As I spend more time buying and selling on Ebay, I have noticed a disturbing trend in buying cameras. People seem to think that it is OKAY to cover up the brassing on black bodied cameras with a Black Sharpie! I have been in camera repair for over 27 years and guess what? Sharpies are NOT a Camera Repair tool!!

The way to tell if a Black Sharpie has been used to cover the brassing on your black camera is to put a small drop of rubbing alcohol on a Q-tip and rub the area in question. If your Q-tip comes away purple, a Sharpie has been used on it, if it comes away black, model paint has been used on it.

If you are looking to buy a black bodied camera on Ebay, be sure to ask the seller if the paint has been touched up with either a Sharpie or with black model paint. They should disclose if any cosmetic touch-up work was done on the equipment. Having been "stung" myself, I would say you need to watch out for listings where the images are fuzzy, out-of-focus or just plain too dark!

Brassing normally occurs by the strap lugs, along the base plate or bottom cover, the edges of the prism and on the back door. Keep a close eye on these areas when you are looking at a black camera to purchase.

None of the equipment I sell has been touched up with either model paint or Sharpies. I make sure any item I am selling as a Trading Assistant has been cleaned up well, and all paint and markings from Sharpies have been removed. I believe in full disclosure.

Let's make sellers more responsible for the items they are selling on Ebay!