Where to go for replacement camera leather

I tried both of them and agree with all the comments.

I prefer Asahi which I consider:
- reliable
- affordable
- his covering have the right dimensions (including the thickness, always forgotten)

A Leica with a new covering too thin will have the top and bottom plate sticking out. Not nice...
 
I would love to reskin my M8 in a nice more grippy leather, unfortunatly no one makes a kit and the it would void the warranty.
Maybe when my coverage is up.
 
Used Both.
Camera Leathers offer a wide selection and High Quality. Slow on getting orders out. Morgan will work with you, but it all takes awhile.

Aki-Asahi is super fast in getting orders out (about a week door to door from Japan to USA) not much variety, but what he has is great and fits very well. Also less expensive.
Randy
 
I get Italian kidskin leather and baby lambskin leather from a guy who sells garment grade leathers on ebay, .3mm thick (just right). The stuff is beautiful, and finishes up nicely, but you do have to measure, cut and glue it yourself. http://cgi.ebay.com/ITALIAN-Goat-skin-Leather-Hide-BLACK-1-Sq_W0QQitemZ270196772174QQihZ017QQcategoryZ83936QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.com/Lambskin-Hide-Skin-Leather-Hides-Skins-Black-nz-c_W0QQitemZ270153327779QQihZ017QQcategoryZ83936QQcmdZViewItem The photos don't show it very well, but the texture of the goat leather is an an almost exact match for what you would find on a Retina and the lambskin texture is more like what you would see on a Moskva 2, a Leica or a Yashica GTN.
 
bananasplit said:
I tried both of them and agree with all the comments.

I prefer Asahi which I consider:
- reliable
- affordable
- his covering have the right dimensions (including the thickness, always forgotten)

A Leica with a new covering too thin will have the top and bottom plate sticking out. Not nice...
Click to expand...

That is mostly a problem with leatherettes. With real leather the problem is finding it that is thin enough that the edges don't stick up, catch on things and begin to peel off (it just plain looks bad too). Usually about .3mm to .4mm is going to be just right. Most of the stuff you find is .5mm and .7mm though, and that's way too thick.
 
Grip

Grip

Hello:

As a tangent, is there a consensus on which covering gives the best grip?

Vulcanite does not show wear 'till it starts to fall off. How durable are some of the more attractive coverings?

yours
Frank
 
I find that real leather gives the best grip and is nicer to hold than Vulcanite. The best feel is from the goatskin kits from Cameraleather but not cheap. For general use, I use calfskins which have been skived doen to 0.4mm. I think I paid about $7 for a "neck" which was thined to the correct thickness, embossed and dyed to choice. Total area was about 3 Sq ft. Most tanneries that provide leather for bookbinding should be able to help at a reasonable cost as the pieces we need are far too small for most other uses.

Kim

FPjohn said:
Hello:

As a tangent, is there a consensus on which covering gives the best grip?

Vulcanite does not show wear 'till it starts to fall off. How durable are some of the more attractive coverings?

yours
Frank
Click to expand...
 
FPjohn said:
Hello:

As a tangent, is there a consensus on which covering gives the best grip?

Vulcanite does not show wear 'till it starts to fall off. How durable are some of the more attractive coverings?

yours
Frank
Click to expand...

Goatskin is the most durable of the "normal" leathers and it feels the best too. Sheep leather is too soft and porous (feels like a cleaning chamois) unless you use a lot of sealer, and then it is too hard. Calfskin usually feels slick, by comparison to either sheepskin or goat. I can't tell you about the exotic stuff (snake, lizard, ostritch and so on) because I never use it (although I hear that ray skin is the utmost in durability -- the surface is covered in tiny knobs of bone). As for which gives the best grip, it would depend on how you finish it. If you use a silicone sealer, pretty much anything you put it on is going to be slick. If you use wax though, it will give you a good grip.
 
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The great thing about C.L. is that Morgan will make covers for any camera you send him. He did a Zeiss Ikon (ZM) for me and its great. He is pressed for time though.
 
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