Raid -
G690BL stripped, nickel-plated, sandblasted and chromed. The lens is an original G690-era model that languished at KEH until the price became irresistably low...
This actually takes more than one body to assure even as much success as I got (this actually took 3 bodies' worth of parts); it's very hard to find bodies with good covers in the first place; the aluminum parts on these bodies tend to corrode under the black paint (viewfinder window frame, winding lever), the plastic parts sometimes break when removed (eyepiece), and the sandblasting/plating process causes serious distortions in the thin brass plate that makes these things up. In fact, my repairperson had to hammer this back into shape in some places (he wasn't sure whether it was media blasting or the heat of plating that changed things). Some things actually change appearance; the viewfinder frame actually has sharp edges under the enamel. Dimensions can get messed up, and if you don't have the plating place mask properly, you can lose some critical dimensions, threads, ball bearing recesses, and c-clip grooves.
Everything about this was expensive and time consuming (total time was about a year), but unlike Lance Armstrong, I don't seem to know when to quit. If you want a silver G690BL, I would suggest stripping and using catalyzed car paint. Painting is probably within most owners' capabilities, and catalyzed paint is tough, chemical proof, and lasts just about forever.
Interestingly, when these are not black, you can see the massive degree to which the top cover was hand-formed.
Dante
Hi Dante,
What is it exactly that the photo is of? Is it a Fuji BL690 or another camera but with BL690 lens?
It looks very nice indeed.
