M9 Brassing?

[cmogi10]

I have been shooting a black m9 pretty heavily over the past couple months and noticed it's already started to brass along the edges. It took my MP a couple years to start this.

I'm kind of annoyed, why can't they use real paint? or did someone mess up when they were painting mine. 😛

 

[dogberryjr]

Mine has chipped in two spots along the edge of the bottom plate after only two months of fairly careful use. I think this is by design. In a year or so I expect to see bunches looking like Winogrand's (only black).

 

[cmogi10]

Ah, that is disappointing.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Well, I have to say that I don't normally inspect my cameras closely to see whether they're brassing or not, but I'd idly been thinking that the M9 hadn't brassed at all since December when I got it. So I looked closely, and I can't see any brass. It's been used reasonably hard - a good few thousand exposures - and it's never been 'babied' in thousands of miles of travel. So it must be a matter of luck. My MP is quite heavily brassed.

Cheers,

R.

 

[dogberryjr]

Mine is limited to the bottom plate. I checked the body itself, and there's not even any rub marks from the straps (yet). So maybe it is more of a bottom plate issue.

 

[mccurleyphoto]

Mine has brass marks after only two months of use. Several light marks as well. All on the top plate. I had my M8 for two years and it did not mark like this. I don't baby my cameras, but I'm not hard on them either. Definitely a "softer" paint job on the M9.

 

[Jamie Pillers]

Thank goodness! Now I can spend my life savings on something else.

 

[-doomed-]

I'll say this @ 7k I'd expect the paint to hang on for dear life even in heavy use.

 

[cmogi10]

I don't mind a camera that looks like it's been worked hard. When it HAS been worked hard.
I don't want paint falling off to improve my photo-cred.

I just wanted to see other's experience. I think my M9 has more brassing then my M8, which has been through hell and back.

 

[arunrajmohan]

'Brassing is Beautiful'.
There are those who would pay extra to buy used Leica showing it's brass.
-Arun

PS: Brassing is not a real word.

 

[Andy Kibber]

In Leicaworld(TM) you pay extra for fast-wearing paint. 😀

Ain't that the truth. It takes a clever company to turn a flaw into a design feature!

 

[movito]

Actually, yes. My D3's chipped paint and loose grips look like bad damage. Brassing is just the patina of hard work.

But yes, turning substandard paint quality into a feature is a neat trick.

BTW, brassing is a real word as everyone here knows what it means. Dictionaries and lexicons always trail behind the useful colloquialisms and give them "real word" status after some time.

 

[Andy Kibber]

But there's no shame in wielding a "brassed" Leica. Indeed, as movito points out - it's "the patina of hard work!"

Certainly not! That said, those folks who take sandpaper to their cameras to hasten the process deserve to be found out and mocked mercilessly. 🙂

 

[250swb]

I think you would have to try very hard to find a brassed M8 cmogi10 because all the black ones are all finished in black chrome, its only the M8.2 that has a softer black paint finish.

The M9 is finished in a hard wearing black paint. My black paint MP started to brass from the day I first used it, so its entirely the opposite experience to yours. But my M9 is holding up very well after nine months of hard use, only a tiny scratch on the bottom plate edge and a minisule edge of brass showing on the sharp corner near the viewfinder window. I have seen photo's of very brassed M9's, but I suspect sandpaper, for instance you don't see any ugly scratches on them, only edges that are carefully manicured.

Steve

 

[adavis47]

What they need to develop is a brass camera that turns black with use.

 

[jaapv]

Crikey! I don't inspect my cameras with a loupe for marks, I use them to take photographs..

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I'll say this @ 7k I'd expect the paint to hang on for dear life even in heavy use.

Oh, no! Is this the beginning of the end for Leica?

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Crikey! I don't inspect my cameras with a loupe for marks, I use them to take photographs..

What?! For $7K, it should be shooting photographs itself! 🙄

 

[sepiareverb]

Welcome back Carl!

 

[cmogi10]

Crikey! I don't inspect my cameras with a loupe for marks, I use them to take photographs..

haha, go crikey yourself,

Leica takes great pride in durable well made cameras, the finish is part of that. A discussion on if it is intentionally soft or poorly done, (and if you agree with their desician) is a reasonable argument for both sides.

And if you need a loupe to spot the brassing you might need a less vision driven hobby. 😉