Re: [Leica] re: chrome cleaning

["Bryan Caldwell" <bcaldwell@softcom.net>]

In 1992 I met Jim Marshall and was a guest in his home on a couple of
occasions. We talked about Leicas and he signed prints for me. I remember
very well the M4 that is currently being discussed because it had a
Leicavit. Marshall has a lot of Leicas - M4's and M2's. He uses them hard,
but he also buys used and when I knew him he'd just bought an M4 that was
already pretty brassy. He liked the M2's because he's a big fan of the
Leicavit. I think the real interesting thing about the M4 that's been
discussed is not its finish (or lack of), but the fact that it was modified
with an M2 drive system so that a Leicavit could be installed. It's
interesting as well that the Titanium M6 shown in American Photo also has a
Leicavit installed and, therefore, must have been similarly modified.

The accompanying text seems a little misleading, though. It made it sound as
if he was making a change from the use of one single camera to another. He
has quite a few and uses them all.


Bryan

- ----- Original Message -----
From: B. D. Colen <bdcolen@earthlink.net>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Friday, October 22, 1999 5:45 AM
Subject: RE: [Leica] re: chrome cleaning


>
> > > Whatever your attitude to how the gear that you use looks, would
> > > anybody actually pay more for ugly gear?
> >
> > Well...... I can actually see myself pay some more for a camera with
> > lots of brassing and some dents.
>
> ------
>
> If anyone ever wondered if "the medium is the message," the answer sits
> above...
>
> I realize I'm being insulting, but this is one of the more bizarre things
> I've ever read on this list...Not liking the way brassing looks, but
saying
> that one would actually pay a premium to get a camera that was beaten
> up...Jim Marshall's cameras look the way they do because he has beaten the
> hell out of them over the years TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS...Intentionally buying
a
> particularly "well brassed" camera is akin to purposely buying a
3-year-old
> car with 100,000 miles on it. Why would you possibly want something that
you
> know has had a tremendous amount of wear?
>
> If one is really so interested in having people think that one is a hard
> working photographer who has dodged bombs and nightsticks, go buy a camera
> in the best condition you can find and rub the finish off...then you'll
have
> the best of both worlds - a camera you know is mechanically sound, and a
way
> to fool people you want to fool....
>
> SCRATCHING MY HEAD IN ABSOLUTE BEFUDLMENT AND WAITING FOR TED GRANT TO
WEIGH
> IN ON THIS ONE, I REMAIN...
>
> DR. BLACKTAPE
>