black lens has no such marking.

[keos]

and here's the back of the lenses. silver is on the left.

[JHfwp]

They both look completely legit to me. Try and focus each one at infinity, see if there's a difference then.

EDIT: I also suggested to unscrew the hood from both bodies to see if they were the same length out of curiosity. Today I tried to unscrew mine and around and around it turned. Hope no one bothered to try that at home. My apologies for what I now realize was misguided advice.

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Last edited by JHfwp; 08-29-2018 at 11:24 AM.

[Adam]

here's a side by side of the two.
also noticed the silver glass is reddish at more angles than the black lens when reflecting my CFL bulb.

the silver lens also says made in Japan, but the black lens has no such marking.

Early 77mm's were made in Japan, later ones are not. They should be identical otherwise.

As for the length, it indeed seems like they're set to different focus settings. Just turn the focus ring and you should be fine.

[BigMackCam]

Yep, they look identical to me, it's just that the black one is set to ~3m focus distance whereas the silver one is at infinity (so the barrels are at different positions - they move in and out as focus is adjusted)

[UncleVanya]

I just went and grabbed my black one. Mine is only a few years old purchased new. When I extend the hood and set focus like you have it set the gap at the bottom of the hood looks similar to what you have shown. When I then focus to infinity it retracts about like what the silver one looks like. The black hood does not seem to have the line shown on the silver hood but that could just be related to the color. I would collapse place the lenses upside down with the hoods collapsed and turn the focus ring of both to infinity by hand. Remove the rear lens caps and look at the metal rear lens mount. I don't think you will see any height differences at that point.

[UncleVanya]

Oh and I don't see a difference in color rendition. If you can shoot raw and then process both the same exact way and maybe give us a crop of the defining differences side by side that may help. The lens coatings DO change over time so an early vs. late copy could have slight differences.

[pxt]

My black Taiwan version have probkem in extreme contrast parts of pictures. It adds purble color here.

[UncleVanya]

My black Taiwan version have probkem in extreme contrast parts of pictures. It adds purble color here.

Shooting with both in the exact same conditions, then uploading crops of the differences with exif data intact will help.

[pxt]

I don't have silver version so I can't verified, but purple (chromatic aberation if I am correct) is typical for this len.

[JHfwp]

Have you tried correcting with your photo editing software? I'm not saying it's not possible, but this lens is not known to be prone to CA as far as I know.

EDIT: Ha, so reading reviews for it here on the forum I do see complaints about CA. I must have a good copy, or I've had bad luck with other lenses, lol.