Better wear resistance - black or silver?

[casualuser]

I am considering getting an MP or possibly an M6. Does anyone have a view as to which finish is the most durable - meaning resistance to showing wear, chips or dings?

Thanks

 

[rogue_designer]

IMO

black chrome. followed by silver chrome.

But when they wear they get ugly.

Black paint (over brass) is the least durable, but at least when it wears (as they all will) it looks good.

 

[Al Kaplan]

Probably silver chrome. Paint tends to chip eventually. The durability that really means something is the ability to keep on shooting decade after decade while proudly wearing the battle scars that define and comemorate its adventures. At some point even a chrome camera will start showing some brass if you actually use the damned thing. I wish that I was holding up as well as my Leicas.

 

[yoyo22]

The paint on the current MP is made to wear off easily, so it can have a "professional", well used look within a short time.
That's why I got a silver MP.

 

[wontonny]

If you find a picture to Garry Winogrand's M4, you'll find it was used a lot more than some other people's black paint cameras and shows less wear.

 

[SimonSawSunlight]

who wants wear RESISTANCE? 😱



maybe it's just me but I like 'em worn and wild (may it be black paint or chrome or black chrome) =)

 

[casualuser]

who wants wear RESISTANCE? 😱



maybe it's just me but I like 'em worn and wild =)

At your age: I might have said the same thing.
At my age: being in good shape is important and it is ok if it looks good too.

 

[swoop]

I would say Silver chrome. I have a black chrome M7 and it's wearing out weird. Scratches and scuffs show up easily on the finish. And the black is starting to wear off at the edges revealing the silver layer beneath.

 

[PaulRicciardi]

Here's my (skewed) perspective.
I prefer black chrome. The black paint cameras I've seen wear too fast. They start out all beautiful and pristine and then wear down to the nostalgic brassed look. Either way it's too pretty to use (in my opinion).

The chrome cameras I find too noticeable. Debate that all you will it's simply been my experience on the street and as a photojournalist. Shiny things stick out. The chrome finish may last longer than black chrome but I'd rather not shoot with a silver camera.

Black chrome, however, is a more matte finish, takes longer to wear and when it does start to show signs of use it's ugly. For me, that's a plus. For example, I'll be working on a long term solo photojournalism project (ie a book) this summer that involves living in a Honduran orphanage and neighbouring village. I'm not too worried about my M4-2 getting stolen because it's beaten to hell. I am a tiny bit worried about someone running off with my EOS-1DMkIIn simply because it looks fancier.

So, in summary, my perspective is as follows:
Black paint starts off looking nicest, wears fastest, but wears most beautifully.

Chrome starts off looking pretty, ultimately too pretty for the work I do, and shows few signs of use after long periods of wear.

Black chrome cameras begin life looking fine, are a bit less noticeable due to the matte finish, and eventually wear to be a bit 'ugly'. For me, the black chrome is the perfect finish-utilitarian to begin with, takes a long time to wear down, and once worn nobody will want to steal it. Perfect.

 

[yoyo22]

who wants wear RESISTANCE? 😱



maybe it's just me but I like 'em worn and wild =)

I despise the fact that the current MP has that paint which wears off easily, so it looks like a well used camera even if one just takes family photos with it twice a year. It's comparable to buying cut and torn jeans in order to look cool. It's no achievement if it's too easy.

The original MP I recently had for a while showed just minimum brassing, even though it was in use for more than 50 years. With the current one it feels almost impossible to even get it out of the box without scraping off paint somewhere.

Also I don't like the smell of pure brass on my fingers. 😱

 

[sahe69]

Also I don't like the smell of pure brass on my fingers. 😱

Don't sniff your fingers ! 🙂 😀

 

[dap]

The paint on the current MP is made to wear off easily, so it can have a "professional", well used look within a short time.
That's why I got a silver MP.

Is this really true or is it an old wives tale? What kind of paint are they using?

