M6 - Black or Chrome

M6 - Black or Chrome

  • Black

    Votes: 443 61.9%

  • Chrome

    Votes: 273 38.1%
  • Total voters
    716
I have had both. The chrome wears better than the black. The black is stealthier than the chrome. This weekend I am going to a wedding. Traveling with the M2 (chrome), M3 (chrome), M6 TTL (black), and M8 (black). Lenses: 35 Summaron (chrome), 50 Summarit (chrome), 50 Summilux Asph (black), 28 Elmarit (black), 75 Summilux (black) -- you get the idea. If I could waive my magic wand and change them all to the same finish, I'd probably go chrome. But I mix and match 'em all the time.

Ben Marks
 
Either you're stealthy or you're not. Some people would manage to be stealthy with a red paint camera with yellow and green plaid vulcanite.
 
black......no.....crome....no.....black....no....crome....no....
black......no.....crome....no.....black....no....crome....no....
black......no.....crome....no.....black....no....crome....no....
black......no.....crome....no.....black....no....crome....no....
black......no.....crome....no.....black....no....crome....no....
black......no.....crome....no.....black....no....crome....no....
black......no.....crome....no.....black....no....crome....no....
black......no.....crome....no.....black....no....crome....no....
black......no.....crome....no.....black....no....crome....no....
black......no.....crome....no.....black....no....crome....no....
black......no.....crome....no.....black....no....crome....no....
black......no.....crome....no.....black....no....crome....no....
black......no.....crome....no.....black....no....crome....no....


.....oh crap just get both :p
 
Black for professional use, or where you are exposed to the risk of theft. Chrome is just too conspicuous. I know a lot of photogs used chrome M4s etc over the ages, but that was from a time when a lot of very cheap cameras were chrome. Now it seems a genuinely metal, chrome all over camera is quite rare. And there is nothing cheap or old looking about a Chrome MP with chrome lenses!

Although it would be nice to think that people look at chrome cameras and think they are all old, I believe magpie syndrome affects chrome cameras, especially with chrome lenses. People see something shiny and think it is valuable.

For example, an Afghan walked up to me while I was taking photos and said of my chrome MP, 'That is a very nice expensive camera.' Nobody ever bothered even to look at the black MP I used exclusively over the preceding three years.

I am sure a beaten M3 does not look expensive, but as a friend commented on the MP, 'it has very clean lines and so does not look like an old Soviet camera.' He knows nothing about cameras, but it makes sense.

I am seriously thinking about getting the chrome MP painted black. I have seen so few BP 0.58s about and would have had one if I could, however I needed one to shoot and so took chrome. CRR Luton do an off gloss paint job that would be nice and inconspicuous. In sunny environments, liek Afghanistan, chroe glints and reflects light. Thats not a good thing. Movement of the camera becomes visible and attracts attention.

There is another advnatage to having all cameras the same colour - people don't know how many you have in your cameras bag....
 
chrome

chrome

i had both.
liked the look of the chrome better.
beautiful.
kept the black
for more discreet shooting in the street.
 
Well, I'm not likely to have any M6, but my M2 is chrome. When it came time to choose which color Zeiss Ikon I chose black. Most Hexar RFs are black, so when it came to wanting a second body, I chose titanium. Go figure... I do think black is more discreet, less notable but not invisible.
 
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I don´t have an M6 but if I did it would be chrome. For me it´s a classic look, same with the Nikon FEs, FMs etc that I used to covet when i was a schoolkid but couldn´t afford. I had to settle to a Zenith EM - in chrome of course
 
How exactly does this work, I'm rather pale - how is a black camera in my face more inconspicuous? I'd say chrome blends in better.

I don't buy it either way.

martin
 
Titanium

Titanium

I voted "chrome" but actually have one of those titanium-plated M6TTLs. (I think the titanium M6, with the ostrich-leather-like black covering, also looks great.)

Basically I am one who would have selected chrome at the time on the grounds that I think it wears better than "black chrome." Titanium promised to wear that much better--after five years I guess I would agree with that. The signs of wear on my camera are on the brownish leather, not on the metal.

Except for the black lettering on the front. Both my M6 and my M8 had the M wear partly off in the front. Leica Service suggested I just get some Tester's paint at the hobby shop and "poke it in there with a toothpick or something," basically saying that's what they would do if I sent it in. I did so, and it looked all right. So now you know, in the unlikely event that I ever sell the M6, which I am very attached to. The black paint inside the front lettering is not original.

Do black-paint Ms have this same problem, with the white lettering?

Tom
 
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