Hey, how does your BP MP baseplate brass?

[anitasanger]

Allow me to preface this by admitting that I am getting entirely too analytical on my black paint vs. chrome decision. And I do apologize. However, I've been saving for a long time and want to make sure that I have no regrets. I'm about 99.2 % positive that I have decided on black paint. My purchase will be used and I have a few (not many) options available in various states of brass. Some have little to none and some have significant missing paint on the side of the baseplate.

Most of the photos I see on here of people's MPs are primarily top, back and side shots exhibiting the brass. I was wondering if anyone would be willing to post any photos of the bottom of their MPs so that I may see a natural progression of brassing on that area. I'm basically trying to see if the missing areas on the used cameras I'm seeing are from being dropped, or potentially just natural wear.

I'm not sure if the baseplate wears around the edges like the top of the camera, or if the paint starts to wear directly off of the bottom from sliding around on surfaces. Those with a case are obviously not affected by either. Here is a photo of a used camera I've found that inspired my question. I'm trying to stray away from a camera that appears to have been dropped.

Thanks for the help.

Luke


Leica MP 2880597 4 by saveamerika, on Flickr

 

[Roger Hicks]

Looks like OEM cling-film to me. But then. my MP's always had a Leicavit on it.Maybe tomorrow I'll shoot & post (or maybe not).

Cheers,

R.

 

[anitasanger]

Thank Roger, yeah this camera seems to have the film on bottom, but I was wondering if the area on the left was possible due to a drop. Hard to tell.

 

[seifadiaz]

Maybe he just dropped the baseplate and not the entire camera. Sometimes happens when loading.

 

[newsgrunt]

Looks to me like more than the usual brassing from use. Some kind of scuff but can't say it's from a drop though but it received some rough abrasion. Is this a private sale or dealer ? If the price is right and they have a good explanation, I'd be tempted to grab it. If they'll let you, run a roll through it to make sure the rf and focus is accurate if you're concerned.

 

[anitasanger]

It's from a dealer dealer, the price is decent but not great. I am considering it. Thank you for input!

 

[pachuco]

I am not an expert in brassing but that looks like the bottom of one of my M's and it was a direct result of my dropping it on pavement. Did not affect my camera BTW.

 

[anitasanger]

Yeah that's kind of what I was thinking!

 

[Roberto V.]

I've dropped my baseplate before while loading a roll, and it didn't show any additional brassing. Mine is an M4 though, so the black paint is different, I'm not sure which is more resistant. I also dropped in on a marble floor, which is very smooth, so maybe the last owner of that MP dropped it on concrete?
If it's from a reputable dealer and they can explain it, I'd still consider it.

 

[peter_n]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. I just took a quick snap of the bottom of my 0.85x MP (attached) and it has a tiny ding in the bottom edge and a very slightly larger one on the top edge on the other side of the camera but I didn't think twice about either when I bought it. Brass is soft.

 

[anitasanger]

Nice, thank you for the pic. This answers my question nicely.

 

[JHP]

My MP.
Hope this helps.

 

[anitasanger]

Excellent, yes this helps a lot. That's some nice looking brassing there. How many rolls have you put through her? Looks awesome!

 

[JHP]

No idea. The brassing is probably just from taking the camera in and out of my camera bag and rubbing against the zipper. It had a bit of brassing when I bought it second hand. I'm glad it was a bit banged up when I bought it, it meant I wasn't too precious about using it.

 

[peter_n]

The little ding in picture #4 is where the ding is on the top of my MP; probably from strap hardware. Mine's a lot less brassed than this but will probably look like it in a few years time. I've had an MP3 for the same length of time as the MP and it shows virtually no sign of brassing; it has a much better paint job. OTOH its BP 50mm lens is quite worn looking. There are weird variances in the stuff you get from Leica.

 

[anitasanger]

Wow Peter, it is strange that your two BP cameras have worn so differently! I would prefer the longer wearing paint. Older BP models took 10 or so years of HARD use to achieve major brassing. I wonder what hard use MPs will look like in 10 years? Or even moderate use for 30 years? Will there be any paint left? Yikes!

 

[jsrockit]

Jeez, brassing threads galore these days. What's next... show your haze?

 

[anitasanger]

I'd prefer a show your fungus. Brassing threads are relevant for consumers, especially since there seems to be some inconsistency in BP durability from model to model.

 

[johannielscom]

My M3 is self-modified to a black paint M3. I collected black paint spare parts to convert it.

I'm certain the bottom plate on mine is in fact an MP plate, its paint is much thinner and wears off much easier.

Shots are here.

I have taken off the tape from the bottom while out shooting and have not replaced it since, never bothered. There's alot more paint gone after only 6 months. It still works fine though 😛

 

[jsrockit]

I'd prefer a show your fungus. Brassing threads are relevant for consumers, especially since there seems to be some inconsistency in BP durability from model to model.

People are shaped different, people use their cameras in different ways, carry their cameras in different way, all while using different accessories... all of these lead to different types of wear.

Black paint wears off no matter how old or new... if you don't like brassing you get a grey camera. 😉 Leica probably made the newer ones brass quicker due to the fetishization of brassing in the collector cummunity.