So who is going to brass their M9?

The paint on the M9 is very hard wearing, and the only photo I have seen of a brassed one (I think on RFF) that mimmicks general wear (as opposed to accidents) makes me think that sandpaper was used. Mine has had some hard use this winter that would have seriously brassed a black MP, but there isn't a single area that shows brass, not even the sharpest edge.

Steve
 
robklurfield said:
If you want an M9, or even an M8/8.2, "brassed", send it to me. I will return it to you significantly brassy. Just give me a year or two with it. Ditto on BP lenses.

I've had my M8 (it's the ltd ed Panda that got black paint just before the release of the 8.2's) just about a year now and there's one teeny, tiny spot of brass showing. My impression is that the paint on these wears longer than that on MP's before rubbing off. Can anyone confirm that?

Anyway, as the others have said, use and enjoy it. It'll wear soon enough. Otherwise, it's kind of like trying to dye dark hair to make it grey. Why not let time do the trick?
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I can confirm that the coating on the M9 is something quite different from the paint used by Leica in the past - after 8 months of intensive use the bottom has minor scratches, like my chrome cameras had, the top is unmarked -as opposed to my chrome cameras which had started scuffing at this point- apart from two miniscule brassing points, one on the on/off switch edge, one on the top lefthand corner. This black stuff is tough.
What IS wearing, though, is the black chrome ring around the shutter button. It is starting to show that greyish patina. :(
 
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A tiny bit of brass has appeared on my M9 after months of usage. I hope It will have a lot of brass in several years, that would be the proof that the sensor resisted more then the paint to the assaults of age.
 
Dave Wilkinson said:
Well - for a camera that has been in production for such a short time as this, to be in such a sh#t condition through handling and use, IMO means there is something radically wrong with either the camera or user, or both! :(
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Yes - and the black putty to camouflage the rewind crank has not brassed but deformed...
 
The black paint of the M8.2 is significantly tougher than the black paint of the MP, with only a tiny bit of brassing on the baseplate in 18 months, and in 6 months I've yet to brass the M9 at all: it seems much tougher again.

This suits me fine. I much prefer the discreet brassing you normally see on old screw-mount Leicas, Nikon Fs, etc., to the paint-falling-off look you get with so many black Ms. Even then, I'd rather have a black paint M than chrome.

Cheers,

R.
 
I think, the M8.2 paint is soft as chocolate on a hot summers day.
I have mine for a few weeks now and it's slight edge brassing has quite a bit.

One day, I was wondering, how soft it really is and rubbed one already slightly brassed edge on a jeans for 2 or 3 minutes, to find out, that there is no need of using steel wool, sand paper or other tools.

I let the M8.2 now brass naturally - once, there are some blank edges, they do spread quickly.

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Wow, that is soft. Well it looks good. Brass or no brass I never get rid of much so I will enjoy my M9 for some time to come. I have a nice 90mm Summicron pre ASPH coming tomorrow. I love the depth of field with the Summicrons but then I like that on my 135L and 35L as well. Still for me, Leica has always held a special place.
 
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