M10 wear

[Marckyokay]

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43 minutes ago, chasdfg said:

I offer no solution but just wanted to add that I did the same as you. My watch made a mark on the top plate of my M10 mono and I used a damp cloth, alcohol swabs and eraser and all it did was leave an uneven mark right smack where your Leica script is. Using oil-based moisturiser and more alcohol swabs didn't work to remove the new marks. I suspect they are all caused by the eraser.

My strap lug areas are also marked, but that comes naturally with use. I can't un-see the top-plate marks though. It's only visible at some angles, but it's there, and at a location which rarely gets worn (so i suspect i will be left with this eyesore whilst the other parts of the body naturally "brass" and wear down).

The way this finish picks up particles is ridiculous. If eraser can "taint" the finish of the camera, it's downright silly paint to use. It picks substances up and leaves it there. I very much prefer black paint - it doesn't leave simple marks so easily and wears in the right places unless you wish to Kravitz it artificially. My M240 took a while to mark despite being black paint, but when it started it started doing so with ease.

I have yet to use WD40 (the only thing else I haven't tried), but I am sceptical it works. I can't imagine the top coat of the first-first layer of the paint to have been removed by the eraser but rather the particles from the eraser adhered to the top layer of the paint. This is why I suspect a substance that can "dislodge" the particles off the first layer may work.

 

I feel you and am definitely with you here...
It is ridiculous how easily  the chrom finish of the M10-P, M10-D, M10-M wears...
Natural wear around the edges that are touched frequently (even the strap lug area) "polish" beautifully. But it is much too easy to mark the camera with this finish...

I loved the original standard black M10 finish for it's metallic looking, slightly more shiny chrom. This super matte M10-P finish is just too fragile and ... "too matte" for me.

After causing this dilemma, I would be glad for every normal mark and scratch and polish that happens "in action", but can't unsee the mess that I caused by myself. It's a bitter taste and I totally understand your feelings. 

As I was told by Kanto Camera in Kawasaki, this matte finish is rather "rough" in it's structure and a soft eraser with tiny polishing particles, as most erasers have, is enough to polish down the finish. 
I'm afraid there is nothing we can do about it except letting Leica exchange the top plate. Which I'm going to do after my first dent or mishap in action will occur. I stopped babying the camera and will use it like my old film M and when the first accident happens and I mark it badly, I probably will exchange the top plate to get rid of this user-error I caused (or maybe I won't...).
If Leica will open their customer service anytime soon again... I wanted to send them a lens and they kindly asked me not to since they are overrun by work and only working in a very small team in Wetzlar due to the Corona Crisis...

[mujk]

So Leica actually changed something in the black chrome coating between the original M10 and later variants? Interesting. 

I agree that those marks you produced yourself as a result of some mistake or oversight are the most disturbing ones. Those that were caused only by frequent by use, like the brassing on my M9, are for some reason much more "acceptable". Fortunately,  image quality just seems to improve with every scratch in the paintwork 🙂

[dickgillberg]

I agree, the black chrome on my M10P are very fragile. I had my old Leica leather strap with some metallic studs witch you can change the length with. Had in my bag one day and the metal scratched the top plate. I've tried to get rid of it but it don't work. Very annoying. I used the same strap for years with my black paint MP without any wear.   

[evikne]

After three years of use, the only place my M10 has got a little wear is under the screen's lower edge after hanging from my shoulder. I split a piece of insulation tape to half the width and attached over it. The tape is almost invisible, and it protects the camera from more wear.

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Edited April 12, 2020 by evikne

[RF’sDelight]

Use them, wear them, let them have battle scars! 😎 

First thing I do with before using a new M: removing the foil at the bottom plate. And there are other signs of wear I’m not afraid of…

Am 5.8.2019 um 16:10 schrieb RF’sDelight:

Here is a comparison of a pre-owned M4 from 1974 and my actual M10-D. I’m so glad Leica skipped these little plastic bumpers with the M10 series. 😊

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PS: My silver chrome M10 has two dents on the top after I dropped it two times. According to Leica CS a replacement of the top plate with necessary CLA is around 600 €.

[DwF]

I have seen evidence of this as well, not yet on my own M10 but others, including one that I went to look at to purchase from a private owner, one in a store for sale used, and in pictures of used ones for sale. The Black chrome paint is either very thin or wears easier than other M bodies I have seen or had with similar finish. I brought the subject up back in December at the Soho Store where the response I received was that the black would wear to a layer of chrome which was quite thick before that would wear to reveal the brass.

I know from long experience that classical guitarists who either are smokers or simply have higher acidic content when they perspire, begin to wear the silver winding of their strings in an hour of play and kill the strings!

David

[jdlaing]

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3 hours ago, DwF said:

I have seen evidence of this as well, not yet on my own M10 but others, including one that I went to look at to purchase from a private owner, one in a store for sale used, and in pictures of used ones for sale. The Black chrome paint is either very thin or wears easier than other M bodies I have seen or had with similar finish. I brought the subject up back in December at the Soho Store where the response I received was that the black would wear to a layer of chrome which was quite thick before that would wear to reveal the brass.

I know from long experience that classical guitarists who either are smokers or simply have higher acidic content when they perspire, begin to wear the silver winding of their strings in an hour of play and kill the strings!

David

Black Chrome is not a paint. It’s a chemical process. It is very easy to mark or damage. 

