[Leica] Black paint and pure bromide

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Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 07:28:53 -0500

From: Mike Johnston <michaeljohnston@ameritech.net>

Subject: [Leica] Black paint and pure bromide

Message-ID: <B615A4B5.3CC%michaeljohnston@ameritech.net>

References: 


Apropos of nothing, I find it amazing that a _black paint_ Leica is now a

prized, limited collector's item...what was originally a chintzy,

utilitarian finish that wore poorly. It's really interesting how these

things get turned around. Another example is that chlorobromide papers were

originally considered to be the best quality, and "pure bromide" papers were

used principally for their speed and principally for repro work, e.g. in

newspaper darkrooms. Then, in the '30s, when the tide turned to "straight"

work, a number of art photographers turned to printing on bromide papers as

a way of expressing their anti-ostentation. By the '80s, makers and venders

were advertising "pure bromide" paper as if it were the very soul of high

quality, and chlorobromide papers were considered less desirable. And so it

goes.


Don't get me wrong, I like both bromide papers and black-paint Leicas. I

guess I just don't understand why black paint can't be an everyday option on

an ordinary Leica, instead of costing as much extra as a mid-level EOS.


- - --Mike>>

Hi Mike,

I'm glad to see you are posting again. I hope everyone "plays nice" in the 
sandbox this time.

Now, I thin the short answer to your question is that it is "what the market 
will bear" that keeps the prices high. When you look at the number of black 
paint cameras released this year (2000 Millennium + 1250 LHSA cameras) it 
seems that with some 3200 black paint cameras out there that these aren't 
particularly "rare"...but yet it was reported to me that on ebay a LHSA .72 
camera sold for $3200 and I have personally sold Millenniums for as much as 
$5000. On the older cameras (M4, M2, KE7A, M3, MP in that order) it is even 
worse!

What is the utilitarian "non collector" to do in this enviroment? I guess the 
best option is to just take a beat up M camera (with a brass top and base 
plate) and send it to Shintaro or Metzcar or Tak. to paint.

For $400-$1000 any camera can be made into a "black" paint camera good enough 
to shoot with. I have seen more of these then I would have believed this 
year...especially with the abundance of black paint cameras out there on the 
"new" market.

I think the analogy with papers is a bit flawed btw...as that was driven 
mostly by marketing of the companies...while the "black paint" phenomena 
seems to have been driven by the market way before Leica jumped on board.

That is how I see it at least. 

Rich