derek_stringer1 Posted March 12, 2003 Share Posted March 12, 2003 When I was young chrome was used on car bumpers (fenders) - it was shinny and was electro-plated. What is black chrome, and for that matter what is the satinised "silver chrome" used on current Leica bodies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_kastner Posted March 12, 2003 Share Posted March 12, 2003 <!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Mozilla/4.73 [en] (Win95; U) [Netscape]"> <title>black vs chrome</title> </head> <body> Here we go again. Read this stuff first. You will discover not only that it is a matter of taste but that there is, yes, some metallurgy there as well. <p>Lenses: Black vs. Chrome <br><a href="http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=0048kf">http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=0048kf</a> <p>Inconspicious M outfit <br><a href="http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=006tMG">http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=006tMG</a> <p>Lens-body pairings (black on chrome and vice versa) <br><a href="http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=006vwV">http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=006vwV</a> <p>Black Chrome or Silver Chrome? <br><a href="http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=007XHm">http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=007XHm</a> <p>Black chrome vs black paint M6 <br><a href="http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=007XVW">http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=007XVW</a> <p>Black or Silver? <br><a href="http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=0084RO">http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=0084RO</a> <p>Chrome vs. Black lenses <br><a href="http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=008Dyt">http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=008Dyt</a> <p>How about M7 brass top-plate on M6TTL? <br><a href="http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=008CbZ">http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=008CbZ</a> <p>black or silver M <br><a href="http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=008R6d">http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=008R6d</a> <p>Black v Chrome <br><a href="http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=008gKG">http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=008gKG</a> <p>Chrome M7 or black M7 (already own M6 black body)? <br><a href="http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=008ltk">http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=008ltk</a> <p>Black vs Chrome the truth exposed <br><a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=003xoB">http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=003xoB</a> </body> </html> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandy. Posted March 12, 2003 Share Posted March 12, 2003 Michael, you are amazing. We simply cannot live witout your infinite wisdom and knowledge, What can we do with you? :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_kastner Posted March 12, 2003 Share Posted March 12, 2003 Sandy, thanx, but, then again, there's also titanium, brass, aluminum (aluminium), gold, and all those up and coming plastics too. But I'll call it a day today, 'kay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd frederick Posted March 12, 2003 Share Posted March 12, 2003 Michael, you forgot wood. I have a wood field camera, like in cherry wood, and then there's ebony, and oak and teak and, and, and... ;>D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek_stringer1 Posted March 12, 2003 Author Share Posted March 12, 2003 Michael, thank you for the literature search, but it has not answered the question. Chromium plating is the application of chromium to a metal using an electrolytic process and presumably a trivalent chromium salt. So what is black chrome - is it matt black paint? What is silver chrom - is it electrolytically applied chromium but not polished ?Derek Stringer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy_piper2 Posted March 13, 2003 Share Posted March 13, 2003 Derek: Leica's Black chrome is still chrome - just chemically colored before plating. Most camera "chrome" is not as mirror-shiny as automobile chrome - but that is just the surface texture, not the material. In either color, it is still metal electroplated onto other metal - just like car bumpers. There is also a lot of variation among camera chrome over the years. 1960's camera chrome has a twinkle of colors in the surface that is missing in the more paint-like silver chrome surfaces of today. Most "chrome" of all kinds is mostly layers of plated nickel metal - with a thin layer of chrome on the top and various layers (usually copper or zinc) underneath. From a gun-owners forum (cameras not being the only black-chrome objects) "...such a (black)chrome plate exists. In fact, it is exactly the same as bright chrome, only the process conditions are altered to yield another color. Black chrome is much easier to make than a bright one, btw." Another link: http://www.reliableplating.com/blkchrm.shtml And another, that gives the entire process for chrome plating: http://www.pfonline.com/articles/049803.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy_piper2 Posted March 13, 2003 Share Posted March 13, 2003 On looking at my own answer and links: the surface texture of cameras, guns and other non-shiny chromium is called "Satin" chrome, and resultss from a different kind of polishing. Black chrome is now available as a finish on everything from lawn furniture and kitchen appliances to guns, water faucets, tools, and auto parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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