I have an authentic black M2 which I bought many years ago. It was initially in poor cosmetic state but was completely restored by E Leitz in Rockleigh, New Jersey. It has remained in ‘as new’ condition since except for spontaneous development of bottom plate ‘onion-skinning’ which I have corrected to a large extent by judicious use of 5-0 steel wool. I wonder whether Leica still has the moral responsibility to correct this painting defect so many years later.
Moral responsibility? The paint used on Leica M2 & M3 was imperfect....lots of them bubble, as in this photo. (it is one way to identify it as original black paint) As with other valued tools, (antique furniture & vintage guitars for example,) completely "restoring" devalues them. A lot of their aesthetic beauty comes from their wear by human hands. (Paul Fusco's MP)
Why was the black paint used by E. Leitz in the USA in their complete restoration in the past of my Leica M2 susceptible to ‘onion peeling’? I would have thought that by the mid 1970s that this deterioration possibility would have been eliminated. I don’t recall ever seeing this defect occurring in black body screwmount Leica camera bodies of the 1930s. I have several black Leitz microscopes of the 1920s and 1930s and their black finish look absolutely unblemished and almost new. Why is there a long-term problem with postwar black M bodies’ paint finish?
My father worked for Leica in Australia in the 1950s and oversaw a lot of their service work. It is almost certain that Leitz in the US sent your camera to Germany. They also did not 'restore' your camera. They got blank new old stock black paint parts, added the serial to the top plate and other relevant parts of the camera, and put it back together. The new parts have the same paint on them that the old camera had, including that it is susceptible to wear and artefacts including bubbling and delamination.
I’m sorry to have used the wrong descriptive term. I meant to say ‘orange skin pitting’, not ‘onion peeling’. I should have used the right fruit and not the wrong vegetable!
It doesn’t really matter; irrespective of their collectability, the black paint Leica used for the M2, 3 and 4 is a pretty ordinary finish for a camera. The MP paint, also used on a la carte and other modern black paint Ms is better. But all black paint Leicas really do look pretty.
So you’re now a rich man?
The pre WWII paint wasn’t available anymore because it had had components that were not environmentally permissible, even in the 1950s (you don’t want to know). There was the issue of cost too.
I actually kinda do want to know, just out of morbid curiosity.
Thank you for posting the pics and purchase paperwork that you used in order to sell the camera, that would be much appreciated!
