Get my M4 painted black?

[PaulJohn]

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I'm thinking of getting my panda M4 painted black which will cost about £400. I purchased the camera for £600. How much will it be worth if I ever sell it? I know it wont be worth an original black paint M4 so presumably it will go for about £1000.

 

If I can get the money back on resale I will get it done.

 

Anyone know?

[Frase]

I don't think it will sell for that, considering a rough (I know its not black paint) black chrome m4 sells for £1000-1200.

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[michaelwj]

No one seems to get the chrome M4's printed, so I'd look at the M2 prices as a guide. A repainted M2 is bout 2x the cost of a chrome one. I can't see why the M4 would be any different except there are lots of official BP M4s for about 3x the cost of a chrome one ad opposed to the 100x for a BP M2.

[honcho]

I would have thought it is worth at least what you paid for it as it is. Would you have bought it at a premium knowing that it had been painted by someone?

[michaelwj]

If you get it done, make sure you get photo documentation of the process to show it was stripped to brass. Else a buyer will have to trust you trusting the painters work. And keep the receipt, or it's worth nothing. It needs provenance of the repaint.

[pico]

I do not trust repainting. Leica could not make black enamel right. How could anyone else?

Are the after-market people using powder paint and baking? That's all I trusted for my

custom motorcycle parts. It lasted for thirty years without wearing away.

.

Edited September 8, 2017 by pico

[michaelwj]

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I do not trust repainting. Leica could not make black enamel right. How could anyone else?

Are the after-market people using powder paint and baking? That's all I trusted for my

custom motorcycle parts. It lasted for thirty years without wearing away.

.

But pico, the paint is supposed to wear away! How else would you look like a photojournalist just returned from the from line?

[250swb]

I think it will be worth £600, there is no value in a paint job, the only person making money is the guy stripping the chrome and painting it. While the camera is in parts it's worth having the internals cleaned, lubricated, and adjusted at the same time, is this included in your £400 price?

[jaapv]

I don't think a repaint has any specific extra value. Maybe a couple of hundred $. The only reason to do so is if you like to spruce up a rough chrome camera and keep it.

If you find a higher asking price on eBay it will be a hopeful waiting for an over generous buyer.

[wattsy]

Personally, I'd expect to pay less for a third-party repainted M camera than for the equivalent camera in it's original finish.

[Guest Nowhereman]

Ian - What you say is logical, but is that what is actually happening in the market?

 

I've been thinking of having my M3, purchased in Dec 2016, painted black just because I prefer black cameras — provided I can get it done during the month I'm in Paris from 16 September — but I wouldn't be doing that with any thought that it would increase the cameras value. Do you want to "talk me down"

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[wattsy]

 

Ian - What you say is logical, but is that what is actually happening in the market?

 

 

I'm not sure, I think it depends upon the paint job. The impression I get is that a third-party repaint job done by someone with a solid reputation – e.g. Shintaro or Alan Starkie – does add a little value but only a couple of hundred pounds at best. Personally, I'm a little "OCD" about these kind of things and I would only pay a premium for a factory paint job (either original or later repaint). It is totally irrational but a non-factory repaint would bother me, even if it was indistinguishable from (or even superior to) a Leica factory repaint.

[romualdo]

I do not trust repainting. Leica could not make black enamel right. How could anyone else?

Are the after-market people using powder paint and baking? That's all I trusted for my

custom motorcycle parts. It lasted for thirty years without wearing away.

.

Just out of interest, what type of motorcycles?

[PaulJohn]

I'm strangely attached to the M4. I would prefer perhaps a metered body but not sure I can part with the M4. Thinking I will use my M4 for outdoors where I am confident in my exposure and use the MP for indoors. As both are silver I am on the fence about painting one of them black. The thought that if I do sell it in 6 months I would not lose the £400 makes it a no brainer. If it's just for me then I don't trust myself to keep it long enough to get the value out of it.

[pico]

Just out of interest, what type of motorcycles?

'46-56-66 Harley FLH, '81BMW 100RS, and lots of stockers since 1960.

 

http://www.digoliardi.net/butcher.jpg

Edited September 10, 2017 by pico

[romualdo]

'46-56-66 Harley FLH, '81BMW 100RS, and lots of stockers since 1960.

 

http://www.digoliardi.net/butcher.jpg

Nice!!

 

I restored a couple of Ducati singles in the early 80's (450 orange Desmo, 250 Desmo "Silver Shotgun"); had a BMW 90/6 from 1984 to 2007 & currently riding a 75/5 (since 2007); one of my favourite bikes has been a beautiful Gilera 150

[Guest Nowhereman]

...Personally, I'm a little "OCD" about these kind of things and I would only pay a premium for a factory paint job (either original or later repaint). It is totally irrational but a non-factory repaint would bother me, even if it was indistinguishable from (or even superior to) a Leica factory repaint.

 

I checked with Wetzlar on repainting an M3 — they don't do it because they don't have enough parts.

 

A web search shows that Shintaro is highly considered, but his timeframe is out of my league. Kanto also has a good reputation: they quote 3 months for repainting but sometimes deliver in one month.

 

There's also "itscoolmasa": they take less than a week and also strip the chrome and bake the paint job. Someone on RFF warned to "stay away" from them, but offered to reasons. The pictures of their work look good. Anyone here have any experience with itscoolmasa?

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[colint544]

If it's any help, I had a very rough chrome M2 repainted by Kanto Cameras, back in 2013. I sent the camera to Bellamy Hunt (Japan Camera Hunter) and he sorted everything out. Kanto won't just repaint a camera, they do a proper CLA too. I've no complaints at all with the whole service. Kanto replaced some shutter components and cleared the condensation in the viewfinder. The black paint it came back in was mirror smooth.

 

It wasn't cheap, but that M2 is now the smoothest and quietest camera I own, by some margin. It looks fabulous and I trust it completely. Use it all the time, it's lovely.

Edited September 14, 2017 by colint544