Sorry, this might seem stupid, but there is a chance I can pick up a M6 TTL at a really good price, but it is a black/silver and I really prefer the all black version. If I sometime down the road decide I don't like the silver/black it is possible to have it professionally painted? [yeah, i know, it sounds stupid] cheers,

-- Patrick (svenburg@yahoo.com), February 14, 2002

Answers

You can probably have anything done for enough money! However, it would probably be easier and cheaper to sell your chrome M6 and buy a replacement in black, or simply trade...

:-),

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), February 14, 2002.

Never settle for what you don't really want; life's too short and you can't make it up. You'll wind up constantly overspending because your disappointment will get the best of you and you'll go out and buy the black Leica after you bought the chrome one which you sold at a loss to finance the black one. More important than the money involved is the TIME you'll SPEND haggling, haggling, haggling over and over in your head about how to rectify your bad choice. TIME. Get the picture? Here's what happens: choosing what you don't like with the idea that down the road you can modify it into what you do like won't work because, for example, the chrome Leica you paint will always be just that--a painted chrome Leica. And, in the back of your mind there'll always be this nagging complaint (taking up your TIME) which you'll rationalize accepting one day but regret the next and then re- rationalizing it round-and-round ad nauseam. Face it now, you'll never be happy with the ersatz black Leica; it'll make you miserable. These are truths; I speak from experience (or maybe from just from another set of arbitrary idiosyncracies). And it works with absolutely everything. That's why it's best to have only what you want. Otherwise, forget it. Period.

-- Cosmo Genovese (cosmo@rome.com), February 14, 2002.

Patrick,

If you buy a silver model now, it is likely that at some point you'll want a second body. You might, for example, want one for color film, and the other for B&W. At that point, you might be glad that you have a silver body so you can quickly tell the difference between it and your black second body. Patience sometimes pays. ;-)

-- Ralph Barker (rbarker@pacbell.net), February 14, 2002.

I agree with everything Cosmo so eloquently stated. That haggling in the head can lead to neuroses. Much more difficult and expensive to CLA one's mind than one's Leica.

Nonetheless, you say the M6 is at a "really good price". How much is really good?

-- Luke Dunlap (luked@mail.utexas.edu), February 14, 2002.

Dear Patrick,

There are folks in Tokyo who paint silver Leicas black. Check out Han Phelan's or Tom Abrahamsson's (Rapidwinder) sites. They won't paint M-6's because to process would melt the top and bottom plates.

As the proud owner of a silver classic M-6 I'd say either get a black M-6 TTL or enjoy your silver M-6. Silver I think wears better and apparently has a higher resale value. (This is camera shop chat, so take it with a grain of salt.) Also your old chrome lenses look cool on it.

Painting a camera cost big buck. The folks in Tokyo charge US $ 400. That buys a lot of film.

What a life. People are starving and we are talking about this!

But my advice here is my usual : Let it be.

-- Alex Shishin (shishin@suma.kobe-wu.ac.jp), February 14, 2002.

I also agree with Cosmo's well-argued opinion. However, in my case, I turned out to be wrong about what I thought was my preference.

When I ordered my M6 TTL 0.72 body I told the dealer that I would prefer a silver one if possible but that I would accept a black one if it meant having to wait (I'm a bit impatient sometimes :-)). Four days later, the camera arrived and it was black.

I subsequently ordered another M6 TTL, this time with .58 viewfinder, and the dealer got me a silver one as requested. I must admit that I have grown to like the look of the black M6 better, although of course it's more practical having different colours because it's easier to see which is which.

-- Ray Moth (ray_moth@yahoo.com), February 14, 2002.

What Cosmo said.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), February 14, 2002.

so, basically, I'm just being cheap. I'm just about to fork up the $ for a new US black M6TTL .72, when I got offered to buy a NIB M6 TTL silver for $1,000. That's a lot of extra money for a black camera, even I if I do like it more.

As usual, I'm just thinking out loud...

cheers,

-- Patrick (svenburg@yahoo.com), February 14, 2002.

If it is genuinely NIB grab it. Then get used to chrome. Discover all the reasons why chrome is better, whatever they are.

Amongst others mentioned in this forum are:

Chrome has a more classic look. Chrome is less intimidating. Chrome looks slicker. Chrome goes great with both chrome and black lenses.

And try this exercise. Walk around for a few days with 7-9 hundred dollar bills taped to the back of your $1000 chrome camera. It will then feel much better than the $1700-1900 black M6 with no bills taped to the back. Guaranteed ;-)

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), February 14, 2002.

Or you could simply call up the Leica distributor and pay to have the chrome cover and bottom plate replaced with black ones.

-- Erik X (xx@xx.com), February 15, 2002.

Or buy a beaten-up M2/3, have it painted black, artificially age/brass it and sell it on Ebay (not deceitfully please) and with the profit buy a proper factory black chrome M6.

Or......

-- Giles Poilu (giles@monpoilu.icom43.net), February 15, 2002.

Buy the $1000 camera and spend the savings on the lens. After ten rolls of film you won't give a damn what color it is, I predict.

-- Douglas Kinnear (douglas.kinnear@colostate.edu), February 15, 2002.

OK, bought the camera. I mean, I don't have anything against silver/black, the frist Leica's I was introduced where in this combo, so I do like them. If I don't I can always sell it again for the same or more money. cheers, and thanks for the advice/help

-- Patrick (svenburg@yahoo.com), February 15, 2002.

Ame to Cosmo - A very wise man has furnished some excellent, mature advice. Have fun! Bill

-- Bill Carson (KE7GMx@cs.com), February 18, 2002.