Dear Leica friends, I was said the M6 TTL and the new M7 received a new black coating much more resistant to scratches. Do you have some (good or bad) experience in black. Should I choose a black or silver M. Thanks and best regards

-- michel vandeput (michel.vandeput@ville.namur.be), March 18, 2002

Answers

I haven't had the chance to scratch an M7 yet but My TTL is very unscratchable.

In case you haven't already checked, check out the dozen or so postings on black vs chrome within the last year.

-- Michael Kastner (kastner@zedat.fu-berlin.de), March 18, 2002.

The first thing to consider is that the M7 is only available in silver with a .72 mag viewfinder, so this may affect your choice anyway. The black finish on my M6TTL seems very hard wearing, any marks rubbing off with a wet thumb. But it seems neither better nor worse than my M4-P.

-- Steve Barnett (barnet@globalnet.co.uk), March 18, 2002.

As I've said many times before on this Forum, black is THE professional standard--all other finishes on cameras are merely pretenders. Photographs:Pictures::Black cameras:Non-black cameras. It's that simple. Sure, a titanium finish may not show any wear for a thousand years, but who wants that? And silver [chrome]? Buy a Schwinn, a Hyundai, a Tamron lens while you’re at it. Black cameras make photographs, people don’t.

When the Contax T3 first came out, I decided to hold out for the black version which Kyocera later announced would soon be available with black accessories. As soon as it came out, I plopped down $750 without batting an eye. The only cameras-of-another-color I have are a Nikon F and a Hasselblad 500 CM. I only use the F for copy work, so there's not too much likelihood that someone would actually see me using it. I've never had any trouble with the Hasselblad, but then traditionally the chrome Hasselblad has been the more prevalent version.

If you have no pride in your professionalism, then go for the common chrome and titanium finishes and watch as your subjects get up and leave when they see you pointing it at them. Be ready to blend in with the "point-'n-shoot" crowd with their other chrome and ersatz titanium-finish, 18-250mm-zoom-equipped, polycarbonate toys. Real men wear black and that means their accessories, too. This shouldn't even be a decision, it should have been inculcated as a reflex, genetically hardwired into every real, professional photographer. Pass it on, Man. The reason they don’t make a black version (yet) is because they’re waiting for all the (gotta-have-the-latest-thing) amateurs to pay for the paint by buying the chrome version immediately. A professional bides his time and, like a Buddha at the threshold to Nirvana, lets the less enlightened enter first with a polite “After you.”

-- Cosmo Genovese (cosmo@rome.com), March 18, 2002.

Since the M7 top plate is brass, I don't know if it's possible to anodize it black or if Leica ever made flat black chrome over brass. It must be painted black (?).

-- chris chen (chrischen@msn.com), March 18, 2002.

Chris The M7 top plate is black 'chrome' (anodized), not paint until the next overpriced special edition. It is possible to put just about any finish on brass.

-- Steve Barnett (barnet@globalnet.co.uk), March 18, 2002.

Get the black. That way you get black lenses which are lighter than the chrome, which are just too darn heavy for my taste. Go to a camera store and feel the heft of a chrome 21, 35lux and 50lux.

-- Bob Haight (rhaigh5748@aol.com), March 18, 2002.

Ease up Cosmo. Whether you choose black or chrome its the fact that its a Leica that matters. Choose chrome v black based on your personal asthetics not becuause of some notion of what true pros go with. Geez...

-- Jay Bee (JBee193@aol.com), March 18, 2002.

Jay Bee,

Tongue-in-cheek, Jay Bee--tongue-in-cheek.

-- Cosmo Genovese (cosmo@rome.com), March 18, 2002.

take the chrome!

-- Gil Gracia (gil-garcia@worldnet.att.net), March 18, 2002.

Cosmo:

You should have put a smiley :-) after your post!

-- Muhammad Chishty (applemac97@aol.com), March 18, 2002.

Cosmo - glad to hear your posting was tongue in cheek, but it seemed a bit too authoritative to be in jest...

Best, J

-- Jay Bee (JBee193@aol.com), March 18, 2002.

Silver version is fine, but have you ever considered how poetic sounds an old black Leica, very, very used? That is a true Leica, because it has been used for what it was created! And the black colour is the sign of the professional use of the camera. Joe

-- Joe Pelizza Salusso di Volpedo (breglumasi@hotmail.com), March 18, 2002.

Get what you like, Michael.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), March 18, 2002.

Black absorbs more heat from the sun than the chromes (if you ever shoot in hot countries)!

-- Karl Yik (karl.yik@dk.com), March 18, 2002.

Black absorbs more heat from the sun than the chromes (if you ever shoot in hot countries)!

Ah yes, but it also re-radiates said heat more efficiently. Why do you think the titanium skinned SR-71 "Blackbird" spy-planes were painted black?

(Sorry, totally OT I know but the Industrial Chemist in me couldn't resist!)

-- Andrew Nemeth (azn@nemeng.com), March 18, 2002.

Depends on what you are wearing.

-- Jeff Spirer (jeff@spirer.com), March 18, 2002.

What happened to those 30s snakeskin jobs in red and green - and later commemorative M6s with matching gold plating?

-- David Killick (dalex@inet.net.nz), March 19, 2002.

Cosmo gets it all wrong!!

Chromes can be exposed properly only in a chrome camera, and black and white film in a black camera, preferably an LHSA model, which is in fact black and white itself ;-)

Me? I have both. As has been said before, black lenses look fine on a chrome body, chrome lenses look wierd on a black body. The modern M6 chrome finish seems rock hard. My camera has taken quite a few knocks. Compared to my 70s era cameras, the finish is not easily marred.

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), March 19, 2002.

Black looks better if you plan to use it with a leica motor drive.

-- Karl Yik (karl.yik@dk.com), March 19, 2002.

I have two M6s, one in chrome and the other black. Normally I carry both. My lenses are all black.

It seems that black body attracts lesser attention in public... especially with the 35mm ASPH summicron. That's why when I required only one body, I picked the black.

-- Joe Lee (joelee@1388.com), March 19, 2002.

fer sure git a chrome!!! only the chrome cameras are made in solms (export restrictions!!). all yer black cameras are portugese-made. trust me -- it MAKES a DIFFERENCE!!

-- roger michel (michel@tcn.org), March 20, 2002.

Günter Osterloh (in Solms) once told me that they are now all made in Germany. None in Portugal any more, none in Canada any more.

-- Michael Kastner (kastner@zedat.fu-berlin.de), March 21, 2002.

The silver M-6 is a much smarter looking camera than the black anodized job; the silver chrome is probably more durable in terms of retaining it's new appearance with time and use. Lenses: Take the silver every time! Brass is the material to be used for high quality lenses unles costs do not matter and then use 18-8 SS. The aluminum is cheaper and, true, lighter, but for depandable quality over the years, take the silver chrome plating over real- honest-to-goodness-brass!

-- Bill Carson (KE7GMx@cs.com), March 21, 2002.