Titanium & Silver Chrome Finish

[SolaresLarrave]

I know this may strike as an odd question, but, after all, I can expect a straight answer from someone in this forum.

Is the titanium finish similar to the silver chrome, or is is warmer/darker, as it shows in some photos?

I'd like to know. I've done a search about it and read on their metallurgic differences (really no big deal to me).

Also, in the "Show your Leica M" thread, Alkis posted a picture of his M2 with a Summilux 35 Asph silver chrome on, which looks gorgeous. Does someone have a picture of a titanium lens?

Thanks a lot in advance! 🙂

 

[wpb]

It is warmer and it has slightly more "grain" (for lack of a better word) or texture to it. The metallurgical differences are of little consequence as it is just a coating. As an aside, modern silver chrome is ever so slightly lighter than vintage (M3, M2 era) silver chrome, but this may be due to the effects of time.

 

[Cron]

here is a picture of some 35 lenses for Leica M;
I think the colour of the titanium lens is nice to see.

Norbert

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Thanks a lot for your replies! Now... does a titanium lens stand out too much on a silver chrome body?

 

[wpb]

I think it looks a little odd on chrome, but looks kind of cool on black bodies. I would just get the silver chrome as it is easier to come by, and matches any chrome M nicely. Also the Ti and Silver Chrome are both on brass so the lenses are essentially the same except finish.

 

[Olsen]

I am curious too. How much of the lense is titanium? The latter has some excellent properties like weight & strength and that 'it is not cold in the cold', but has some serious erosion problems when in contact with other metals.

further....

How many Leica lenses has been made with titanium finish?

 

[LADP]

The M7 Titanium 50th Anniversary M (500 made) and the Leica 50th Anniversary M7 Titanium (only 50 made) have top and bottom plates machined out of solid titanium, along with 28 other body parts. These cameras do not have just a "coating." They are accordingly lighter than standard M bodies.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

I guess it's a case in which a silver chrome lens would look slightly odd on a titanium body too.

Thanks for confirming my perception about the titanium & silver chrome lenses. Titanium looks incredibly cool... but those white numbers tend to deteriorate and fade a lot faster than those in black (I see it in my old, vintage collapsible 'cron). Hence, I'll probably go silver chrome instead.

 

[dreamsandart]

The Leica Titanium Lenses are a thin coating of a titanium alloy on the machined brass mount, the same mount as the chrome lenses and so in general about 100gms more than the aluminum alloy mounts of the black chrome/anodized lenses. The weight and 'feel' ( a solid density ) of the brass mount in comparison to the black alloy mount can be more a deciding factor than the finish for many.

Leica said in their literature that the titanium finish was "particularly resistant to wear", but from used lenses I've seen I can not say this to be entirely true. The Titanium 'finish' has a nice warm look to it that reminds me of the original nickel finish of the black paint Leica camera parts and lenses of the late 20s and early 30s. Yes, it looks great on a black chrome or even black paint camera, but a little odd on a chrome camera.

Chrome lenses have a very classic look to them. Over the years the finish has changed. The 90mm Summicron of the late 50s and the 35 Summilux of the early 60s are two of my favorite 'chromes', they have a warm look. Some of the 60s lenses like the 35 Summicron or 50 Summilux on the other hand can be very 'bright' chrome.

Two recent chrome lenses I've had/have, the 4th 35 Summicron and ASPH 35 Summilux fall in between these, a bit on the warm side. My chrome ASPH Summilux looks fine on my chrome M5 or my black paint M4.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Thanks a lot, dreamsandart! 🙂

 

[haagen_dazs]

here is a picture of some 35 lenses for Leica M;
I think the colour of the titanium lens is nice to see.

Norbert

could someone kindly point out which 35mm belongs to which generation?
that would be so helpful 🙂

 

[Cron]

hi!

from left to right :

M 2/35 ser.nr. 33xxxxx, M 1,4/35 ser.nr. 33xxxxx, M 2/35 asph, M 1,4/35 asph, Konica KM 2/35.

Regards, Norbert

 

[Flyfisher Tom]

Norbert,

thanks for the photo. What are your thoughts on the different characteristics of the lenses relative to each other? How does the Hex-35 perform?

thanks