When I used to cover events as a videographer we knew who was new by glancing their cameras, tripods and other gear. The battle scars were badges of honor. If we needed something or had a question, wanted the inside gossip we knew the guys with the marks and scratches would most likely to know what's going down.
Once when I was shooting a series of training videos for a company in a big refinery and all the refinery personnel would tell me things and ignore the producer who was " in charge" . The producer finally got a little peeved and asked why they kept addressing me since I was just "the camera guy". The escort told him it was because of my steel toes. Mine were a decade old and nicked, stained and scratched, his were brand spanking new. They knew he'd never been in a plant or refinery. Mine were so worn they surmised I'd been around enough and they didn't have to dumb down what they were saying or explain why we had to leave our expensive gear and run like hell when certain alarms went off.
Originally posted by Steve.Ledger Wouldn't worry about it, after years of regular use the paint will wear off and give it that 'professional-patina'
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I'm still waiting for my MX-1 brass to show through