M2 black paint, opinions?

Per the official records M2 No. 1005343 is not listed as black paint. only that it has a delayed action mechanism (self-timer) and produced in 1960.
 
Indeed this camera fits into the normal range of black M2's, starting with 1005XXX. In fact I have this very camera in my file. Strangely this batch is not marked as such in some "official" publications.

Of course it is not for 100% original. The strap eyes, the speedknob, the synch outlets (M4 type) and the vulcanite are not original, but the rest (of the outside) is. I guess it has been restored.

Erik.
 
Thank you for the detailed replies.
What would be according to people experience here the value of this camera, roughly, provided that it’s an original black paint with some non-original parts and in good mechanics/optics condition? Thank you again.

Erik van Straten said:
Indeed this camera fits into the normal range of black M2's, starting with 1005XXX. In fact I have this very camera in my file. Strangely this batch is not marked as such in some "official" publications.

Of course it is not for 100% original. The strap eyes, the speedknob, the synch outlets (M4 type) and the vulcanite are not original, but the rest (of the outside) is. I guess it has been restored.

Erik.
Click to expand...
 
Muju79 said:
Thank you for the detailed replies.
What would be according to people experience here the value of this camera, roughly, provided that it’s an original black paint with some non-original parts and in good mechanics/optics condition? Thank you again.
Click to expand...

Value is tricky of course. It's not 100% original so it falls from the stratosphere. But how close can it be returned to original by a skilled repairer? Is it "collectable"? Will it ever be? Do you want a collector or a user? What provenance does the camera come with? As in, was it owned by anyone in particular?

So value for me would fall somewhere between a 100% original BP M2 and a repainted BP M2 from a chrome batch. But that's a $200,000 range!
 
Very interesting! Could be that this one from California was made by Leitz because the other one was written off. Normal practise is that the old top plate is then destoyed, but in this case someone got the old parts and made another "new" M2. Would be interesting for a collector to have them both.

Funny detail is that this camera has M2 flash sockets and the other one M4 flash sockets.

Personally I prefer the first one, so not the one from California.

Erik.
 
black m2

black m2

on CameraQuest website
its in a group of 350 original black paint with self timer
part of a larger group of chrome ones but these 350 are black paint
the one on ebay is too nice for $2500
my guess is that the worn one is original
on a repaint you can make the number anything you want
since there are two I would wait unless the worn one is a great price
 
The seller of the first one has a german ebay account with 500+ transactions, all with positive feedback. He claims he has a certificate from Leica, he inherited the camera from his father who was the first owner and the camera has always been serviced at Leica through the years (so I guess it should have the L seal). I agree that the 2nd one looks too fresh to be real but the fact that there are 2 with the same serial makes me smell from some direction and it can be from both. Can serial numbers be faked that easily?
 
Second M2 looks either fake or sufficiently modified as to be of little value over a repaint.

Note the blob of black paint or similar on the top edge of the right strap lug. Also, peeling “vulcanite” on back door is leather. Vulcanite does not peel in a sheet. Bottom plate is from an M4 (no engraving) and the strap lugs look like stainless steel, as on current Ms.

I’d buy the first one, or an original BP M4 which is rarely faked.

Good luck!

J 🙂
 
Where would you get black chrome M2/M3 frame selector and self timer?

'It has been back to the factory since, though, as the small pieces -- bottom plate, back door, shutter dial, frame counter, rewind lever, frame selector lever, and self-timer lever are all in black chrome, not black paint'
 
yeah I get it
the description states the non original parts ,
still
still
a 57 year old black paint leica with no wear ?
an m2 black paint is a rare camera and most have not held up well
as they were used professionally .
 
Update:
it turned out that the first seller I posted about was a scammer. I have won the auction, he asked me to make the wire transfer to a certain Cristian Chirica, with a bank account in Germany, but his name doesn't match the name of the Ebay user account (hfell). In the invoice page information that is sent by Ebay there were also other incongruences, too long to describe but definitely suspicious. I guess this Cristian Chirica hacked this hfell Ebay account. Hence, I stay away even if I have won the auction: I have asked the guy to send me by email a copy of the certificate and CLA receipts from Leica that he claimed to have and I doubt I'll hear from him again. No Paypal availability should have been the first red flag but I was on a trip and hadn't checked carefully when bidding (I was also not expecting to win it THAT easily, which is definitely another red flag).
 
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