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HOW TO 'STEALTH' the M9?

Moonshine

New member
Does anyone know how to remove the M9 white paint without doing any damage? I feel very unsafe walking around with this beautiful camera and would like to make it look a little stealthy!
Please help!
Thanks in advance
 

jonoslack

Active member
of course, you can remove the white paint easily . . . .. . .

but it seems to me that if a thief knows what M9 means . . . then he will also know what M9 looks like.

The one thing that must be true, is that every camera thief in the world knows that a camera with gaffer tape on it is worth lots of money!

If you can afford an M9 - shoot with an M9 - if you can't afford to lose it, then insure it.

I really can't see how mutilating it is going to help!
 

250swb

Member
Two years of ownership and I think I have met two people who said 'how are you getting along with your M9?' The rest think it is a cute old camera, and some people have said 'can you still get film for it?'.

And in any case, if you pick out the white lettering a semi knowledgeable thief will think its a limit edition or something and kill you for it rather than just maim you.

Steve
 

jklotz

New member
Oh man, just don't worry about it. Be smart, and don't let it become a crime of opportunity, ie, leave it unattended in a bar or on a bus. Thieves steal cameras because they get an opportunity. Don't give them one. Doesn't matter if it's a p&s or an M9 - actually you'd be a lot more of a target with a 1DIII I'd think.
 

emr

Member
Somebody could produce a rubber cover for your M9 to make it look like this. Would you like it?

 

Lars

Active member
I'd worry more about dumb criminals than about smart criminals, i.e. the likelyhood of getting hurt while robbed. In that perspective, the model lettering probably won't matter.

Also, consider if your fear of getting robbed really is rational. I've travelled extensively in Europe, the Americas and Australia for a total of three years, and in retrospect I worried too much. The total cost of travel was far more than even an S2, in that perspective getting robbed of a camera wouldn't have been that big of a deal, especially if you're wealthy enough to own Leica gear (but being assaulted would have). I never got robbed of my camera gear, however in 1998 I lost a Canon A5 in the back seat of a taxicab in Santiago, unfortunate but replaceable.

Finally, if you're really worried, dont bring anything you cannot afford to lose. Get a cheap camera for unsafe travel. If you're a good photographers then your pics will still be good.
 

SYGTAFOTO

New member
I think people are putting too much thought into this.

If OP feels a bit more secure by removing the paint, then that's what OP will do. It doesn't make anything worse.

My first reply stands, a wooden toothpick does the trick.
 

gero

New member
I think people are putting too much thought into this.

If OP feels a bit more secure by removing the paint, then that's what OP will do. It doesn't make anything worse.

My first reply stands, a wooden toothpick does the trick.
I agree with Scott, I like the all black and not much publicity to a company.
 

Chris C

Member
Does anyone know how to remove the M9 white paint without doing any damage? I feel very unsafe walking around with this beautiful camera.......
You can save money and don't have to go to the expense of a toothpick; a sharpened matchstick will do just as well. I don't think it will make you feel safer though [the solution to that requires a slight shift of attitude], but it will make the camera better looking when it's corporate graffiti is removed. The actual logo indent without crappy white paint filling it is rather nice and subtle.

Happy scraping.

.......... Chris
 

SYGTAFOTO

New member
You can save money and don't have to go to the expense of a toothpick; a sharpened matchstick will do just as well. I don't think it will make you feel safer though [the solution to that requires a slight shift of attitude], but it will make the camera better looking when it's corporate graffiti is removed. The actual logo indent without crappy white paint filling it is rather nice and subtle.

Happy scraping.

.......... Chris
I gotta say, this one cracked me up. :LOL:
 

Greg Lockrey

New member
Does anyone know how to remove the M9 white paint without doing any damage? I feel very unsafe walking around with this beautiful camera and would like to make it look a little stealthy!
Please help!
Thanks in advance
When I was stationed in Italy, and they knew the value of Leica's unlike here in the U.S., I used to wrap masking tape on my M-4 to make it look broken.
 

charlesphoto

New member
Funny thing is I picked the M logo paint out with a toothpick and then Leica filled it back in (without asking) when I sent it in for a recent CLA. Haven't bothered to do it again.

Honestly, if one is nervous about carrying around a $10k plus camera and lens then all the tape in the world will do nothing to change that. It's really a mindset that needs to be changed. Confidence and smarts are typically the best foil to thieves....
 

Chuck Jones

Subscriber Member
Funny thing is I picked the M logo paint out with a toothpick and then Leica filled it back in (without asking) when I sent it in for a recent CLA. Haven't bothered to do it again.

Honestly, if one is nervous about carrying around a $10k plus camera and lens then all the tape in the world will do nothing to change that. It's really a mindset that needs to be changed. Confidence and smarts are typically the best foil to thieves....
Absolutely agree with you Charles. I walked around some of the toughest neighborhoods in Mexico for seven years, shooting without a problem. Same here in San Francisco, where some of the neighborhoods cause me more pause than any of the Mexican barrios ever did, and again without any problems. We may know what the value in dollars is of what is dangling from our necks, but the chances are nobody else will.

Thieves and muggers don't read GetDPI or bother drooling over camera gear they want to buy. They are opportunists - more likely interested in your wallet than your camera. I always have dressed down, and in a style to blend in sufficiently to appear that I "belong" there - and always stay aware of my surroundings. Trust your gut when it tells you you shouldn't be there, and you should find that a much better way to avoid problems than anything you can do to mutilate your camera.
 
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