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Depends. How clumsy and accident prone are you?

Black chrome is tough. Short of dropping it down a flight of stairs, you won't see much brass. Very heavy use may cause the silver zinc coating to show through along the edges of the top and bottom plates. You'll need to chip or gouge it to see the brass.

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Whether silver chrome or black chrome it's the same chrome coating, so for guidance look at how often you see brass showing on a silver chrome camera. After the silver or black coating has rubbed away from an edge there is still the nickel coating underneath. My feeling is that by the time brass is showing the camera will be generally shabby due to it's age and use.

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M-A is either black chrome or silver chrome. It should not brass. Except extreme use for decades. Just look at silver M3 some can show brass, but they are usually in very bad shape. 

MP is black laquered, it can brass easily. 

Edited by nicci78
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7 minutes ago, williamj said:

Excellent question, to which I ask when will they make the M-A in black paint like the MP. When that camera ships I will part with hard earned cash.

You and me both!  My black chrome M-A needs a little friend. 

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31 minutes ago, kivis said:

Look at this "extreme" Brassing on chrome.

 

Is that Winogrand's camera? I think you'd have to use a chrome camera as much as him to see any real brassing.

I actually quite like the black chrome burnished and silvery patina though.

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39 minutes ago, kivis said:

Look at this "extreme" Brassing on chrome.

 

I feel that camera just looks dirty… I don’t mind the brass around the corners but looking at the top, I just see what appears to be grime. These cameras are expensive so at least clean them. 

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I think a bit of brassing just goes to show how many films were shot with this camera, Winogrand had over 4000 undeveloped films when he died never mind the number that had already been through it in a professional career.

Edited by 250swb
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45 minutes ago, 250swb said:

I think a bit of brassing just goes to show how many films were shot with this camera, Winogrand had over 4000 undeveloped films when he died never mind the number that had already been through it in a professional career.

Brassing is OK if it is genuine, however when you see brassing on parts that would receive very little wear in normal use it shows it is not. Take a look at a black paint camera that has brassed and it is obvious what parts will show the worn areas.

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30 minutes ago, kivis said:

Folks this was Gary Winograd's M4 after 4000 rolls of film.

Way more than 4000 I'd say. I've exposed more than 4000 rolls in a couple of the cameras I own and none of them looks anywhere near this bad.

I can't imagine how badly you'd have to treat a chrome plated camera for it to look like this.

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1 hour ago, kivis said:

Folks this was Gary Winograd's M4 after 4000 rolls of film.

No after a using this camera in a professional career he still had 4000 rolls of film left to develop after he died. If you can’t comprehend the wear a professional camera gets don’t try to make fun of how it ends up. So what would that be, fifteen years with this camera and given his shooting records maybe 20 or more rolls a day (probably a wild underestimate), so work it out for yourself.

Edited by 250swb
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