Canon LTM Black Paint Canon P ...? Who?

[raid]

Is that a "TE" in the accessory shoe?

It sure looks like a TE painted over with black.
Is this short for someone's name or is the P an export model or what?

 

[ferider]

I think you should check with Peter, Raid. He did record three other Ps with similar TE engraving, AFAIK. Probably a rare animal.

Roland.

 

[raid]

WOW! These could be good news for me then. Thanks for the tip.I was debating whom to ask about the TE.

 

[raid]

I just found mentioning of P cameras with the TE for serial numbers 773,139 and 773,019. My camera has serial number 773,698.

They all start with 773XXX. Is this a coincidence?
Maybe not. This supports that a series of P cameras was assigned the letters TE by some unit.

What Peter has stated is an educated guess. Maybe he is right.

One owner of such a camera bought his TE camera new in Seattle, while mine is used from Japan. Why would someone be able to buy a new TE camera if he is not from "that company" that had the TE engraved?

 

[Sonnar2]

Hi Raid,
a very nice black P. When it's black over chrome and misses the white dot on the selftimer lever it's a repaint (the camera was chrome originally).
As for the paint flakes, I would look for model paint, available in very small tins in toy shops. At least, I've bought it there in my youth... like these one:
http://cgi.ebay.de/Revell-Color-Email-Farben-14-ml-10-Stueck-seidenmatt-ung_W0QQitemZ350086222828
very good quality repair paint (synthetic resin paint). Probably you need to grind transitions before the paint job carefully with a very small piece of grinding paper, thus roughen the chrome surface for better adhesion of paint.

cheers, Frank

 

[Bill58]

Hi Raid,
a very nice black P. When it's black over chrome and misses the white dot on the selftimer lever it's a repaint (the camera was chrome originally).
As for the paint flakes, I would look for model paint, available in very small tins in toy shops. At least, I've bought it there in my youth... like these one:
http://cgi.ebay.de/Revell-Color-Email-Farben-14-ml-10-Stueck-seidenmatt-ung_W0QQitemZ350086222828
very good quality repair paint (synthetic resin paint). Probably you need to grind transitions before the paint job carefully with a very small piece of grinding paper, thus roughen the chrome surface for better adhesion of paint.

cheers, Frank

I've tried model paint to no avail--most of it is made for plastic, not metal. Maybe you got better results from a different paint.

 

[Sonnar2]

I would say, avoid acrylic paint. But otherwise, maybe my paint repair bottle for my motorcyle may be also acrylic, because it dries quickly. I never need to repaint one of the repaired spots. Maybe it's a matter of underground. Chrome is a bad underground for any paint.

Anyway I haven't repaired yet any black paint on cameras. My black Rolleiflex SL350 (http://www.taunusreiter.de/Cameras/Rollei350black02.jpg) has three white spots on the prism where the paint has gone. If I had a repair bottle with the right colour and paint thickness just like I have for my motorcycle I would have done it.

 

[raid]

Charles Watkins posted this useful suggestion on hot to paint the camera:


Charles Watkins , Aug 05, 2008; 09:49 p.m.

I suppose it depends how much effort you are willing to put into it. To do it right, you would have to go the full mile as John indicates. One (almost secret) ingredient used in the factory like painting process of metal parts is a pre application of a resin catalyst. Secondly, no kind of paint, short of epoxy, at your local hardware store is capable of giving you the desired durability because none of them have the necessary hardening agents added. Any consumer grade spray paint would simply wear off quite easily in a relatively short ammount of time. Shelf paints do not contain hardening agents because once a hardening agent is added to the paint, it must be applied quickly before it cures. You would have to buy the paint and hardening agent seperately and mix them together just prior when you were ready to paint. The air brush suggestion by John would be the right approach. You can buy the hardening agents at your local paint store or auto body paint supplier. Unfortunately, you will not be able to buy them in small quantities for such a small job. I would second the idea of stripping the lever and just leaving it chromed. It would still look quite nice I think. If it is going to be a user camera, try not to fret about the looks. I find it easier to use marred cameras where I don't worry so much about banging them up and think more about taking pictures.

 

[raid]

Hi Raid,
a very nice black P. When it's black over chrome and misses the white dot on the selftimer lever it's a repaint (the camera was chrome originally).
As for the paint flakes, I would look for model paint, available in very small tins in toy shops. At least, I've bought it there in my youth... like these one:
http://cgi.ebay.de/Revell-Color-Email-Farben-14-ml-10-Stueck-seidenmatt-ung_W0QQitemZ350086222828
very good quality repair paint (synthetic resin paint). Probably you need to grind transitions before the paint job carefully with a very small piece of grinding paper, thus roughen the chrome surface for better adhesion of paint.

cheers, Frank

Hello Frank,

It is now clear that this camera had the chrome parts painted black. I will go to a hobby store to get suggestions too.

 

[brobbins]

Canon P TE

Canon P TE

I too have a Canon P with the letters "TE" engraved on the accessory shoe. The serial number of my P is 773862. It appears that all of these cameras identified thus far have serial numbers that start with 773xxx. Is anyone aware of any TE Canon P with a different serial number?

 

[stesm]

But the white dot is a little divot, yes?

 

[raid]

I too have a Canon P with the letters "TE" engraved on the accessory shoe. The serial number of my P is 773862. It appears that all of these cameras identified thus far have serial numbers that start with 773xxx. Is anyone aware of any TE Canon P with a different serial number?

We now have these numbers:
In order:

766 168
769 864
771 684

773 019
773 139
773 698
773 862

Four out of seven cameras start with 773.

 

[brobbins]

Although of course the white paint on the self-timer lever can diappear over the time, as far as I know, all original black paint Canon rangefinder cameras with self-timer levers have, as is suggested above, an indent in the lever where the white dot would originally be painted.

 

[brobbins]

Raid, thanks for providing the list of known Canon P cameras with "TE" engraved in the accessory shoe.

 

[raid]

My black Canon P arrived today in the mail.
The areas showing where the black paint is gone are not chrome but more champagne in color. Is this what chrome looks like? I compared it with a chrome Canon P. The color are different where it is "chrome".

 

[januaryman]

Since paint does not adhere to chrome, it needs to be "sanded" and then usually a primer applied, Raid. I guess that's what you're looking at.

Pictures?

 

[januaryman]

BTW, in those places where the recessed letters are missing white, microtools sells lacquer sticks that work pretty well for filling in. IF you are so inclined.

 

[CameraQuest]

One of my P is crudely engraved, back and bottom. Otherwise, very nice. Might like to give it a CLA and a paint job.

Who does that in the US?

I read somewhere that an epoxy paint was best.

Is this a ridiculous idea?

Not in the USA, but the best repaints I have ever seen are done by Shintaro in Japan. Beautiful work, better than the original Leica, Nikon, or Canon rangefinder black paint finishes.

Stephen

 

[raid]

Since paint does not adhere to chrome, it needs to be "sanded" and then usually a primer applied, Raid. I guess that's what you're looking at.

Pictures?

Jim and Stephen:

The camera was painted black in Japan, but I don't know by whom. Shinatro first removes the chrome and then applies the black paint. In my camera, the paint was applied on the chrome [it seems]. The white lettering looks great and does not need any refilling.

 

[raid]

For more details in the photo: