More "Vintage" Black Body Leica M's Than Ever !!

[murrayb53]

About 8 or 9 months ago I was in the mood to purchase a Leica M3 body. I wanted a very clean single stroke. While I was looking through eBay I happened to notice a refurbished M3 S.S. that had also been painted black, actually it looks like anodized black but very attractive and well done. The Seller stated what had been done to the body aside from the new finish. There were no serious issues other than a need for a good cleaning and slow speed adjustment. He said there were originally a few rubs on both sides from his neckstrap so that gave him the reason for the new black finish.

I emailed the Seller prior to making my decision, asked a few questions and got my answers. The Seller said that if I didn't like the body for any reason (3 days from receipt) he would refund my full purchase including shipping. I couldn't go wrong.

I received the body via UPS in a few days and all looked well and operated quite nicely.

Since I made my purchase it has made me more aware of how many refinished cameras are out there. I'm addressing the M2 and M3 bodies in particular. It seems there are quite a few owners having this "cosmetic surgery" performed on their vintage cameras. Have any of you had a camera body refinished? If so, were you happy with the results?

Steve

 

[Tom A]

I have several M2's, M3's and Nikon Rf's that have been refurbished in black. I also have a couple of original black bodies (M2's). The reason why I have had it done has nothing to do with snobbery! A black paint body has a different tactile feel to it than black chrome or silver chrome. It is "warmer" to the touch.
The proliferation of these replicas or fakes are simply a function of the collectors bidding up originals to stratospheric prices. A $ 10 000 original black paint M3 is of no interest to me, while a $8-900 M3 with a couple of $100 spent for a paintjob is more to my liking.
As with most things in life, you get what you pay for. A cheap paintjob on top of the chrome will peel and chip almost instantly, whilst a thorough job, including stripping the chrome off and rebuilding the mechanics (the camera has to be dismantled anyway) might set you back $5-600, but you now have a camera that should last 10-15 years before you need to redo it.
The "brassed" look on an original black M2/M3/MP is fetching. You imagine where it has been and the pictures it took and then you imagine the state of shutter assemblies and advance mechanism as well as the prisms in the viewfinder and, presto, a clean non pro M2 or M3 starts looking good, even with the money spent on the paintjob.
yes, they do brass, but once it has been stripped and painted the first time, it is easy to touch up after that.
One of my M2's started life as a special order, black paint M2 in 1965 and it is now on its third top-plate. At one time it was mixed black and chrome as there was no black paint top-plates available (mid 70's) and later I had it rebuilt and a correct top plate installed. It is due for a quick paint job soon as it is starting to show wear again. But I have also used it for more than 42 years!

 

[pvenables]

Steve

Glad you like your new black camera.

I'm having my M2 serviced and painted by Peter at CRR in Luton in the UK. Haven't decided what colour yet...

I don't see painting a 50 year old camera as any more big a deal than giving an old car a repaint if it's looking tired...but there others who do. Each to their own.

I'm just planning to enjoy handling and using mine when it's done. I'll post pictures when it arrives.

Best wishes

Paul

 

[amateriat]

Most all the cameras I've owned over the last 30 years were available only with the "Model T" color option (Canon F-1, Pentax LX, Nikon F3, Olympus OM-3/4t, Minolta 9xi, and, currently, Konica Hexar RF and Auto S3). They were all warmer to the touch than their bright-finish counterparts, the epoxy-finish Hexar ever moreso. I also think black is more "stealthy" (though, to loosely quote Dante Stella on RFs in general, it is not an Invisibility Cloak), as well as somewhat easier to get a grip upon in most cases. But this may be just me.


- Barrett

 

[splitimageview]

Yes, I had an M3 painted black back in 2000, and I really like it. It transformed a user M3 into a completely different camera...not only more attractive (to me) but I prefer black as I don't like to draw attention when I photograph.