"The black paint has been generously and carefully worn to..."

I suppose the way to accelerate the process would be to keep your hands saturated in Brasso or automotive paint cutting compound and then just fondle the hell out of it! :D

I wonder if when they did this they had intentions of keeping the camera forever?


[edit] ... if you look closely you can see where a dremel or some type of tool has been used to remove the paint on the edge and has slipped down occasionally marking the surface down towards the rangefinder window! :eek:

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In the 80s I watched a friend take a new pair of "real Made in the USA" Levis 501s and wash them with rocks, cut holes near the knees and do other damage - to make them look "worn and cool".

The world is "image" crazy. Much of this is created by photos published in "pop culture" Fashion, and "Cool Photographer" magazines and web sites.

The famous Jim Marshall Leica, black and brassed, that's spoken of here on Rff at times, likely sat in a drawer. The M6 he carried daily, on his shoulder, was black - with very minor brassing. It's all about image..and BS.

I just looked at the photo. It comes with a 1/2 case - to prevent brassing ?
 
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I'm forced to assume so. If not, resell value must not even be a consideration. But in this case it is, hence the snazzy description.
 
Yes, image sick!

Wow! Nice find on the dremel spotting. Man that makes me really cringe! To synthetically age is one thing, but to do so in a haphazArd manner with a powertool is unthinkable! Some super fine grit sandpaper should fill the bill in minutes?
 
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The only thing I'm aware of that should be purchased new then immediately "distressed" is a model train (if it's owned by a serious modeler/collector that is). This is called weathering, because when have you ever seen a clean locomotive or freight car in real life?!
 
anitasanger said:
Yes, image sick!

Wow! Nice find on the dremel spotting. Man that makes me really cringe! To synthetically age is one thing, but to do so in a haphazArd manner with a powertool is unthinkable! Some super fine grit sandpaper should fill the bill in minutes?
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If it took a Dremel Tool to remove the paint, maybe the painting process has improved over the years. I had a black M4 for years. It traveled all over and saw a lot of use. I took good care of it; the finish was dulled a bit, but the only brassing was in the strap lug area and on the film door corners.
 
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Perhaps so. I prefer the look of brasses chrome, but those are oh so rare. Minimum brassing of BP looks good, but more than a healthy hint of brass just looks bad IMHO.
 
Well if the seller is indeed a member here, I meant no disrespect. I hope you get more than you are hoping to receive for your camera! And if you happen to run across this, was the culprit indeed a dremmel?
 
I don't care if he faked it, buy what you want. But it just seems like an unnatural wear pattern and to truly fake it, there should be a wide array of minor scuffs and a little dust in the seams.

I'd worry the slob got grindings inside the camera....
 
If I had an M9 every scratch would be like knife in the ribs ... strangely each mark I manage to put on my D700 barely raises my blood pressure! :D

Luckily I don't think I'll ever be able to afford the M9 ... sometimes it's good to be a bottom feeder! (I think)
 
I agree. If I had an M9 I would go through painstaking efforts to keep It mint. Somehow in my mind, the digital aspect of it negates any pleasure in patina or wear. Perhaps this irrational, but it's just the way I feel. I guess part of the feelings come from the throw away nature of electronics I've been conditioned to accept. In 5 years, most electronics become like a 1983 Betacam! I know the M9 will likely remain relevant far beyond the shelf life of typical electronics, it just doesn't seem romantic to achieve a lifetime of patina and wear like an MP would be in my mind.

To put it simpler, I just can't imagine a man still using his grandpa's 50 year old battered M9 in 2065.
 
JSU said:
The seller quit too soon. He should have opted for the style of Jim Marshall's M4. :cool:
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I posted a note about that camera. I knew Jimmy for 30+ years and never saw that camera. I think he retired it. He used M6s, and at one time had a license plate on his ford that was: "M6" (he had several BMWs owned an SHO at one time).

All the gear I saw Jim use was "working gear". All in excellent shape, with not a lot of missing black paint. None looked as worn as the body with the winder pictured. I'm not sure, but I think that body may be with Leica now. Leica was very good to Jim.

His everyday camera was a black M6 that had little brassing.. you would have to look closely to see any.

More image BS.
 
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They make 'road worn' guitars too, I personally hate them because wearing your gear is part of that personal connection to them. But others like paying premiums for them and it is most likely because they are shallow. They want to be recognized as a 'professional' or the like before they actually are and/or their gear reflects this.
 
In the 80s (when I was a boy) you could buy Luke skywalker's x-wing fighter with battle damage stickers, its a bit like that:D
 
I must admit, that I tend to rub the corners of my own brass topped M4-P more than I would if I didn't know that there was brass underneath. However none of my manual abrasion has produced even a glimmer of gold.

On the other hand, several years of using my camera have made some dings and scratches in the surface. None of them have added to the salability of my camera. Which is fine, since I intend on passing it on to my daughter after I have abused it for the rest of my picture taking days. Maybe by then it'll look pretty, since she seems more interested in video than still, film photography. :(
 
I would propose using a cloth or felt polishing with a dremel tool easier to control.

@anitasanger, do not underestimate your fellow europeans, I am one as well.
 
The first serious scratch on my MP looks very like the one that was 'Dremelled'. It came from an off-road jack rubbing against the camera after we got the Land Rover out of a ditch in Hungary. I was a bit sick when I first saw it, but then cheered up when I remembered what Stefan Daniel said: "You'll look at that camera, and remember, "Oh, yes, that was when..." It's got a lot more scratches now.

And my M9 is beginning to rub through in places after 15 months. I really can't see why anyone would worry about it. After all, it's not as if I'm going to sell them. If you're worried about scratches or brassing, don't buy black paint (all right, no choice except paint on M9s, or the gruesome titanium monster, but otherwise...)

'Distressing', however, is just plain silly.

Cheers,

R.
 
I have a Relic Fender Strat (that's the model that were sold "pre-abused." Bought it second hand, though, not new) that is actually quite beautiful and a pleasure to play. But Fender did it convincingly, not like hacking up an M9 with a rotary tool.
 
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