Black Chrome Care- Freshen Dull Finish?

kdemas

kdemas

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Hi all. I have read in various places that the black chrome finish can be waxed or oiled to freshen it up a bit on M cameras. Have any of you done this and, if so, what have you used?

I actually got one of my cameras back from Leica and this had definitely been done and the camera looked great! Your thoughts are appreciated!

Kent

PS- I am ready for the "just use the camera, who cares what it looks like" posts. I do use them, a lot, but there's nothing wrong with trying to keep them nice looking as well :)
 
kdemas said:
Hi all. I have read in various places that the black chrome finish can be waxed or oiled to freshen it up a bit on M cameras. Have any of you done this and, if so, what have you used?

I actually got one of my cameras back from Leica and this had definitely been done and the camera looked great! Your thoughts are appreciated!

Kent

PS- I am ready for the "just use the camera, who cares what it looks like" posts. I do use them, a lot, but there's nothing wrong with trying to keep them nice looking as well :)
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I have used Pledge wax on my R4 and it looks really nice once buffed out.:)
 
I have tended to keep it simple with black chrome as anything that adds shine shows finger prints even more than does the bare black chrome. In general with my cameras I keep an (unused) paint brush which I find to be perfect for getting into nooks and crannys to get rid of dust and accumulated grime. I then use a swab dampened with rubbing alcohol or isopropyl alcohol to clean off any residual marks. This works well on both black and silver chrome. On silver chrome I also have used a kind of cotton wadding in a tin - the wadding is impregnated with a fine non abrasive metal polish and can be bought from auto parts shops and some hardware stores. I can't recall its name. This stuff works well as a means of getting off even more resistant grime and any mild corrosion on old cameras. Thats about it.
 
Try this on black and chrome--http://www.restorationproduct.com/renwaxinfo.html. I get great results from it.
 
Well, as before, I used Pledge often on the R4 and it worked very well. Brian Sweeney once posted he did as well.

I now find myself using Swiffer Dust & Shine. It does even better!

Recently, I have cleaned and restored several cameras including a Nikon FE2 and a Nikon F2 with SD&S all over and it is like new...so, give it a try!:)
 
On the professional side, we don't like general market's products like Swiffer's or Pledge's as we can't grab the exact compounds to make degaradation tests (those products contains some oils that can be a real mess if they find a way to the innner mechanisms).
If a clients requests a special finish I usually use a microcristalline wax, and some non abbrasive buffing cloth. For the other ones a good cleaning with isopropyl alcohol (every cleaning alcohol should be ok) and a buffing with a home formulated carnauba wax compound (that's harder and less shinny than microcristalline wax, but most of all way cheaper!)
 
Blanc said:
On the professional side, we don't like general market's products like Swiffer's or Pledge's as we can't grab the exact compounds to make degaradation tests (those products contains some oils that can be a real mess if they find a way to the innner mechanisms).
If a clients requests a special finish I usually use a microcristalline wax, and some non abbrasive buffing cloth. For the other ones a good cleaning with isopropyl alcohol (every cleaning alcohol should be ok) and a buffing with a home formulated carnauba wax compound (that's harder and less shinny than microcristalline wax, but most of all way cheaper!)
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Yep, used alcohol on everyone. Used carnauba wax, too.

After about 10 years of using Pledge on my cameras, etc. there has never been a problem, as my cameras still look like new. Swiffer, I suspect it will be fine, too, but it is everyone's own opinion so give us all a recommendation for a microcristalline wax because someone on RFF is going to really want that now.:angel:
 
Blanc and Dave - Thank you very much for the input, I appreciate it. I just want to make sure I have the best approach before proceeding and your combine experience certainly provides an excellent touchpoint. I happen to have some very exotic waxes and I am sure one will fit the bill.

Anyway, thanks! If anyone else uses something they love I'd love to hear about it as well (it's called "gathering opinions" Loquax, so yeah).
 
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