JoeFriday
Agent Provacateur
I must be the exception then (and cursed).. I emailed Asahi once a few months back and never got a reply at all.. that was half the reason I went with cameraleather
cameraleather.com is on my s*** list
- Thread starter JoeFriday
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wlewisiii
Guest
Mike Kovacs said:
Hey! I'll have you know that the Snake Wine Red Cowskin looks and feels wonderful on a Kiev 4a 😀 And red is the color a good commie cam should be :angel:
More seriously, it was a great purchase - fast delivery with really cheap shipping (I used to have a friend living in Tokyo. I do not know how he can ship as cheaply as he does.) and it was well made and easy to use.
edit: BTW Brett, did I show you that camera? The 4a with the collapsable prewar Sonnar 50/2?
William
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Richard Black
Guest
My experience is happier. I sent a IIIc to him to have the old covering removed and replaced with a simple black covering. I didn't need the camera so I didn't follow it too closely. I got it back in 6 weeks, looking like new. I am happy with my transaction, but Brett I can empathize with you on it. Good luck!!!
JoeFriday
Agent Provacateur
William.. yep, you showed me that beauty.. but you had so many nice toys that it was hard to remember any particular one
SolaresLarrave
My M5s need red dots!
That reminds me... Brett, look Aki on eBay. He also sells some very handy eyeglass protectors that fit the M3 eyepiece. I got mine for a silly amount... and he mailed them within a week!
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wlewisiii
Guest
Ok, just wondering since that would give you a "hands on" idea of his product.
William
William
dkapp
Established
Thanks for the info Bret. I was going to buy a green leather from him for an Autocord, but now I'll look for something else...
Dave
Dave
Daniel Unkefer
Established
OK, let's see..... I sent money (paypal) last November for my sons' two Yashicamats (blue kid and red snake). Got them last month (sent him the cameras and he recovered them absolutely perfectly, no extra charge for attachment).
Sent him a Kiev 6c and two Kiev K60 prisms, to cover with cobra B&W, that took about nine months. Perfection.
Have four black Minolta SRT101s' with red ring-neck lizard, that wasn't so bad, extremely cool. And a chrome SRT100 with Green Kangaroo, that is unusual...........
Still waiting for a Minolta SRT100 Alligator Brown Cowhide, he was sending that in August.
He has a real job (told me so) so I am patient :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang:
Sent him a Kiev 6c and two Kiev K60 prisms, to cover with cobra B&W, that took about nine months. Perfection.
Have four black Minolta SRT101s' with red ring-neck lizard, that wasn't so bad, extremely cool. And a chrome SRT100 with Green Kangaroo, that is unusual...........
Still waiting for a Minolta SRT100 Alligator Brown Cowhide, he was sending that in August.
He has a real job (told me so) so I am patient :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang:
JohnM
Well-known
A couple of years back, I recovered a few Canonets with Cameraleather.com's skins - took abou ten days to get each order. Last spring, I recovered another and it took about two months to get the skin - I forgot about the order by the time it came.
I get the part about the real job and I have read the myriad of excuses that he sends out - the service is just too slow and the customer service is lacking. He needs to do better.
I get the part about the real job and I have read the myriad of excuses that he sends out - the service is just too slow and the customer service is lacking. He needs to do better.
JoeFriday
Agent Provacateur
UPDATE: We have progress! I fired off a polite, but strongly worded letter to Mr. Sparks (aka cameraleather proprietor) right before starting this thread.. now, about 2 hours later, I have a reply apologizing for not replying to my previous email (which I'm surprised that he is now acknowledging) and stating that he will send off my order within 48 hours
apparently, my mentioning the likelihood of contacting my credit card company caught his attention
I'm sure he means well, and his product is most likely first rate.. he just needs to remember that his customers are expecting a certain level of service that he promises
apparently, my mentioning the likelihood of contacting my credit card company caught his attention
I'm sure he means well, and his product is most likely first rate.. he just needs to remember that his customers are expecting a certain level of service that he promises
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wlewisiii
Guest
It is unfortunate that sometimes people do need to be given a slight push in the direction of doing right...
(been there, done that, etc... "she never mentions the word addiciton in certain company" is also still true in too many cases... )
William
(been there, done that, etc... "she never mentions the word addiciton in certain company" is also still true in too many cases... )
William
Alec
Amateur
Just like everyone it seems, I have a great experience dealing with Aki Asahi.
Real-time, extremely nice communications, 1 week delivery to France, packaging as good as origami, and unbelievable price.
The leather is high quality, cut to perfection, easy to install even for one who has ten thumbs.
Exceeded all expectations.
(Only my choice of colour was not optimal: a yellow-ish ostrich-ish skin is not what even a badly executed Kiev 4A of the 1970s deserves 🙁 )
I haven't dealt with cameraleather, and I feel I'm not going to.
Real-time, extremely nice communications, 1 week delivery to France, packaging as good as origami, and unbelievable price.
The leather is high quality, cut to perfection, easy to install even for one who has ten thumbs.
Exceeded all expectations.
(Only my choice of colour was not optimal: a yellow-ish ostrich-ish skin is not what even a badly executed Kiev 4A of the 1970s deserves 🙁 )
I haven't dealt with cameraleather, and I feel I'm not going to.
fredus
Well-known
Same problem here ... Ordered 2 weeks ago, haven't heard a word. I have fired an email last week with no response ... I'll send another email today ...
