It was the dead of night last Friday when Steven took the emery paper to his six-year-old M9. The old girl had stood up to fierce handling over the years but stubbornly refused to show even a sliver of brass beneath the black finish. Steven couldn’t understand this. Kai Elmer Sotto over in Singapore had a perfectly brassed M-P after a mere 18 months. He swears it had succumbed to natural causes, with nary a trace of abrasive in sight.
When I met Steven on Saturday morning in Portobello Road he was looking rather sheepish. Had he done something silly? It was a bold move on Steven’s part and I couldn’t wait to inspect. I did feel that ten hours with a mildly rough cloth could have been preferable to ten minutes with the sandpaper, but who am I to criticise? I often do daftish things myself.
The deed is now done. Irrevocable. The M9 carries on into old age taking perfect pictures (it has already has its sensor replaced) and it is well out of date for Leica Passport as was. So no chance of a repaint.
This is catching. First Kai Elmer, then Steven. Can I resist?
My new M-D camera could benefit from a bit of brassy effect but it’s decidedly too early to start rubbing. Nevertheless, I have a sneaky feeling that brassed Ms could be more valuable than mint examples, but only to the brassed-off cognoscenti. I am determined not to mollycoddle this one. It had better show some natural brass or I shall threaten it with Steven and his emery paper.
I love all these comments, who cares, thanks for sharing now get out there and shoot it. I bet if you hadn’t said it was done on purpose 80% of the above people would have loved it. You get one life, go your own way.
At the other end of the spectrum there are those Leica ‘enthusiasts’ who acquire worn cameras and attempt to tart them up by repainting and filling in dents – and even well known Leica repairers participate in the ‘art’ . I once refused to compete a deal on a used SL2 MOT after the camera came back from the dealer’s repairer – because the nicely patinated example’s brassy exterior had obviously been partly repainted compared to its pre-repair photo.
dunk
So Fender are doing the same ‘brassed’ thing as Leica is doing with the Lenny Kravitz edition. To my eyes this is ‘fashionista’ behaviour just like ‘pre – ripped’ or ‘pre-worn’ jeans. I have to constantly defend Leica against accusations of being simply ‘ male jewellery’ in my local camera club. Saying that you use a Leica usually provokes an adverse reaction from other photographers where I live. This does not bother me at all at the age I have reached, as ‘name-calling sensitivities’ no longer exist for me. Buying things for how they look as opposed to how they work or what they represent, historically speaking, is, however, the start of a different direction. Buying a Leica or a Fender for how it looks certainly justifies the ‘ male jewellery’ tag. Personally, I buy Leicas as cameras either to use or to collect but not as an enhancement to my own personal appearance. Others may perceive them as such, however, and as with Steven and his artificially enhanced M9, that is entirely their own perogative.
William
My M Monochrom (black chrome, NOT paint) was just starting to wear nicely (silvery look at the edges), but then Leica replaced the whole camera with a new one aft the sensor misdiagnosed and the replacement sensor too far on back order. My new M Monochrom (CCD) sadly lacks the finish wear to the edges that I liked so much on my old one, but I’m sure it will get there eventually.
My M-E is a proper (gray) paint finish, but it is proving to be quite sturdy. Oh well, it does at least have a very small scar where I tripped and hit a wall with it.
There is a huge market for brand new, so called ‘relic’ guitars, and bass guitars. The iconic Fender Company are prime exponents of this clever art, via their ‘Custom Shop’. These product are expensive, but look great. Just as if they’d picked up the wear genuinely, with time and use, and are highly sought-after. One can even specify the level of wear. Fender have studied the wear patterns on hundreds of their products, some dating from the 50s, just like Leicas, and replicated this.
But home-made ageing rarely works. I accept that one can do what one likes to one’s possessions. But I don’t understand this one. It looks totally naff; wear would never naturally occur to an M camera in this pattern. Sad, really.
When the lettering paint started to come off my M I felt a moment of panic. This feeling soon subsided as I realised that, done as it was in the heat of India, it was a badge of honour. A record of engagement and use. I can understand the urge to brass the camera for aesthetic reasons too, but wear through use surely has a special gravitas. Didn’t Leica do a ‘Lenny Kravitz’ pre-brassed Typ 240?
