[Leica] Shintaro

[Stephen Gandy <leicanikon@earthlink.net>]

Javier,

have you even seen one of Shintaro's paint jobs?

from your comments, it doesn't sound like it, since just about everything
you say is incorrect.  he removes the chrome before painting, the quality
of the paint job is superb, usually better than original Leica factory
paint jobs.    Shintaro has spent years learning his craft, takes great
pride in it, and does a wonderful job.    His personal M3  was sanded down
to give a worn appearance -- a style popular in Japan.

 The quality of Shintaro's paint jobs is generally as good,  and usually
better,  than all of the original Leica factory black paint M3, M2, and M4
examples I have owned.     Shintaro often has a smoother paint finish, and
he uses a much tougher quality paint finish which resists wear better.
Leica has never in my opinion turned out the best black paint jobs.  I say
this after comparing original black paint Leica M's to original black paint
Nikon SP's and Canon L-1's.    Sometimes original black paint M3's and M2's
who up with a great deal (sometimes even most) of the black paint worn off.
It's not because the photog used the camera heavily, it's because Leica did
a poor paint job on the classic M's.    You will never see wear patterns
like that on classic Nikons or Canons because they used better quality
paint.      Leica's paint problems continued on the black paint M6
Milleniums, whose  paint is often thin and uneven because Leica had not
produced a black paint camera in decades.   As Solms gained more paint
experience,  M6 paint quality improved considerably.   The Green M6 version
of the Millenium is a beauty, far better than the black Millenium.

bottom line, Solms will be doing quite well if they can consistently
produce black paint cameras as good as Shintaro.

Stephen Gandy


Javier Perez wrote:

> Hi
> The camera he shows as a sample which on it's second
> paint job seems to show chroming rather than brassing.
> That it's on it's second paint job sez something about
> the paint. Note that on a factory painted top the
> proportion of black scratches with respect to metal
> scratches is high but his scratches all seem to go to
> metal indicating that the base coat is soft or perhaps
> non existent. I'm not sure how factories do it but
> apparently they use several light heterogenous coats
> and the first ones are dull and extremely hard so that
> if a scratch does penetrate the semi gloss top coat(s)
> it still doesn't brass. That's what I heard annyway.
> But whatever the case, there's a lot more to producing
> a top quality top plate than painting and baking.
>
> Javier
>
> --- "Greg J. Lorenzo" <gregj.lorenzo@shaw.ca> wrote:
> >   Hi Javier,
> >
> > I see he removes the chrome when I look at his web
> > site. See the "About
> > Painting" URL.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Greg
> >
> > Javier Perez wrote:
> >
> > >Howdy
> > >Thanks for the info.
> > >I have to tell you
> > >I don't like what I saw. This fellow apparantly
> > just
> > >paints over the chrome and seems to use easy to
> > remove
> > >Krylon type paint; the kind you can remove with a
> > >fingernail and determination. He must have started
> > by
> > >painting the other kids bikes! A proper paint job
> > >requires compleat removal of the chrome using acid
> > >followed by a coat or two of
> > >industrial grade epoxy or perhaps acrylic based
> > paint
> > >and several hours worth of baking. I can do what
> > he's
> > >doing myself. In fact I have but the results are
> > >dreadful in terms of durability, and it can take
> > >several attempts to get a flawless surface. But I
> > have
> > >gotten some beautiful satin black parts with it
> > after
> > >a quick bake.
> > >
> > >There is a guy out there somewhere who can do a
> > >professional factory finish so good that if you
> > send
> > >it back to Jersey with a dent they will probably
> > >assume it was an early convesion and sell you a new
> > >one. But I can't seem to find out who he is. But at
> > >least I now know where those black IIICs and Fs are
> > >coming from.
> > >See Ya
> > >Javier
> > >
> > >--- Bryan Caldwell <bcaldwell51@earthlink.net>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > >>Javier,
> > >>
> > >>Shintaro finally has a new web site up:
> > >>
> > >>http://homepage2.nifty.com/Shintaro/top1.html
> > >>
> > >>And includes prices.
> > >>
> > >>Bryan
> > >>
> > >>-


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