Chipped Vulcanite covering. How much do they bother you??

Chipped Vulcanite covering. How much do they bother you??

  • Bothers me

    Votes: 58 51.8%

  • Does not bother me

    Votes: 42 37.5%

  • Neither

    Votes: 12 10.7%
  • Total voters
    112
I have had my m2 for a year and a half now and I just " chipped" a small piece of vulcanite off of the lower bottom of the camera 2 days ago.....at first I thought "damn" (because the vulcanite was 100% intact) but after about a minute I forgot about it and kept shooting...reading this thread actually made me "remember" it and "think" about it....if it gets considerbly worse, I will replace it, but I don't see that happening anytime soon....I agree that it adds character....
Cheers,Michael
 
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Pickett Wilson said:
lol. Could be. But, I've never had Leica lust, just use them as cameras so want something more functional than beautiful. Going to have one of my M3's recovered in Griptac. Great functional covering.
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Yep, that makes perfect sense ... I said I was "sad" earlier

btw I tried an M8 with Griptac it's impressive stuff, as you say functional
 
I would have to say I could care less about this, but I would be lying because its situational for me. If i chipped my vulcanite, while I was using the camera, there is no way I'd send it out, because then I would be without my camera. If I was considering a purchase and it was chipped I would either pass, or expect a nice discount.
 
Some time ago my M4-P looked similar to Buck`s as shown in the photos. At first gaffer tape was OK but the more of the vulcanite came OFF the more it bothered me and finally I removed the remains (took me still one day ...) and applied grip-tack. Couldn`t be happier. 🙂
 
It didn't bother me too much:

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Eventually I removed all the remaining vulcanite chips on the back and sides because it was uncomfortable when they crumbled away in your hand. The M5 now has Griptac on it, which doesn't chip.
 

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The more vulcanite is missing, the better the photos from the camera will be. If you replace or repair it, you rob the camera of its spirit, thus the photos it produces will be nondescript and boring. If you really want to mess with your camera's karma, go ahead and put a new covering on it. Those who say "the camera is just a tool" know nothing of the mysterious workings of Leica Lore.
 
One of my guitar-playing friends once said that a guitar wouldn't play in tune till it had been stolen twice!
I feel the same about my M3. It's kind of worn and the vulcanite has chipped a bit, but it sure does a good job of what it was built to do!
Vic
 
I certainly wouldn't let small chips put you off a purchase. If you are planning a CLA anyway, and you can get CRR to do it, he patches them up invisibly at no extra charge. At least that's what he did for my M3; you might not find it advertised on the website...

Tom
 
Yes it bothers me. In the past when I have had small defects in the vulcanite -still small areas of vulcanite loss, I have used a store bought bituminous compound used for patching joints in roof gutters, flashing etc. It comes in two grades - paintable and trowelable. The thick putty-like one designed to be trowelled on works fine for this purpose. Of course you only need a toothpick sided blob of it with small chips in vulcanite so a pint can of it will last a lifetime. It takes some days or a week or so to dry fully. A bit of finesse is needed to apply it neatly and convincingly and I would hesitate to use it for larger areas but for small areas / chips it is not really noticeable. Where the vulcanite had lifted in surrounding areas to that which was being replaced using the above product, but was otherwise still intact, I first carefully flooded some glue under the raised areas to tie it into the camera body once more.

I believe this is the brand and type I used. It is pretty cheap in smaller sizes - the photo below is a 4kg size but they were (are?) available in a small pot for small projects.

d8b018b1-fd7d-4d27-927c-98c2994b0554.jpg
 
Chipped vulcanite doesn't particularly 'bother' me, but I'm pretty happy to ditch it in favour of a new skin.

What does puzzle me is the romanticisation of chipped vulcanite... Is this a new thing, or have photographers always fetishised trashed cameras?

 
nickthetasmaniac said:
...What does puzzle me is the romanticisation of chipped vulcanite... Is this a new thing, or have photographers always fetishised trashed cameras?
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I think it's a matter of showing vigorous and extensive usage, that the camera has had a productive life and has not been a shelf queen nor merely a wealthy person's decorative jewelry. Same for a brassed black paint finish. Brand-new Jeans need to be roughed up a bit, too, abraded and maybe a few rips to indicate adventures... 🙂
 
Doug said:
I think it's a matter of showing vigorous and extensive usage, that the camera has had a productive life and has not been a shelf queen nor merely a wealthy person's decorative jewelry. Same for a brassed black paint finish. Brand-new Jeans need to be roughed up a bit, too, abraded and maybe a few rips to indicate adventures... 🙂
Click to expand...

Isn't maintenance and repair all part and parcel of being a vigorous user of anything?
 
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