What happens with the zinc M6 paint?

[jdlaing]

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Brass will have been nickel plated before being silver chrome or black chrome plated. But just as brass non-magnetic zinc is also non-magnetic, so magnets wouldn't prove anything about the metal. I suspect a magnet is being attracted to the nickel plating.

 

Steve

 

Then the top plate must be nickel plated brass as well.

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[250swb]

Which makes it a fairly rare late production M6 TTL after Leica used up all the M6 zinc top plates and started using M7 top plates but inscribed with the different text. Leica also did a special edition M6 TTL with a brass top plate but the brass top went into the general production run right at the end. The M7 finish can often be identified just by it being very matt black, and very sharped edged. I wish the last production spec of the M6 TTL was still available, I had one with the same brass top plate and it was a wonderful camera, but foolishly I sold it.

 

Steve

[CalArts 99]

fwiw, from Tom Abrahamsson: "Oh, they abandoned the zinc baseplate idea. It was too difficult to make the "hinge" where the plate attaches to the camera strong enough and after use it started to crack. Brass is more "flexible" and could take the on/off and twisting motion. Another reason why I abandoned zinc for the Rapidwinder housing. The alloy I use is much more flexible and also much stronger than the zinc alloy (and considerably more expensive too!) and can be CNC-machined to very tight tolerances." Leica FAQ — Brass vs. Zinc

 

From my (limited) understanding, it was always only top plates that were made from zinc.

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[Guest]

With a magnet.

In my case a magnet will stick to top and bottom plate on my M6 TTL.

It will not stick to my M8.2.

 

Did you take the bottom plate off the camera for this magnet test, that you did yourself with your M6TTL?

[jdlaing]

Did you take the bottom plate off the camera for this magnet test, that you did yourself with your M6TTL?

 

Yes. With the bottom plate off.

[Guest]

Can confirm: base plate non-magnetic, except around the turn-locking device, while the top plate of the M6TTL is magnetic all over. The bottom plate not having a serial number could have been exchanged.

 

On the M8 the top plate is only magnetic above the finder, probably due to the components underneath.

[too old to care]

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I tried my M6TTL that I bought new in 1998, a magnetic does not stick to the top or bottom plate. I am pretty sure mine is zinc because it is a black chrome model that is wearing off slightly near the advance lever. I do wish it were silver (chrome), but when I bought it with the .85 finder, black chrome was all I could get. Also, the camera has seen its fair share of use, and other than a slightly gray color near the advance lever, it still looks like new, works that way too.