bencoyote Posted January 28, 2016 Share #1 Posted January 28, 2016 Advertisement (gone after registration) For anyone looking for that "old pro" look or to garner respect granted people in the Leica community who pull out a brassed camera, one that has the authentic look of years heavy use (not one of those pre-brassed faux Black Chrome" special editions). i seem to have inadvertently stumbled across a method of accelerated brassing which surprisingly rapidly begins to give your camera an authentic brassed look. The technique is actually quite simple. You run to a place where you are going to shoot while carrying the camera in a conventional backpack. It seems that friction of nylon while being gently jostled thousands of times while running to your shooting location gently removes the surface paint in all the locations frequently seen on the cameras of old pro's who have taken their Leicas to dozens of countries and shot for a multitude of magazines for years. You too can project the image of being a old grizzled pro without having to go through the effort of actually having to travel to far away destinations and shoot in dangerous situations or go through the bother of satisfying clients or even having to edit through thousands upon thousands of pictures. You can just pull out your elegantly brassed Leica with aplomb take a few shots and everyone will know that you have captured the magic in the moment and that there is some greatness in those few frames you have captured. ;-) 6 1 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 28, 2016 Posted January 28, 2016 Hi bencoyote, Take a look here Accelerated brassing. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Belle123 Posted January 28, 2016 Share #2 Posted January 28, 2016 How many miles or kilometers does it take? Ha! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elgenper Posted January 28, 2016 Share #3 Posted January 28, 2016 (edited) What´s the hurry? After 6 years, my M9 shows just a little brassing; OK with me. My black chrome MM has none; OK too. I´ve done nothing either to accelerate brassing or to protect the cameras against it (beyond reasonable care and respect for a fine instrument). And, while I myself am now both old and grizzled, I´m not a pro. If I were to emulate one, I´d rather do it through better pictures than with the look of my gear... (And, of course I get the tongue-in-cheek-ness of your post!) Edited January 28, 2016 by elgenper 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted January 28, 2016 Share #4 Posted January 28, 2016 Oh dear! Do you want to show us a photo of your prematurely aged M? LOL Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rus Posted January 28, 2016 Share #5 Posted January 28, 2016 (edited) Brassing looks quite good on the old M bodies... But the funny thing about the Leica M-P Correspondent is...If an M240 body shows that much of brassing merely several years after its initial release...one would perhaps raise serious doubts about the coating technique applied to it...XD Anyway, this reminds me so much of my old days dealing with airsoft firearm models and all the techniques for "ageing" them for the much coveted battered looks....XD My M9 shows a bit of brassing along the edges, too. I"m in no hurry to accelerate the process tho Edited January 28, 2016 by Rus Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bencoyote Posted January 28, 2016 Author Share #6 Posted January 28, 2016 How many miles or kilometers does it take? Ha! I think that the process is beginning in earnest after what I guess to be about 30mi or about 50km of running. 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECohen Posted January 28, 2016 Share #7 Posted January 28, 2016 Advertisement (gone after registration) Here's a fun fact ....Did you know that you can "patina" copper with horse urine? Ok I'm a little off topic. I too would like to see a photo of bencoyote's "patinated camera" Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jto555 Posted January 28, 2016 Share #8 Posted January 28, 2016 Jogging does that. Look at any jogger, do they look young and healthy while running? No they do not!!! Get a taxi, its healthier and much easier. Plus if you had to run a long distance, you may wonder why nobody wants to stand beside you... :D 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belle123 Posted January 28, 2016 Share #9 Posted January 28, 2016 Is interesting as picture of Overgaard's M240 on his article on the 50 APO Summicron is quite brassed already. Can't be that old. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrödinger's cat Posted January 29, 2016 Share #10 Posted January 29, 2016 old grizzled pro I got the first two thirds of that knocked already 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo63 Posted January 29, 2016 Share #11 Posted January 29, 2016 or you could just use the camera...... 26000 frames over nearly 3 years and my M240 is starting to show brassing on the baseplate, shutter button collar and top plate 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abram Posted January 29, 2016 Share #12 Posted January 29, 2016 My first reaction to the thread title was "oh no..." Yet I was still compelled to click. Then I read the post and got a good laugh from the tongue-in-cheek delivery. After a little over a year of reasonably heavy use my 240 has a couple wear points and scuffs. In some cases though the paint has chipped off rather than worn off, and I noticed some kind of bubble (kind of like the M6 zinc bubbles) in the paint as well. But none of these things make the camera work poorly, and it's just adding character through my journeys with it. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bencoyote Posted January 29, 2016 Author Share #13 Posted January 29, 2016 For those anxiously awaiting visual evidence of my soon to be patented accelerated brassing technique, here it is https://goo.gl/photos/TgxHu72NhbuXuKSM6 realize that my M240 is less than a year old, hasn't been out of the country yet, many days (like me) it never leaves the house, has never done a pro job and it probably only has in the vicinity of 15-20,000 shutter activations. Yet it is already developing the look of respectable character indicative of years of heavy use. The thing that is hard to show is that most of this happened over the course of just two outings. As I put in more miles and grind off even more paint, I'll keep this thread updated. Once it gets to a truly respectable level of braising I'll try the horse urine thing. However, I feel like I will need to hire a videographer to document the entire process from the locating a horse, to the aqusition of the precious fluid, through the chemical treatment of the camera case. If that works out maybe I'll start a new Leica 3rd party special edition camera line for truly discerning investors. I know somebody who works at the SF Zoo maybe I can even make some ultra-special editions using the byproducts of exotic animals. It could be like the civit coffee of the camera world. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted January 29, 2016 Share #14 Posted January 29, 2016 I like this thread let's see some brasses out leicas 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgk Posted January 29, 2016 Share #15 Posted January 29, 2016 Wear or paint stripper? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hepcat Posted January 29, 2016 Share #16 Posted January 29, 2016 Wear or paint stripper? If the owner is a former sailor, it's likely shined with Brasso. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdlaing Posted January 29, 2016 Share #17 Posted January 29, 2016 It ain't your belt buckle Rog. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
semi-ambivalent Posted January 29, 2016 Share #18 Posted January 29, 2016 How many miles or kilometers does it take? Ha! That distance should be 1 kz s-a Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belle123 Posted January 30, 2016 Share #19 Posted January 30, 2016 That distance should be 1 kz s-a Please fill me in on what "kz" stands for. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mornnb Posted January 30, 2016 Share #20 Posted January 30, 2016 So tacky. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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