New Retina IIa, releathered

[FallisPhoto]

I have a Retina II in pretty good nick, but the leather is bad.

I'll dress it up a bit, tart the thing up like Liberace would own it. No rules!

Here's some inspiration for you:

If that camera could talk, ... well, it would probably just whimper.

Then there's the red fake-suede Petri:

... and the blue Aires:

If you listen hard, you can hear them faintly murmering "Kill me. Please kill me."

Then there's my very favorite, the upholstery vinyl Kodak:

The guy who did this says it used to be in bad shape, back when he got it.

 

[chippy]

Could be worse. I could have put one together that would appeal to Liberace, Elvis and/or Elton John.

so we could expect a camera with sequins in the near future 😀

I was expecting to get a few negative responses, to tell the truth, from a few a few of those traditionaists who take it all too seriously.

i think they should should speak up! even if they think its hidious!😱

that's okay, as long as it doesn't pop any ribbets.

LOL, good one, i nearly popped a ribbet myself laughing

<Sigh> Where's Di when you really need her?

Pricess Mary, the crown princess of Denmark can do the honours, she's a real cutie. An Aussie girl that married Prince Federick after first meeting him at the Sydney Olympics

 

[FallisPhoto]

so we could expect a camera with sequins in the near future 😀

God no! Well, maybe, but not from me.

i think they should should speak up! even if they think its hidious!😱

Me too! Heck, this whole thing started off as a joke.

LOL, good one, i nearly popped a ribbet myself laughing

So, you like puns, just a tad then, huh, Andrew? Well, sorry, but after this, I'm toadally out of frog puns.

Pricess Mary, the crown princess of Denmark can do the honours, she's a real cutie. An Aussie girl that married Prince Federick after first meeting him at the Sydney Olympics

Yeah, but what are the odds of getting her to kiss my camera? Maybe if I hung some mistletoe over it?

 

[mh2000]

as long as it's black! 😉

Well, I guess you wouldn't have liked my original idea to do it up in chicken leather either.

 

[mh2000]

I do love that Argus!!!!! Very dear! 🙂

 

[FallisPhoto]

I do love that Argus!!!!! Very dear! 🙂

Ack!

Well, you'll love this site then: http://merrillphoto.com/galacollection.htm Once you get there, be sure to click on the pinhole link or you'll miss the unspeakably tasteless ... well, you have to see it.

 

[literiter]

Ack!

Well, you'll love this site then: http://merrillphoto.com/galacollection.htm Once you get there, be sure to click on the pinhole link or you'll miss the unspeakably tasteless ... well, you have to see it.

There ya go boys 'n girls. This is what ya get when you start tokkin' them doobees when restorin' cameras.

 

[FallisPhoto]

There ya go boys 'n girls. This is what ya get when you start tokkin' them doobees when restorin' cameras.

Well, calling that restoring is kind of stretching it a bit.

Edit: Remind me to never, ever, leave that woman alone with my cameras.

 

[Al Kaplan]

I guess it's time to send a Leica to Merillphoto. My CL thinks that she'd just love to be wearing one of those cute outfits!

 

[Bill58]

Fallisphoto:

Wanna share w/ us where you got the froggie skin....or is that a trade secret?

 

[mh2000]

WOW! I haven't been to Marcy's page for a while... fun wild stuff! 🙂

Ack!

Well, you'll love this site then: http://merrillphoto.com/galacollection.htm Once you get there, be sure to click on the pinhole link or you'll miss the unspeakably tasteless ... well, you have to see it.

 

[FallisPhoto]

Fallisphoto:

Wanna share w/ us where you got the froggie skin....or is that a trade secret?

If you go back a few posts, you will see I already did. There is a guy on ebay that sells them. I think he might have two left. If not, just google bullfrog leather and you'll find dozens of places. As long as you're playing with google, you might also want to google things like chicken leather, tilapia leather, snakehead leather, stingray hide, shark leather, eel leather and so on. Use your imagination -- if it has a skin, you can make leather out of it.

 

[FallisPhoto]

WOW! I haven't been to Marcy's page for a while... fun wild stuff! 🙂

Have you seen Dan Mitchell's "Adventures in camera painting" website? It has things like a green-painted Ciroflex that has been "releathered" in red cardboard, and so on. http://www.daniel.mitchell.name/cameras/index.php?page=repaint It's where I got the rest of those photos.

 

[shadowfox]

FallisPhoto, I like the Kodak Rana IIa job, very stylish 😉

Btw, do you replace bellows also? I have an Ansco Viking that has a leaky bellow, if you can make a new one out of ... let's say denim, I'm interested 🙂

 

[FallisPhoto]

FallisPhoto, I like the Kodak Rana IIa job, very stylish 😉

Btw, do you replace bellows also? I have an Ansco Viking that has a leaky bellow, if you can make a new one out of ... let's say denim, I'm interested 🙂

I doubt it would work, except maybe for a large format monorail camera that doesn't have to fold up into itself. Denim is awfully thick, compared to the leather and leatherette used to make medium and small format bellows. About the thickest material I have seen used is that black plastic that comes in boxes of photographic paper. The usual stuff is as thin as a sheet of writing paper. To answer your question, I do replace them, but I don't make them. I bought a lot of new old stock Kodak bellows, back when you could get them cheap. I use those. I have a bunch of 6x9 bellows and one 6x6 bellows left, if you're still interested.

 

[Murray Kelly]

Looks really great! Love it, strangely. (not me, the camera! 🙂 )
Murray

 

[FallisPhoto]

Looks really great! Love it, strangely. (not me, the camera! 🙂 )
Murray

Thanks Murray. I looked at a lot of leather before settling on bullfrog.

 

[chippy]

Are those box and other camera by macey's far out or what! i would not have believed it if i didnt see em

that frog leather is very strange stuff, i got given a little offcut and it looks a bit different to the shade it appears on my computer on the retina...whats more is the wierd grissle or boney circles that are seen as those dark spots in the leather..its like armour, they should make motorcycle jackets out of it!!! when you fall off no damage haha

 

[FallisPhoto]

Are those box and other camera by macey's far out or what! i would not have believed it if i didnt see em

that frog leather is very strange stuff, i got given a little offcut and it looks a bit different to the shade it appears on my computer on the retina...whats more is the wierd grissle or boney circles that are seen as those dark spots in the leather..its like armour, they should make motorcycle jackets out of it!!! when you fall off no damage haha

You should see stingray skin! The whole hide is like that -- like closely packed bits of bone. It's sheer hell to cut it. In japan, the early samurai actually did wear it as armor. As the katana developed over the years, it ceased to be effective though.

 

[Bighilt]

Sacrilege! This just makes me hopping mad.

But it does evoke some imaginative prospects for camera coverings...hmm there's a heavily tattooed biker down the road who appears to be on his last legs!!!

You interested in talking to his mama, Fallis?