Brassing: what should we expect?

[ClaremontPhoto]

My ten year old Leica Minilux shows no signs of wear apart from a few scuffs, and my six month old Voigtlander is the same.

Will either of these cameras ever wear. I always carry one or the other of them, even on errands to the post office and suchlike.

My 1930's Rollei is wonderfully worn. And as for my new Zero Image (wooden) camera I'm tempted to treat it like a luxury yacht and varnish it again every so often.

Perhaps I'd better RFF with my right hand and fondle my cameras with my left hand at the same time. A great deal of fondling might brass them.

 

[laptoprob]

Well Jon, my 'new' IIf in the (by now not so bright anymore) red dress shows brassing on all corners. It starts with bright edges, then brass. IMHO it adds to the character of this camera. She is a user.
My black Bessa T proves to be black paint plastic. A scuff off and it is grey. That looks poor. Lucky for me it is only one small bit.
My old X700 black paint SLR shows brassing on corners, after many years of use. It is not new anymore, so what?
The little CLE on the other hand is still completely black. Bright spots maybe, some little superficial damage. I got it like that. Fine with me.
The Hexar will be titanium in years to come. The paint just does not stick. The only way to avoid that is not to use it at all. Not an option to me.

How about lenses? The Ultron I got from Memnon is not completely black anymore. She told me in advance, no problem there. Also brass underneath. But for a relatively new lens it is surprising. My '60's TE is in better shape!
Parts of '50s Leica lenses are chrome (if not black ofcourse), parts are painted aluminium. That also wears, can't say that adds to character.

 

[wyk_penguin]

Chrome does not show brassing as fast as black paint IMHO.

 

[Talisker]

Finish on the Bessa R2 seems reasonably durable - but as it is alloy underneath rather that brass it won't wear to the classic black on brass patina, as my old Pentax MX has in our 25 years together. The CV lenses are well known for not having the most durable finish known to humanity... My more compactly styled lenses like the 25mm seem to be wearing much better that the larger ones like the 35mm ultron and 75mm heliar.