Griptac: yes or no?

V

varjag

Guest
My only camera is Leica M4, which I own for 4 years now and use daily. It is still covered with original vulcanite. However, it begins to deteriorate at some spots. Also, when the camera gets soaked, wet vulcanite sometimes stains hands with black.. makes me wonder if previous owner used shoe wax to "restore" it?

So I'm torn between keeping the camera original, or improving usability with cameraleather's griptac. What would you people do in my position?
 
I find myself in a somewhat similar "dilemma", the covering of the M6 gets slippery when it's really hot and my hands get sweaty, so I'm considering either Griptac or the VH Black Vynil, which should also have a good grip but keeping a more or less similar look to vulcanite.
 
I put griptac on my Zeiss Ikon and Minolta Autocord, and like it so much that frankly, I'm just waiting for an excuse (i.e., some chips or deterioration) on my M4 and M6 so I can put griptac on those too. :D From a usability standpoint there's no comparison: it's just a lot less slick and a lot more grippy.
 
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I had it on a camera and it was too "toothy" for me. It probably would have worn down to a smoother finish if I had kept the camera. The cheap and easy solution is to buy a Bessa R half case and use the bottom half.
 
Griptac is absolutely the best! I just got some from Morgan in the mail today as my fingers are slipping on my BP Rapidgrip in this very hot and humid weather. A little project for tomorrow... I have an MP with a Griptac cover and it just transformed the handling of the camera. :)
 
As a plus, it doesn't look as bold(?) as some would say.

Although I often use a neck strap, on occasions when I have a big lens on the M3, I find it more secure for handheld / wrist strap use. I imagine that if my camera had no timer, it would even feel more so.
 
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Griptac in charcoal black rocks in three important categories: aesthetically, functionally and ergonomically.
 
Griptac on my Zeiss Ikon, freakin great...
Griptac on my shoulder strap, never slips off...
Griptac on my Zeiss side grip, glued to my fingers...
If I could Griptac my girl to me I probably would, this stuff is that gOOd...
 
Papercut said:
I put griptac my ... Minolta Autocord
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I was considering it for a Rollei, but the guys in the TLR forum mostly freaked out about the idea...

I can't decide whether I really want something that grippy, though, or if I actually like the handling with a bit smoother. Have the same dilemma with pistol gripstocks and end up using the rubberized ones despite the occasional desire to return to textured hard plastic, so maybe I should take that as a sign.
 
I have griptac on my M7 and M8 and it is the best thing I have ever done to my cameras. The operation was super easy. Took me about an hour each. And that was with being extremely careful.

It makes the camera so much easier to grip and makes it feel even more solid.
 
Only you can decide if it somehow "violates" the spirit (or value) of the Rollei. Since I sometimes use the Autocord without a strap, I found it to be a practical move.

AgentX said:
I was considering it for a Rollei, but the guys in the TLR forum mostly freaked out about the idea...

I can't decide whether I really want something that grippy, though, or if I actually like the handling with a bit smoother. Have the same dilemma with pistol gripstocks and end up using the rubberized ones despite the occasional desire to return to textured hard plastic, so maybe I should take that as a sign.
Click to expand...
 
I have an old Nikon F2 covered with griptac. Even on a hot day and with a Vivitar 200mm f/3 attached, it's safe to carry one-handed.
 
I have griptack on both, My M4-P and M7. M7 was no problem at all, the factory installed plastic covering came of easily. For the M4-P it took me two days to remove the vulcanite. The best way to do this is to completely disassemble the camera and only heat the body shell in an oven to about 140 degrees, then the vulcanite gets soft and can be removed easily.

Since I wasn`t so brave to disassemble my factory overhauled M4-P, I bought paint stripper and worked carefully step by step. The griptack is much better but I don`t want to remove vulcanite from a camera again ...
 
What I'd do

What I'd do

I'd only go for original Leica coverings.

varjag said:
My only camera is Leica M4, which I own for 4 years now and use daily. It is still covered with original vulcanite. However, it begins to deteriorate at some spots. Also, when the camera gets soaked, wet vulcanite sometimes stains hands with black.. makes me wonder if previous owner used shoe wax to "restore" it?

So I'm torn between keeping the camera original, or improving usability with cameraleather's griptac. What would you people do in my position?
Click to expand...
 
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