I have heard that in leica's golden age you could specify whether you wanted black lacquer (I would guess nitrocellulose based on the timeframe) or black enamel when you ordered a painted M3/M2. If true, I would assume that all the really brassed out M cameras are lacquer and the ones that look somewhat fresher are enamel (lacquer wears faster than enamel but has somewhat of a richer look + feel). Maybe the new MPs are painted w/ lacquer.

 

[yoyo22]

Is this really true or is it an old wives tale? What kind of paint are they using?

I have heard that in leica's golden age you could specify whether you wanted black lacquer (I would guess nitrocellulose based on the timeframe) or black enamel when you ordered a painted M3/M2. If true, I would assume that all the really brassed out M cameras are lacquer and the ones that look somewhat fresher are enamel (lacquer wears faster than enamel but has somewhat of a richer look + feel). Maybe the new MPs are painted w/ lacquer.

http://leica.nemeng.com/002bf.shtml >> features xi.

Also a collector I recently had contact with told me about his experiences with the current black paint MPs.

 

[JohnTF]

For resale, the most valuable are the rarest, and the fragile finished cameras which have that "never been out of the box" "As new" finish.

I marked up a few SLR's, but generally thought Silver chrome was the most durable. I saw a Nikon F used at the Plain Dealer which was very nice, but the chrome had worn off where Karl had rested his thumb under the wind lever.

I think in an M4, buy a brassed black one to begin with. ;-)

Then you have to find brassed lenses to match.

Am surprised it is not a factory option.

Regards, John

 

[wt67]

Eventually, they all look worn unless you don't use them (perish the thought). But I have silver chrome versions and they look great (with minimal wear) after a tremendous amount of use.

 

[peter_n]

Silver chrome is the most durable. I think the more recent MPs have pretty good paint finishes, but the earlier ones had a poor finish that wore easily. Personally I don't worry about the colors or how they wear, I buy by price - my first three Leica bodies were silver, the last two black. They all worked really well! 🙂

 

[Steve Bellayr]

When worrying about wear...don't use the camera. You only have to drop the camera once to put some nice wear onto it. Any camera that you use heavily will wear. Some of it has to do with the acid secretion of your hands. I use a have case with mine. After a year I have noticed that the case wears where my hands come in contact with the case. My experience is to buy the best condition at the lowest price and not worry about wear.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Silver chrome is easily the most durable. I have had new Leicas in silver chrome, black chrome and black paint. The black chrome (M4-P) wore so fast that a Leica dealer friend advised me to return it under guarantee. Black paint (MP new, many others second-hand) wears quite fast but I think it's the least obtrusive finish; to most non-photographers, too, a brassed camera just looks shabby and unimportant, which is useful. I now have a black paint M8.2, which looks and feels like a much tougher finish than the MP, but I've not put the camera through enough to find out.

All of the silver chrome cameras I've had, Leica or anything else, have worn incredibly slowly.

Among black paint cameras, my two old Nikon Fs have worn the most gracefully under heavy use and my Olympus Pen W the worst (scabby and warty under light use). Old Leicas often acquired the 'elegantly worn' look through very long periods of gentle use; if they were used hard, the paint seems to have been no more durable than on an MP, so I think it's probably an old wives' tale.

But as others have said, why is wear resistance important? Unless you're thinking of selling the camera, the marks and scuffs 'personalize' the camera, and you can remember where the bigger ones came from.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[Debusti Paolo]

I think you'd consider a m6 titanium😀

 

[johannielscom]

At your age: I might have said the same thing.
At my age: being in good shape is important and it is ok if it looks good too.

I'm with SimonSawSunlight, (despite my age).

Watches you take care they don't scratch, cars you don't scratch, jewellery you don't scratch. A camera is a tool, one that does get scratched eventually.

And: I own a 1971 M5, just a few months younger than me, and it has wear from normal use. No scratches, but the black chrome is worn, you can tell were it is usually held in hands.

It took 37 years to get to this look. If you take normal care of it, yours will take the same amount of time to wear.

Just pick whichever you like most, resistance to wear is only an issue if you plan to use the camera for forty years to come.