Fred
Fred
Kim Coxon
Moderator
Hi,
I think I must be the exception to the rule. I have dealt extensively with both Morgan Sparks and Aki Asahi. The service I have received from Aki has always been very prompt but even so, the odd email has gone missing. The Skins have generaly arrived within a week to the UK. The only problem is that his range is somewhat more limited and he can be a bit inflexible. His skins are good but not great.
I haven't ordered from Morgan for about 6 months which was roughly when he started his on line ordering. I always emailed first to confirm prices and nearly always got a reply within 24 hours, 48 at the most. The skins did take a while to come through, usually about 3 weeks and one time it was a little longer because he hadn't put enough postage on the packet and it was returned to him. His more expensive skins are much much better than Aki's and IMHO worth the wait. His range is much better both in materials and the cameras he will fit for. I did order some skins for the H/S series of Pentax's. Unknown to me at the time and to him, there was a magor change during the production life and the kit he supplied was for the wrong type. It took a couple of emails over a day or so to sort out the revised measurements but he sent a replacement set of custom made pieces.
I have now come across another alternative. I have found a tannery in Scotland that can produce calfskin for me at a very reasonable price in a whole range of colours and embossings. These easily match the quality of Aki's skins and I can cover about 10 cameras for the price of 1 kit from Aki but it does take some work to cut them. So whilst this is fine for FSU cameras and general use ones, Iwould still use Morgan for the better cameras and accept that he may be a bit slow. I would also email first to confirm the order first.
Regards
Kim
I think I must be the exception to the rule. I have dealt extensively with both Morgan Sparks and Aki Asahi. The service I have received from Aki has always been very prompt but even so, the odd email has gone missing. The Skins have generaly arrived within a week to the UK. The only problem is that his range is somewhat more limited and he can be a bit inflexible. His skins are good but not great.
I haven't ordered from Morgan for about 6 months which was roughly when he started his on line ordering. I always emailed first to confirm prices and nearly always got a reply within 24 hours, 48 at the most. The skins did take a while to come through, usually about 3 weeks and one time it was a little longer because he hadn't put enough postage on the packet and it was returned to him. His more expensive skins are much much better than Aki's and IMHO worth the wait. His range is much better both in materials and the cameras he will fit for. I did order some skins for the H/S series of Pentax's. Unknown to me at the time and to him, there was a magor change during the production life and the kit he supplied was for the wrong type. It took a couple of emails over a day or so to sort out the revised measurements but he sent a replacement set of custom made pieces.
I have now come across another alternative. I have found a tannery in Scotland that can produce calfskin for me at a very reasonable price in a whole range of colours and embossings. These easily match the quality of Aki's skins and I can cover about 10 cameras for the price of 1 kit from Aki but it does take some work to cut them. So whilst this is fine for FSU cameras and general use ones, Iwould still use Morgan for the better cameras and accept that he may be a bit slow. I would also email first to confirm the order first.
Regards
Kim
Ben Z
Veteran
JoeFriday said:
I ordered a spare cover for my M3 (in case the vulcanite, which is currently intact, every starts to flake off) from Aki Asahi. It looks almost like the original vulcanite (I don't look at cameras as fashion accessories) took a week to arrive from Japan and cost a whopping $19 including postage . I thought Cameraleather was out of their cotton pickin' mind with their prices, until Leica started offering Barbie fashions for their a la carte, and then I discovered what real insanity is.
MrRanger
Rangefinder Jockey
Sorry to hear about your problems Joe. 🙁 I have done business with Mr. Sparks and so far I am happy. I asked him about a lizard kit for my Konica Auto S (not S-2 just S) and he said that he would ship me a kit for the S-2 to try it and see if it fit (at no cost) before I spent the money on the lizard skin.
Well, it didn't quite fit and I'm getting ready to ship him my S so he can custom fit it (at his request). I hope I'm not making a mistake! 😱
Mike 😀
Well, it didn't quite fit and I'm getting ready to ship him my S so he can custom fit it (at his request). I hope I'm not making a mistake! 😱
Mike 😀
w3rk5
Well-known
Aki-Asahi can cut you a pattern with any material he has. I got a dark brown lizard skin (composite material) for my FED 2. He responds to e-mails fast and his shipping was pretty quick too. I personally would not hessitate to deal with him again.JoeFriday said:
Anyway, glad to hear you're making prgress JoeFriday.
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RML
Guest
Joe, try the Japanesque Gold vinyl! Looks good, feels good. And in this Age of Bling you can't live without. 😛
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=16655&cat=4934
zpuskas
Well-known
I also ordered from cameraleather. The service was...leisurely. I placed the order and received a inquiry regarding which version M3 I had. I answered the inquiry and then about a week later I received another inquiry about another facet of the M3. Then he (Morgan Sparks) e-mailed me about a week later saying he was running late and will ship the next day or so. It was or so. Covering arrived about 4 weeks after I placed the order. Nice material though...grey lizard. Nicely cut. But I think the packaging could be better than a #10 envelope.
JoeFriday
Agent Provacateur
RML said:
pretty sweet, Remy.. looks like something to hang on a Christmas tree 🙂
now imagine that same style in copper or metallic red.. actually, I would consider that in a metallic black!
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