Painted black bodies

[ymc226]

Has anyone been able to compare the color and "quality" between the usual people who provide these services? People such as Robert Jagitsch or Shintaro?

I noticed Robert may have increased his prices and a CLA is no longer included (what a shame, it was a good deal and still at $95, is less than half of what I paid recently)

i've read that Robert also paints the inside bottom of the lower baseplate. Is this generally true from most clients of Robert's?

 

[Dave Wilkinson]

I've seen quite a few 'repaints' - but not one that comes close to an original 'factory black finish'! - IMO probably the best way to do it would be a solution used by modelmakers, etc that 'chemicaly' blacks metal, although I'm not sure if it works on brass, and off course - everything would need stripping .
Dave.

 

[Dave Wilkinson]

It's probably best to comment on the repaints one has actually seen, rather than lump them all into the 'awful' category. 🙂 Certainly this is awful, no question:


😀[/quote Yes, like me, he did say he'd SEEN many, and without exeption they all looked awfull!🙂

 

[splitimageview]

OK, then it's pretty clear neither of you have seen restoration35.com's. 🙂 Plenty of happy owners posting pics in the usual threads on RFF.

 

[Paul T.]

I haven't seen Robert's paintjobs, but Shintaro gets very close with his Leica work; certainly closer than Leica do with the MP.

Whether you'll get your camera back within a year or two is another matter, though.

 

[splitimageview]

No one beats a Shintaro, even the factory, that's a fact. He painted one for me in 2000. Stephen thinks he's the best as well, he's posted as much.

 

[aizan]

shintaro's looks crisper when you look at the engravings and edges. i think removing the chrome chemically is the way to go.

 

[gchao]

I have re-paints, both from Shintaro and Robert. Both of them did excellent jobs on my cameras. 😀

 

[Tom A]

I have seen and have a multitude of painted bodies (camera bodies that is). It is all dependent on what you want. For a collector who wants to restore an existing camera, Taylor in UK and Takahashi in Japan will bring them back to as new or better than they ever were when they left the factory. For users - it all depends on how much you are willing to pay and also what shape the camera is in.
Shintaro does a good job, he uses proper paint and "bakes" it so that it can withstand wear and tear. He also makes the effort to strip down the camera to bare metal and "prepping" the surface. I have seen some awful, paint over chrome stuff where the paints comes off in a stiff breeze!
I have a M2 that was repainted and the guy had stripped the chrome, but not cleaned it properly and it sheds flakes of paint like a camera version of Pigpen in a Peanuts cartoon. Once all the paint is gone, I will have it redone.
There is a lot of hoopla over repainting - it really means nothing, as long as the camera is not passed off as an "original". I have mine done because I always liked my cameras black! I dont think it adds or detracts from value in any way - it is just a matter of taste.

 

[johannielscom]

I repainted my M3 myself after dechroming with electrolysis: it looked alright to start out with, but pretty soon I could find my way home just tracing the paint flakes 🙂

Bought a black bottom plate (probably after market, thin paint that scratches somewhat too easily) and a factory-original spare top plate, never mounted before. It set me back more than digitalintrigue's paintjob would have done I guess, but I wanted to take no risk and since the M3 isn't going anywhere except with me, I decided to shell out and have it last me a lifetime...

 

[KM-25]

In Robert's defense, he does paint jobs for users, not collectors. I wanted a black paint M3 to use exclusively with my LHSA black paint 50 Lux / asph. I use this camera paired with my M6TTL 100% of the time for my project. The paint is overall fairly good looking but the surprising thing is how well it is holding up, and I don't baby this thing, it really gets used.

After a couple hundred rolls, it is just starting to brass a tiny bit and it looks good.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Brassing under black paint is amazingly beautiful. I have a couple of Pentax SLR's like this. It just kills me how cool it looks.

 

[Dave Wilkinson]

I have seen a couple of Fed2's painted black (in the Ukraine ) that looked reasonable, I think Fedka supplies them, anyone comment on the durability of these?
Dave.

 

[lewis44]

I have had an M2 done by Robert and find it perfect for what I wanted. What I wanted was a black paint M2 that I could use, not put on a shelf. Finish was very nice and did not run me a grand or more.

 

[Erik van Straten]

Black bodies are nice.

Erik.

 

[Erik van Straten]

 

[Erik van Straten]

 

[Traut]

I have re-paints, both from Shintaro and Robert. Both of them did excellent jobs on my cameras. 😀

Ditto - I am pleased with Robert's work on its own and compared to my Shintaro M2. I even have a distressed M3 from Robert that looks like its been through every war the US has fought in. People swoon over it until I tell them its 6 months old.

 

[aizan]

erik, is that original black paint? gorgeous, in any case.

 

[Erik van Straten]

erik, is that original black paint? gorgeous, in any case.

The original black paint that was used by Leitz in the 1950's and 1960's was not very good. It showed wear quickly. Leitz offered later a service for dissapointed customers to restore the camera's. I think this is a restored one. The paint type is like those of the black paint M4's.

Erik.