Pimped my FED (#1)

[ZorkiKat]

Here's one of my FED-1, pimped up with a new goatskin covering. This FED had lingered naked for almost two years. Now it's got a new coat on. Covering material came from a dead goat and was home-tanned in mango bark.

This is the first of two current FED-1 projects.

Jay

 

[brachal]

Wow, beautiful. More cameras should look like that!

 

[Xmas]

Jay

Sorry to steal your goat...

Do you have fog level problems with the (pain) killer developer you use?

Noel

 

[ZorkiKat]

Jay

Sorry to steal your goat...

Do you have fog level problems with the (pain) killer developer you use?

Noel

Noel

None at all, or at least I don't find any significant enough. The paRodinal negatives come out the same way as those developed in Rodinal.

Jay

 

[bmicklea]

Very nice! You tanned that yourself?! Very impressive!

 

[ZorkiKat]

Very nice! You tanned that yourself?! Very impressive!

Thanks. Did everything from tanning to re-covering the camera. Skin was vegetable (bark)-tanned.

Jay

 

[NL2377]

Awesome! Im looking at wooden lenghts for my leica clone! maybe if I pick up a fed, i will do carbon fibre (the real stuff, that is)

 

[Xmas]

Jay

Thanks.

The fed looks ok, prefer black leather or Vulcanite myself but every one is different.

Noel

 

[BillBingham2]

Does PETA know about this?

Thanks for making photographers a target!

B2 (;->

 

[Ash]

wow! nice one 🙂

 

[w3rk5]

Really nice work Jay. Are you going to post a "how to" on your site?

 

[vrgard]

Very nice, Jay. Looks so good I have a hard time considering it to be "pimped." In other words, it almost looks like it could have originally been sold like that (rather than being turned into an eye-catching eyesore, which is what I think of when I hear "pimped"). Good job!

Oh, and glad to hear that the leather came from a dead goat. Probably easier than doing the same with a live one... ;-)

-Randy

 

[lmd91343]

Jay,

It looks very nice. You do good work!

 

[MinorTones]

Nice looking camera you've done a great job.

 

[ZorkiKat]

Really nice work Jay. Are you going to post a "how to" on your site?

Got a few more FED/Zorki 'how to's' up the sleeve which I'd like to add in the site. But that would need some time to do 🙂

Jay

 

[ZorkiKat]

Does PETA know about this?

Thanks for making photographers a target!

B2 (;->

PETA might as well go after any photographer who shoots with film. Film contains gelatin, another animal product. It comes from bones of slaughtered animals. Bones and skins are typically waste products of the meat industry- turning them to gelatin, glue, or leather respectively actually honours the animals more by utilising materials which would have otherwise rotted in the ground. Besides, this is not the same as killing foxes or sables for their fur- these animals die only for their fur and everything else gets discarded. 😀

 

[Skinny McGee]

They will show up at your door with "ANTI FUR" signs with leather boots on...

maybe the signs should read "SAVE THE CUTE ANIMALS"..

Sorry.

Your camera looks great.

 

[rbiemer]

Lovely camera, Jay!
Just out of curiosity, is the varied coloring intrinsic to the goat skin or a result of the tanning process? Or some of each?
Rob

 

[ZorkiKat]

Lovely camera, Jay!
Just out of curiosity, is the varied coloring intrinsic to the goat skin or a result of the tanning process? Or some of each?
Rob

Rob

The tanning procedure gave the colour. The goat skin had a lot of subcutaneous veins which accounted for the dark spots. Goatskin is very thin- the one I used is like parchment. I'd say the variable reactions of the tannin itself on the skin accounted for the uneven hues.

BTW, the photograph shows the skin to look a bit more red than it really is. It's really more tan in life. The skin is still new, handling and further oiling should render it darker.

Jay

 

[rbiemer]

Thanks!
I do like the varied color you got.
Rob