Show me your Re-Covered Leica

dcsang said:
Out of curiosity, how hard is it to remove the old vulcanite??

Cheers,
Dave
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From what I know the vulcanite itself just flakes off, but the adhesive agent under it needs some scrubbing/varnishing to remove completely.
 
erikhaugsby said:
From what I know the vulcanite itself just flakes off, but the adhesive agent under it needs some scrubbing/varnishing to remove completely.
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The vulcanite on my M2 was falling off mostly by itself. It took my five minutes to remove all of it. All I did then was to use some alcohol ketonatis to clean the body. Whatever gunk came off, that's what came off. The rest I left on as it took more time and effort to remove than I was willing to spend. Besides, I had the scrap the body so much I was leaving marks on it. It just wasn't worth that to me.

Aki ships very, very quickly. I received my cover within a week, from Japan to Holland, and at normal letter postage. Aski him if he can make you a cover in the leather(ette) that you want for your kind of camera. I asked for Japanesque Gold vinyl for my M2, which he (reluctantly :) ) provided. Reluctantly because he didn't think it was worthy of an M2. :) Aki's covers are cheap too and the fit it very very good on my M2, better than the one from Cameraleather.
 
I have had very good service and product from Cameraleather. I have an M3 done in burgundy snakeskin, another M3 in Verdigris goatskin, and my M2 is done in black "very much like original" vulcanite. Morgan did the installation and all are perfect. If you look at the M3 done in Verdigris on his site, I believe that is my camera.
 
Doug said:
Thomas, what does Cameraleather have to say? Have they shipped your items? Perhaps the shipment is hung up in Customs?
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no it was an error. morgan said it was accidently shipped somewhere else. accordingly i have to wait. morgan has been excellent in terms of communication. it is not my intent to knock the quality of cameraleather's work or their communication with me. but sending the kits to the wrong address is very lame, especially since i had deliberately set aside my very precious free-time to deal with thr procedure.
 
Dave - I've removed vulcante from an M2 and a IIIC. It depends on how hard the vulcanite is stuck on. Ashi Aki's site has good info about removing the crud under the vulocanote - you need to take care and use a sharp blade - be careful not to scratch the body too deeply of course - have a look at http://www.fogfeet.com/installation.html
By the way I recovered both bodies with Ashi Aki leatherette - worked exceptionally well and v. fast service
David
 
I recently ordered a cover from Morgan at Cameraleather. It took a bit of time, I think about 10-12 days, when he initially said a week, and once it took him a few days to reply to an email. But all in all, not unreasonable, as he's a one-man operation and it was a cover he had to cut (for a III), rather than had in stock. Anyway, it looks great, but I haven't applied it yet, at the camera is on its way back from Youxin Ye. I'll post shots once it's on, but I wouldn't avoid Morgan just on what you've heard.
 
Can anyone show me a link to cameraleather.com? I cannot connect with their website via Yahoo search result. Or is there any problem of their website?
Thanks
:) bm
 
borismach said:
Can anyone show me a link to cameraleather.com? I cannot connect with their website via Yahoo search result. Or is there any problem of their website?
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Either the hosting server is down, the website is no longer active, or whathaveyou but I, too, can't connect to it from Holland. So, the problem is not with you but with Cameraleather. Give it a day, or a bit more, and see if the website comes back up again.
 
Here is the Aki Asahi replacement on the camera body, the back door is the original cover. This should give you an idea of the difference between the two. The replacement is an excellent value and fits the camera very well.

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Well, Bum deal news from cameraleather today...

Last Sunday, one of the corners of the nice granite Kid Skin I put on my M3 started this strange black bleeding so I asked to get a replacement in time to bring the camera with me to California, even offered to pay an 80% rush charge, use my Fed-X account. Morgan said it would get to me by Friday and he would get me a tracking number.

You see, this M3 is my family's birthday present to me, I turn 40 on Monday. I had old vulcanite flecking off, so I opted to replace it with the snazzy grey. My mother has just undergone heart surgery so I wanted to fly out with a nicely covered M3 to show her, what they all paid for, you know?

No dice, he did not make Fed-X, had all week, was offered $50 for the rush replacement, nada.

Did not even bother to tell me until an hour ago.

I am pissed!

The leather looks like crap on the one side right now, so it stays home..:(
 
KM-25 - That's disheartening to hear, but not surprising. Speed and accurate communication are not cameraleather.com/Morgan's strong suit. I'd still take the camera with you, though. Just explain the situation. Take a few of your favorite prints you've made with your new M3. That's the most important thing, right?

By the way, I had decided on getting the granite kid skin cover for my M3, until I saw your camera. The color doesn't quite look the same as on Morgan's site. I've changed my mind and am going with a traditional aki 4008 cover.
 
Frank,
I was just admiring your dark brown lizard skins and then went to Aki's site to find that they are SOLD OUT!

Anybody know how long it takes him to re-stock?
 
Here Is a Cameraleather Goat, Walnut Color Covering on my M7. I've always had great Service from Morgan.
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I highly recommend Aki for his great service and quality coverings, but if you want to cover an M7, forget about it. When I recovered mine with "Pebble Emboss" coverings cut for an M6, I discovered the M7 battery cover is about 2mm lower on the body when compared to an M6. And I had to cut the back plate covering from a solid piece of material - it took me about two hours (and allot of cussing) to complete.
 

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After my post regarding KM-25's granite kid skin covered body, Morgan from cameraleather.com contacted me and stated that KM-25's granite cover is not typical of his granite stock, but rather it's significantly lighter. Morgan says that his granite covers are of a deeper color and more of a marbled pattern, like the pic on his website. So if you're considering the granite, don't change your mind based on KM-25's skin. And Morgan states the lighter color of KM-25's kit was not supplied by mistake. So credit Morgan for that. Unfortunate about the problems KM-25 had after application though.

All in all, we're fortunate to have choices with regards to our recover business.
 
My re-skinned M2 with the newly arrived CV 21mm f/4
lens..

m2.jpg
 
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