I've had a black ZI since the first day PopPhoto had them in stock, so that's perhaps 3 weeks ago or so. I take a perverse pleasure being rougher on a camera the more it costs me, so the ZI is up there in the abuse it's bound to get--not intentional mind you but just the kind of stuff you'd do if you don't hold back.
So far it's been on two trips, one of which involved being lugged and banged around on the end of a big tripod in the Utah countryside. I'm am making an effort to make this my primary RF and to use it and carry it around a lot.
So far, there is nothing to report really. The black paint is unscathed except for two little nicks on the bottom at the edge of the raised disk where the rewind knob is. Those two nicks were from a sharp impact with a rock; the paint just plain came off and shows bare metal now. I can see from what was exposed by those two nicks that the paint is thick and solid.
No interesting or character-filled wear patterns. The black paint shines the same as the day it was bought. As for the mechanics, they too are unscathed. As for actual picture-taking ability, I don't know. I've put 8 rolls of film through it, including 2 rolls of Kodachrome, but nothing's developed yet.
Julian
