woodda Posted May 3, 2007 Share #1 Posted May 3, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) O do not tease me to much but which colour do people prefer and why. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted May 3, 2007 Posted May 3, 2007 Hi woodda, Take a look here Black or silver M8. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
marknorton Posted May 3, 2007 Share #2 Posted May 3, 2007 I have both and the chrome finish is proving more durable than the black, notwithstanding the fact that I took one of the black ones apart... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_tribble Posted May 3, 2007 Share #3 Posted May 3, 2007 2 black. For me they're less obtrusive. The black will wear, but if it's up to the same standard as the M6, it's really not an issue in my experience taking them into innumerable assignments. My biggest concern is the monitor, but again, my Canon's have taken an amazing amount of hammer and they're not protected in any way so I assume it will be comparable ... Only thing that might swing it for you is if you've got a lot of chrome lenses (all mine are black)... Choices, choices... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodda Posted May 3, 2007 Author Share #4 Posted May 3, 2007 Thanks. As I thought black is nce chrome wears better. but does that matter. As long as it wears with dignity Regards Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveEP Posted May 3, 2007 Share #5 Posted May 3, 2007 First I wanted chrome, then I wanted black, but I took the first available which was chrome, and have never really thought about it from there on. All my lenses are black. If / when I buy a second body, I will likely buy black just to make it obvisous which body I am picking up, nothing more than that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertknappmd Posted May 3, 2007 Share #6 Posted May 3, 2007 I have always favored silver... just personal preference but tempered by the fact that it has ALWAYS been better at resisting wear and tear... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eoin Posted May 3, 2007 Share #7 Posted May 3, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) I had made my mind up for a silver one. I came across a black one in the display case in Schipol airport I looked at it only to notice many fine scratches. The sales assistant offered me a new black one from stock only to discover when returning from the stock room that it was silver. Needless to say I was delighted but would have settled for black had it been black. In hindsight I think I made the right choice as the finish is very robust. I also have a few chrome lenses and prefer the look of chrome and more sturdy feel. I don't find the slight extra weight a problem. All this stealth talk is a red herring IMO, people will notice you and your behavior long before they would notice the camera. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted May 3, 2007 Share #8 Posted May 3, 2007 Not to mention the filters... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tashley Posted May 3, 2007 Share #9 Posted May 3, 2007 O do not tease me to much but which colour do people prefer and why. I have one of each and I marginally prefer the chrome, though (and I have never weighed them) I have a sneaky feeling that the black one weighs less. Why do I prefer the chrome? Because it is more inconspicuous, a virtue usually claimed for the black. I think the chrome looks like Granddad's camera: a sort of anachronistic throwback to when photographers were bumbling, polite amateurs. It looks friendly, elderly, and like it'll probably fog all the film in it. Whereas the black looks chic, modern, Darth Vader-ish, expensive. Now all of this may or may not be in my imagination but, whenever I'm about to shoot street, I reach for the chrome. Whether it is less visible or not I'll never truly know but it makes me feel less visible with it, and that matters. Might also have something to do with the fact that the first camera I ever used, around 40 years ago (and I'm only 46) was a chrome and leather rangefinder that in my memory was very similar. I think it was an Agfa... Best Tim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Penson Posted May 3, 2007 Share #10 Posted May 3, 2007 Which is harder to find? I hear leica is making more black than silver, so silver will be worth more in a few years, won't it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonoslack Posted May 3, 2007 Share #11 Posted May 3, 2007 Hi There Decisions decisions. But don't worry too much, you'll have both in a month or two; If you had told me when I bought my chrome body in November that I'd have a black one as well within 6 months I'd have told you that you were bonkers . . . . . but there it is, nestling in my bag. As for the finish - the black goes shiny quickly at the corners faster, but, truth to tell, both of them scuff/wear very easily, compared to my veritable E1 they show usage very quickly (and I've been careful too). Not sure that it matters as long as you plan to keep it. I do think that the black one looks smaller and thinner - and I think that swings it for me. Like Tim I reckon that the silver is less obtrusive - but neither are very noticeable, I've been asked about it once in six months, whereas with my Nikon gear there were always questions and comments. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted May 3, 2007 Share #12 Posted May 3, 2007 Well, I think black and silver chrome are about comparable in durability. Wear does show more on a black-chrome camera however when it gets 'brassed'. The effect was once much sought after by aspiring pro photogs who went at their cameras with steel wool, emery paper and various sharp instruments in order to achieve that heavily used and battle-scarred look that a macho's camera should have. Late M4-P cameras (from 1984) and then all M6 models used top plates manufactured from a zinc alloy. This was softer than the previously used brass, and a 'zinced' black M6 is not a pleasant sight in my opinion. A black paint or chrome camera which has been brassed by long but careful use does look dignified. It's just like antique furniture: If it still has the original finish, keep it even if worn. Refinishing it lowers the market value. With the M7 Leica went back to machined brass, and the M8 is Genuine German Brass too. So I would say, let it wear honestly, but handle the machine lovingly, as it deserves. Traces of abuse and ignorant use are sorry sights to see. The old man from the Age of the Roll-film Folder Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Photoskeptic Posted May 3, 2007 Share #13 Posted May 3, 2007 I've had both colors in M's of the past. While I have always prefered black, when it came time to order my M8 I went with chrome. Two reasons: first, the black wears more quickly than I would like. An early adopter (adapter?) showed pics of his heavily used version and it was showing what I would consider abnormal wear (brass showing) and my past version showed fingerprints like crazy. Second, my other two M's are chrome. They make sense from a practical and historical standpoint and while some worry about the stealth aspect, it never seemed to make any difference on the street if I was shooting my black or chrome. Either one should make you happy:) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlancasterd Posted May 3, 2007 Share #14 Posted May 3, 2007 Silver... My first M (an M2 in 1961) was silver as were almost all Ms at the time and it has always seemed to me that an M *should* be silver. In the 1990s I had a black M6 (it was that or nothing in the dealers when I bought it) for long enough to discover that black chrome wears more easily than silver and I've gone with silver Ms ever since - although my R8 is black... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted May 3, 2007 Share #15 Posted May 3, 2007 I have one of each and I marginally prefer the chrome, though (and I have never weighed them) I have a sneaky feeling that the black one weighs less. I've just weighed mine and they are within 1g - <0.2% - of each other! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted May 3, 2007 Share #16 Posted May 3, 2007 SILVER definitely: if not so, I would have already my M8... local dealer had a small batch of black only... silvers to arrive before 10 of May, he said, and I replied ONE IS MY ONE ! I have M2 M4 silver, IIIc IIIf silver, CL black, mainly silver lenses... I admit black is less obstrusive... but like silver. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cocker Posted May 3, 2007 Share #17 Posted May 3, 2007 a sort of anachronistic throwback to when photographers were bumbling, polite amateurs. Tim And what makes you think I'm not :) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry Posted May 3, 2007 Share #18 Posted May 3, 2007 I've heard it rumored that silver M8s are more reliable. ;-) Larry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wparsonsgisnet Posted May 3, 2007 Share #19 Posted May 3, 2007 Not to mention the filters... I have a solution for this. Some of us have many B-W 486 filters. When they have all been supplemented by Leica-branded ones, we can take the old 486 filters and have them made into sunglasses. When we wear these in public, they won't affect light passage, but *everyone* will notice the person who is wearing them -- and won't even perceive that there is a camera present. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wparsonsgisnet Posted May 3, 2007 Share #20 Posted May 3, 2007 I've just weighed mine and they are within 1g - <0.2% - of each other! Hey! That's not fair. Which is which? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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