Preserving Leather Covering

[wjlapier]

I came across a Zeiss Super Ikonta 530 A in pretty clean and working condition—knock on wood—pending first roll developed. Anyway, what could I use to preserve the leather covering? It’s in good condition but slightly discolored. It doesn’t have to be shiny black.

 

[Guest]

I use leather conditioner on my old cameras. Harley Davidson dealerships sell a good one they use for leather vests. I even put it on camera bellows with a Q tip but that is not something to do often on bellows.
It sure does make a big difference. There is also called Neets oil, not sure of the spelling there but that stuff works on leather straps and cases of old…..

 

[Phil_F_NM]

If the camera doesn't have real leather covering, there is not really a benefit of adding a leather preservative, which could possibly accelerate breakdown of the covering. Most cameras were covered in leatherette, which is made of anything from cellulose to rubber to plastic. Leather conditioner won't really harm the true synthetics but the pressed cellulose material can break down if treated with a soap-like conditioner.

Phil Forrest

 

[Retro-Grouch]

I'm pretty sure the Super Ikonta is covered with leather. My Contax was. Zeiss was a class act, and didn't use synthetics!
For synthetics, I've used Armor All. It cured the problem with my Zeiss Ikon's covering; since I'm left-eyed, my nose is against the back door. The oil from my nose turned the synthetic gooey, but he Armor All hardened it back up nicely.
The Cosina "Zeiss", though very nice, isn't quite the class act that the real Zeiss was.

 

[wjlapier]

Here it is:



Couple of chips missing here and there. Tiny stuff.

 

[Vince Lupo]

Super-duper cameras 🙂

As someone who has refurbished/revived a number of old leather cases (some over 100 years-old) and old glass plate cameras, I think any good general leather shoe/luggage conditioner would be fine. I’ve even used black shoe polish and Dubbin with excellent results. I will say that if you go the shoe polish/Dubbin route, you use it sparingly (particularly with a camera the size of the Ikonta), let it sit for a while to ‘set up’ and then give it a good wipe with a rag or even a shoe brush to get the excess off and give it a nice shine, and then let it sit overnight to fully dry. The last thing you need is to have black shoe polish or Dubbin on a nice clean white shirt.

 

[seany65]

I clean leather cases with the correct shade of shoe polish. Some come up looking sort-of newish. I've also used it on a Welta perle, but I'm not sure it made any difference, I'm also not sure if it's leather on the Perle.