Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/06/23

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Subject: [Leica] Ti = titanium?
From: Frank Dernie <FrankDernie@compuserve.com>
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1999 05:27:22 -0400
 
Raimo Korhonen wrote:
I am not sure what the "Ti" really stands for but I have seen a used but
not old Olympus 4 Ti (champagne color) and it was a sad sight indeed - not
solid titanium, no way - not paint either but an incredibly thin layer of
titanium. Maybe they had used up all titanium making microscopes - if they
had the guts, that is.
All the best!
Raimo

The OM4 has no titanium in it at at all. The OM4Ti and OM3Ti both have
solid titanium top and bottom plates which are painted either black or
champagne. The incredibly thin layer to which you refer IS the paint. Many
cameras refered to as titanium are titanium "coloured". As a long time user
of titanium forengineering purposes I can assure you allthat ttanium
without a surface finish would show fingerprints badly. It has minimal
benefits as a material for  use in cameras (or microscopes). The Leica
titanium finish is, I believe, a hard Titanium oxide plating on brass.
Cheers Frank