[adan]

But there is still a lot of variation possible in that (electro)chemical process. As well as a certain amount of - imprecision - in using the term "black chrome," since electroplating is not the only way of adding a black finish to metal (even excluding anodizing and paint).

I strongly doubt that the "black chrome" on an M10 is identical, in either detailed process or final result, to that used on the M5, M4-2/P, M6/M7, or even the M8. Technology changes, and cost considerations change also (is it worthwhile coating a camera with a 5-10-year life expectancy to the same durability as on one intended for a 50-year or "lifetime" life expectancy?)

As I recall, Leica dropped any chrome finish on the M9, because of workplace/environmental safety concerns (it involves poisonous materials). Leica worked out a new process for the M9-P, which has been used for cameras since then.

And it is my experience that black chrome appears less durable than silver chrome simply because both are underlaid with a layer of silver nickel plating. Rub silver chrome, and all you see is more silver (nickel) - rub black chrome, and the silver nickel underneath shows through more obviously.

Edited April 22, 2020 by adan

[DwF]

3 hours ago, jdlaing said:

Black Chrome is not a paint. It’s a chemical process. It is very easy to mark or damage. 

My poor choice of word!  I get that and was thinking of BC finish vs black paint. Thanks for the clarification. I had been thinking that my M262, while it appears similar to BC is an anodized finish on aluminum, and seems to be more durable than the Black Chrome.

David

[jdlaing]

5 minutes ago, DwF said:

My poor choice of word!  I get that and was thinking of BC finish vs black paint. Thanks for the clarification. I had been thinking that my M262, while it appears similar to BC is an anodized finish on aluminum, and seems to be more durable than the Black Chrome.

David

It probably is.

[DwF]

Bottom line, it's a wonderful camera the M10. And like a good musical instrument, whether a nice Telecaster or Stradivarius, it needs to be played, upon which wear happens!

David

[Marckyokay]

On 4/18/2020 at 9:30 PM, RF’sDelight said:

Use them, wear them, let them have battle scars! 😎 

First thing I do with before using a new M: removing the foil at the bottom plate. And there are other signs of wear I’m not afraid of…

PS: My silver chrome M10 has two dents on the top after I dropped it two times. According to Leica CS a replacement of the top plate with necessary CLA is around 600 €.

I’m also one of the bottom plate foil - removers 🤓

And that’s interesting information... Leica Wetzlar told me the top plate with installation would be at least 1000€... Who did you speak to?

[RF’sDelight]

Am 6.5.2020 um 13:29 schrieb Marckyokay:

I’m also one of the bottom plate foil - removers 🤓

And that’s interesting information... Leica Wetzlar told me the top plate with installation would be at least 1000€... Who did you speak to?

So we are two at least. 😁 Need to look it up. I will get back to you.

[Infantasy]

I fully understand your bad feeling on the wears. I had a scratch mark caused by the metallic viewfinder on the top plate of my M3. So I wrap the top plate of my M10-P by protection film though so many members here advised they didn't like to do  that. 

[Marckyokay]

5 hours ago, Infantasy said:

I fully understand your bad feeling on the wears. I had a scratch mark caused by the metallic viewfinder on the top plate of my M3. So I wrap the top plate of my M10-P by protection film though so many members here advised they didn't like to do  that. 

To each their own! I totally relate to the temptation to wrap expensive gear in protection. I do that to my Apple devices, because I sell them every few years. But the camera is supposed to get my fingerprint. Whatever happens in action is fine, but my own stupidity... oh dear I don't want to see my fingerprint that reads "idiot"  

On 5/8/2020 at 9:53 PM, RF’sDelight said:

So we are two at least. 😁 Need to look it up. I will get back to you.

Thanks RF'sDelight!

[nuc001]

I saw a smudge on my M10-P yesterday and rubbed it with my finger, maybe too vigorously because I saw the brass start to glint through. The matte paint is indeed not very durable tbh.

[dkmoore]

1 hour ago, nuc001 said:

I saw a smudge on my M10-P yesterday and rubbed it with my finger, maybe too vigorously because I saw the brass start to glint through. The matte paint is indeed not very durable tbh.

can you provide a pic? I'm curious to see.

[nuc001]

19 hours ago, dkmoore said:

can you provide a pic? I'm curious to see.

Will do when I get home, although honestly it's just a speck of gold glinting in the light. I will try whether I can catch it. 

[nuc001]

On 5/11/2020 at 5:58 PM, dkmoore said:

can you provide a pic? I'm curious to see.

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Cannot seem to get it to glint in the light today but there is a little golden speck on the top plate just above the strap fixture. The abrasion from the strap was probably there before I noticed it but when I rubbed with my fingers more paint came off just like that 😂

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[dkmoore]

29 minutes ago, nuc001 said:

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Cannot seem to get it to glint in the light today but there is a little golden speck on the top plate just above the strap fixture. The abrasion from the strap was probably there before I noticed it but when I rubbed with my fingers more paint came off just like that 😂

Interesting. I’ve seen other black chrome cameras that wear to silver first. Maybe they eliminated or reduced the coating for purists like me that want to see some brassing. (Ha, prob not) 
 

My M10P is silver but my M10M is black chrome but the finish seems fairly tough. 
 

now my film MP on the other hand has a crap paint job. Bought in January I believe. But I’m ok with that because I want it to look like crap. Lol. 

Edited May 12, 2020 by dkmoore