Mamiya 6 re-covering?

[Phil_F_NM]

Has anyone re-covered or replaced the stock rubber covering on a Mamiya 6 with another material? A grippier vinyl, perhaps? Griptac?

I've found that the camera gets slick in the summer here on the humid east coast and slick in the winter with gloves on. The rubber covering just loses all the "stickiness" of rubber and it's like holding a hockey puck. A very nice, precision hockey puck that makes wonderful photos, at that but a slick, hard piece of frozen rubber nonetheless.

So, has anyone tried adding griptac or maybe just a good vinyl? Heck, even a grainy leather would retain some grip in the cold but I don't baby my cameras and so it does get some moisture on it.

I know the contoured grip itself would be the hardest part to cover but surely, it can be done.

Opinions, experiences?

Thanks all,
Phil Forrest

 

[Dan Daniel]

Well, this doesn't answer your question, but since this is the internet I won't let little details stop me! 🙂

With a couple of Griptac coverings I bought from cameralether, they included some extra pieces. I have cut various 'tabs' and pads and applied them to places on some cameras that I find slippery. A Sony RX100, for example, and a Yashica-Mat.

I have also used anti-slip material sold at the hardware store in rolls, as a 'prototype' material. Some of it is a plastic sort of like Griptac, and some is more like sandpaper. Either one is a cheap way to run some experiments to see what you need. Then order something from cameraleather that will give you enough material to make your personal pads? Many 35mm SLR sets would include some solid areas.

The adhesive on Griptac is very nice, by the way. Stays well but does come up. Of course I have no idea what will happen with whatever is on a Mamiya 6.