Scott Root Posted July 19, 2007 Share #1 Posted July 19, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) I know that the chrome lenses are chrome plated on brass, but what about some of the titanium lenses? Are they plated or solid and solid on what? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 19, 2007 Posted July 19, 2007 Hi Scott Root, Take a look here Titanium lenses made of what?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
sdai Posted July 19, 2007 Share #2 Posted July 19, 2007 I think the old Ti M6 and related stuff are simply a thin layer of plating on brass while the late M7 Ti and accompanying lenses are sold titanium made. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted July 19, 2007 Share #3 Posted July 19, 2007 The 'titanium' lenses are electroplated with titanium on brass. Titanium or matte chrome plating does not look good on aluminum, so brass is necessary (while the black chrome anodizing takes well on aluminum; hence, silver chrome or titanium finished lenses are heavier, due to the brass). Titanium is an extremely hard metal and very difficult to machine. So 'titanium' cameras too are plating on brass, actually. Some time ago Leica did however machine an entire M7 (I think) on special order for a client who must have had lots of money and little idea what to do with them. So it can be done, but the cost must be extremely high, even in case of series production – long machine time, tools wearing quickly, etc. The old man from the Age of Machine Tools Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted July 19, 2007 Share #4 Posted July 19, 2007 The 'titanium' lenses are electroplated with titanium on brass. Titanium or matte chrome plating does not look good on aluminum, so brass is necessary (while the black chrome anodizing takes well on aluminum; hence, silver chrome or titanium finished lenses are heavier, due to the brass). Titanium is an extremely hard metal and very difficult to machine. So 'titanium' cameras too are plating on brass, actually. Some time ago Leica did however machine an entire M7 (I think) on special order for a client who must have had lots of money and little idea what to do with them. So it can be done, but the cost must be extremely high, even in case of series production – long machine time, tools wearing quickly, etc. The old man from the Age of Machine Tools ...right Lars... and machining Titanium is risky too... metal powders are very dangerous for health. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpattinson Posted July 19, 2007 Share #5 Posted July 19, 2007 I think this Leica Camera AG - Photography - Leica M7 Titanium is the titanium one you're thinking of. They say that the top, baseplate and controls are solid titanium. They don't specify if the lens is solid or coated. I've seen one of the anthracite lenses here in London and it's very nice to look at, but darned heavy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Branch Posted July 19, 2007 Share #6 Posted July 19, 2007 Excuse me - but why has this post been moved into the M8 section? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted July 19, 2007 Share #7 Posted July 19, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) It hasn't Peter, it's in the customer forum. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted July 19, 2007 Share #8 Posted July 19, 2007 I've seen one of the anthracite lenses here in London and it's very nice to look at, but darned heavy. In that case it is certainly not titanium - that is very light. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canfred Posted July 19, 2007 Share #9 Posted July 19, 2007 It seems not a lot is known about this metal. Titanium finish is not anodizing it is a vapor process. Titanium ions are bombardet into the surface at high speed ,in fact some microns deep. This "coating" is hard. Brass is not used for this. Most of our cutting tools are titanium nitrite treatet and so last much longer in production. Also worth noting Titanium bar and sheet is manufactured for industrial use it is machinable and can be weldet. We are doing this here for a US Instrument company. Some cameras are reported to have been made from titanium , we can see no reason why this should not be the case. However our CM is just titanium finish as per process above. Cheers Manfred Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpattinson Posted July 19, 2007 Share #10 Posted July 19, 2007 In that case it is certainly not titanium - that is very light. Yah, the anthracite ones are different again - apparently the coating is hand painted on The lens itself is rather nice, with a thin, ridged aperture ring. Was sold only in Japan according to the website, and only a few hundred made. I don't know if it was any heavier than the usual chrome lens though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted July 19, 2007 Share #11 Posted July 19, 2007 Many years ago I had an SME III tone arm on my turntable that used an arm tube made out of titanium - and carbon fibre for the platform that carried the cartridge. Advanced materials for its time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leitz_not_leica Posted July 21, 2007 Share #12 Posted July 21, 2007 Titanium is used in alloys, the most common being 3/2.5 or 6/4 Al/V. Pure Ti is too reactive in air, similar to Mg. The Ti bodies are Ti coated (I don't know the process), and don't have the advantage of being lighter and stronger than brass or zinc alloys. Cosmetic IMHO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicapages Posted July 22, 2007 Share #13 Posted July 22, 2007 The M6 and M6TTL in titanium finish are different from the M7 titanium. See under my webpages > highlights > M6 titanisiert and webpages > highlights > M7 titan for more information. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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