Brassing - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

<p>Reading and responding to Mark Stephan's post about cameras strap lugs and split rings got me to thinking about the damage some of us did to our beautiful cameras.</p>

<p>Back in 1972 I bought a beautiful black Canon FTb. Everyone knew that "Black was Beautiful". All the pro's used black cameras, well at least those in the ads.</p>

<p>One of the first things I did was to toss the skinny black camera strap. It was such the mark of an amateur to use the factory strap. I purchased the gaudiest strap, hey that was the style in 1972, I could find. 30 years later the camera top plate was a mess.</p>

<p>A well used black camera can show a the emergence of the brass top plate where the paint has worn over the years. You know the owner got a great deal of use from the camera. They used it. They didn't abuse it.</p>

<p>What some of us did should be considered a crime against the classics. I no longer have the original Canon FTb so I will show you my Pentax ES.</p>

<p>First the culprit.</p>

<div></div>

<p>Now here is what this innocent looking strap can do.</p>

<p>Feel free to show off you brassing, good, bad, or ugly.</p><div></div>

<p><img src="http://westfordcomp.com/classics/blackftb2/Resources/untitl2.jpeg" alt="" width="676" height="482" /></p>

<p><img src="http://westfordcomp.com/classics/blackae1nonp/biotar2.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="530" /><br>

<img src="http://westfordcomp.com/classics/canonef/camwithzoom2.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="480" /></p>

<p><img src="http://westfordcomp.com/foundfilm/markf1/cam1.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="646" /><br>

<img src="http://westfordcomp.com/classics/canonftblack/camera.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="663" /></p>

<p><img src="http://westfordcomp.com/classics/canonav1/may09/c1a.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="533" /></p>

<p><img src="http://westfordcomp.com/classics/canonav1/may09/c1.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="689" /></p>

<p><img src="http://westfordcomp.com/classics/canonef/feb252009/camfront.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="530" /></p>

<p><img src="http://westfordcomp.com/classics/2ftbql/twoftbs.jpg" alt="" width="1100" height="2000" /></p>

<p><img src="http://westfordcomp.com/classics/blackae1/jan09/camera2.jpg" alt="" width="844" height="594" /></p>

<p><img src="http://westfordcomp.com/classics/blackae1october2008/cam1.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="700" /></p>

<p><img src="http://westfordcomp.com/classics/ae1andefoctober2007/DSC_0194.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="530" /></p>

<p><img src="http://westfordcomp.com/classics/canonal1/cam1.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="796" /></p>

<p><img src="http://westfordcomp.com/classics/al1/october06/camera.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="663" /></p>

<p>That's enough.</p>

<p>Gene - NICE collection....really beautiful. I thought you'd be showing off some of those oldies which have attracted so much attention as you develop the shots from them.</p>

<p>No. Actually, I've been know to take a few photographs myself.</p>

<p>I never liked those "damn hippie" straps. Too noisy. </p><div></div>

<p>Good thing too</p><div></div>

<p>There is something about a clean, black camera that says..."shoot me"</p><div></div>

<p>And I never wanted to store film on my strap either.</p><div></div>

<p> I'll stop here. Apparently I only have the "good" ones, or perhaps they are only only ones I photograph which sounds more plausible. </p><div></div>

<p>Marc, I had one of those groovy straps too, except mine was more rainbow colored. (Seems appropriate somehow.) However, mine came with two leather loops that went through the spit triangular rigs, and the strap hooked into a grommet in the leather loop. It was very gentle to the camera, while not cramping my style. My beloved Spotmatic F (satin finish!) looks almost as lovely today as the day I bought it.</p>

<p>Geesh, you guys and your clean, untouched cameras. Brass showing through the black paint is not wear, it's patina! It shows that your camera was not some poncy little doctor's camera (only taken out once a year on vacation), but a true working camera with a farmer's tan and dirt under it's nails. Like this:</p><div></div>

<p>Or least this:</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>Erik,</p>

<p>That is what I am talking about. Most of my other black cameras look too pristine. I was hoping people would show their well worn cameras.</p>

<p>Sarah,</p>

<p>I wonder if I chose this type of strap because the camera and lens cost me half a months pay. I was in the Air Force at the time and dollars were few.</p>

<p>Gene,</p>

<p>It looks like you have a copy of every black SLR that Canon ever made. My next camera after the FTb was the Canon A-1 in black.</p>

<p>Louis,</p>

<p>So that is what a Pentax ES is suppose to look like. </p>

<p>Your F-1 looks like it is right out of the box. Not that there is anything wrong with that.</p>

<p>I recall stories in the 70's of photographers who the 2nd thing they did with a new camera was take some sandpaper or steel wool to artificially age their cameras so they would not look like novices with shiny new equipment. Perhaps this is why Canon added artificial brass paint beneath the black as on my 1981 Canon AE-1P?</p><div></div>

<p>If you buy straps with the cheapest and most simple junk hooks available it's just your fault. <br>

By the end of the 70s an accessory manufacturer (don't remember the name) made strap hooks which were all covered with plastic except for a very small protruding loop. Using these hooks certainly avoided scratching your camera. I used a strap with these hooks on the Leica IIIa I bought around the same time, and there is not a single scratch caused by the strap hooks. </p>

 

<p>You want brass? Here you go:</p>

 

<img src="http://itsacon.net/pictures/misc/fora/dpz/m3-2.JPG" />

<p><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7280/7596689076_dc7e7cbc37_c.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>Quite a history there! Great collection.</p>

<p>Great collection of cameras here, even if most of them ARE Canon :-) Some called it patina, I always thought of it as character.</p>

<p>Rick H.</p>

<p>Sweet.<br>

Here's one with just the right amount of brassing to have character. ;)</p>

<div></div>

<p>Great thread.</p>