I am with you in this, Richard. I love the sight of a brassed M4 or MP (my own 2004 MP is getting there) but it has to be a naturally process.
A faked brassy camera will always look like a deliberately distressed brassy camera – because it’s impossible to mimic many years of good honestly acquired wear by using abrasive. One of the most charismatic Leica M4 bodies I’ve seen was shown to me by Peter Grasaffi when I visited him to collect a Leica repair. He proudly showed me the black paint M4 he’d just received for a service and the naturally acquired significant brassing spoke volumes about its travels and use. Look at such a camera’s natural brassing via a loupe and compare the magnified wear to that on a deliberately rubbed down black finish. The deliberately distressed finish on the pretender will show very obvious parallel tramlines and maybe also attempts to smooth them out – plus strange shiny non-oxidised scratches not visible on the naturally oxidised brass of the matured object d’art. I wonder what Freud might have said about such desecration?
dunk
I feel that the formation of the RSPCL may be coming on. Get a life chaps, it is only a camera. You wouldn’t do it, I wouldn’t do it, but, if Steven wants to do this to his own camera, it is his call.
For what its worth, I have quite a few ‘brassed up’ vintage Leicas, but I have never once bought one because of its level of ‘brassing’. The attraction in such cameras lies elsewhere for me. I certainly would not buy something like the ‘Lenny Kravitz’ artificially brassed camera as supplied by Leica AG. What were they thinking? Can you imagine trying to sell that in 50 years time. Lenny Who?
William
Idiotic.
Why am I reminded of noon day sun, mad dogs and Englishman !
Who said anything about Englishmen? Not guilty this time.
I totally agree with Frank’s comment below-how idiotic is that. A perfectly good M9 ruined. I agree it looks as if it has been done with an angle grinder. Who is he trying to fool?
This is the sort of nonsense along with silly ridiculously priced limited editions and other such silly embellishments which give Leica users a reputation being mere rich poseurs.
Before Steven feels the urge to set upon any more of his Leica gear with sandpaper ask him to give me a call and I will send him a piece of wood for him to practice on and he can send me the gear for safekeeping.
But anyway thanks Mike for posting the silliest photography story I have read for years.
Sorry, but how idiotic is that? A worn off Leica M shows that it has been well used–has seen many places, taken many 10 thousands of photos. A sign of honor. Call me a screwball, but I would never ever do this to my own (still brand new looking) black Leica M-P.
Besides that it is nothing but a fake. But if you feel the irresistable urge to do something like that, then PLEASE use a VERY fine paper, (1000 to 1500 grit). It looks more real. This looks like an angle grinders job! As Alexander correctly says: it is pure vandalism!
Frank
To Stephen’s point about humidity, I have a 90 year old I Model A that is entirely sans its black paint. It is brass all over. The indications, from the very rare early version of the ETRIN case (not the more usual half moon clasp item) that came with the camera, are that it spent a period of its long life in India, which may explain its lack of paint.
Brassed early Leicas and even the over-hyped 1950/60s black paint Ms can be regarded as in original condition with a lot of ‘brassing’, provided the wear was natural. This item would not qualify as being in original condition as it has been deliberately altered by its owner. That is the point, however; as Steven is the owner he can do whatever he wants with his own property.
William
You are quite right William. It’s Steven’s camera, he’s had it for over five years and it’s up to him what he does with it.
Over the years I have shaken hands with many people, and it is my observation that some people have dry hands and some people have wet hands. I don’t know whether others have noticed this, but I suspect I am right. However not being a physician, I have no idea why this is…
What I do know is that it is repeatable, i.e. the same people have the same handshake on repeated meetings.
So, my contention is that one type of hand might well have more of an impact regarding ‘brassing’ on the paintwork than the other? I don’t know either of these friends of yours Mike and I don’t know where Steven ordinarily lives, but Kai lives in a humid country now, which might also have an impact.
Interesting topic, but I am certainly not about to rummage around in my garage for a sheet of wet and dry to scrape the paint off of my beautiful M-P… It is an act of vandalism.
Stephen.