silver zm lenses: aluminum or brass?

You're joking, right?


Jon Claremont said:
Hang on. When I go to the silversmith to order custom earrings I discuss silver with her, and she recommends a particular grade and thickness. And she's just a one person business recently graduated from art school.

Are you saying that when I order a 'silver' lens they send me an aluminum lens painted to look like silver?

Is this common knowledge? Obviously not. Some people here thought they were getting brass, some people thought aluminum, and I thought silver.

When I ask for silver I want silver, not imitation silver.

Leica and the rest should be ashamed of this scam - if they were on eBay I would complain about misrepresentation of goods.

Thank you for alerting me.
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I remember being asked 'Chrome or Black?'.

Then it changed to 'Chrome or Black Chrome?'.

Now it's 'Silver or Black?'. (and Leica sometimes adds 'Black Paint' into the choices, you pay more and it wears out faster.)

If they say silver I want silver.
 
Mazurka said:
I thought people were talking about the barrels, not the lens mount.
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Erwin's sloppy English! I think he meant the barrel, as the M-mount and the hood bayonets seem to be stainless steel on ZM lenses.

By the way, most modern black Leica lenses are anodized aluminum on the outside, which is why they weigh less than the chrome versions. they wear silver. The exceptions are the special black paint editions, which are black paint over brass.
 
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Silver and gold are colors as well as metals... If you bought a gold Toyota Camry with gold trim, you're not likely going to get any gold metal in the deal. Silver is a color... you know the song refrain, "Sail along, silvery moon..."? Hey everyone by now knows the moon is made of Swiss cheese, not silver... :D
 
Couldn't be similar as with Voigtlander lenses?
Both silver and black C/V lens series seems to have alloy barrels, and lacquered.
My experience from years of use is, the silver ones keep color much better. I didn't see any abrasion at my silver 1.7/35 and 4/25, whereas on my black 4.5/15, 4/21 and 2.5/75 brassing show up quite easily.
Nevertheless, for some reasons, I prefer the black ones... ;-)
From the pictures Zeiss ZM lens finish looks very similar and I would expect very similar durability of the paint.
 
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Nothing is a good as it used to be. Chrome plated brass will outlive 5 photojournalists, but it costs a bunch to make and most won`t pay for it.

You want a chromed brass 50 mm 1.4 for $500? Ain`t gona happen.

Even the Leica 1.4 is up around $3000. If you want the best, you have to pay.

I have bought 12-15-25 mm CV lenses for particular uses. The mechanics are poor compared to Leica, but the cost is 1/10. I suspect they will hold up to light use. The important thing is the pics are fine.
 
What's more important is the material used in the helicals. East German and Soviet lenses typically used aluminum (aluminium for our EU friends), and once the lubrications dried or hardened, focusing becomes a horrific aluminum on aluminum experience.

Think of how your aluminum storm door weathers, and you get the idea. Not as extreme, of course, but that's pretty much how it is.

I might be concerned about aluminum barrels if I was one of you photographers who don't seem to have thumbs and continually drop your gear. Of course, a three-foot/one-metre fall onto a hard surface would be bad for brass too.

In the case of the bumbling photographer, a plastic lens (i.e., the so-called kit lens) probably would be a better choice.
 
Aluminum can easily be painted if the surface is preped; usually by a "yellow" chromate acid etch. A company I worked for manufactured aluminum miltary grade enclosures and everything was painted. 90% of the time the surface was preped with the acid chromate. other times the alumium was anodized. Anodizing comes in many colors: Black, clear, blue, red, etc. Paint can be the simple spray on (easily scratched), powder coat (brittle), or epoxy base (expensive).

That being said, I have no idea what the material of the zeiss lenses are. I will be transparent and offer I do not own a ZM, only hope in the very near future!!
 
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