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linchihtung
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 23, 2005 - 12:03 pm: | 
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HI, gurus
There is a leatherette patch damage on both of my leica M3 and leica iiig (3g). So I need 2 piece of 5cm X 5cm leica original leatherette for repairing those 2 cameras. 2 piece of 5cm X 5cm leica original leatherette! please let me know how much you need for these 2 piece of leatherette. please let me know
my email: [email protected]
great thanks |
P Laskey
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 23, 2005 - 01:20 pm: |
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Try www.cameraleather.com, they sell complete replica leather coverings for old Leicas etc. It would be best to replace the whole covering if it's worn.
P Laskey |
rick oleson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 23, 2005 - 02:05 pm: |
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I believe Leica still sells replacement sets too.... seems to me I paid about $40 for an M3 set last time. |
Jan Dvorak
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 23, 2005 - 05:29 pm: |
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As far as I know, there is no such thing as original M3 replacement leather available from Leica. All Leicas up to the M5 did not use leather, but a material called 'Vulcanite'.
Vulcanite is an extremely hard material, derived from some Indonesian tree sap and cannot simply be re-installed. Unfortunately, it does become brittle with age and eventually cracks.
Two possibilities exist - one, as mentioned above is http://www.cameraleather.com/ in the US, the other is
http://www.aki-asahi.com/store/ in Japan. Both excellent and very helpful.
To the best of my knowledge, the only shop who offers full Vulcanite replacement is CRR Luton in the UK - http://www.angelfire.com/biz/Leica/
Good luck,
Jan |
rick
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 23, 2005 - 08:17 pm: |
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Well, Leica took my money for it, and somebody mailed it to me. The replacement material is not Vulcanite, it's self adhesive vinyl with the grain closely matching the original Vulcanite covering.
: ) = |
Jim Brokaw
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 24, 2005 - 06:27 pm: |
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I think the original Leicas up to the M5 or such had vulcanite, which I recall reading somewhere is actually 'molded in place' kind of a rubberized coating applied on the body shell and cured in a mold with heat. Over time this gets brittle and cracks off in chunks. I've had fair success filling small missing areas (a few mm square...) with black RTV vulcanize sealant. The color is OK, and the texture, carved in with a toothpick, looks OK from a few feet away. Purists would say that only a re-vulcanize job is the proper Leica restoration method, but I'm tempted by the selection of precut and ready-to-install leather sets offered at cameraleather.com. Maybe a nice navy-blue snakeskin...? |
Jan Dvorak
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 24, 2005 - 11:56 pm: |
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That is correct, Jim. Vulcanite was molded onto the body under pressure and heat. That is why it cannot be re-applied and the only people offering the service are CRR Luton in the UK. Apparently they are very busy and are not accepting new repairs until April or May.
Best bet would be replacement leather / leatherette from the two suppliers mentioned above. Not expensive and it looks almost like the real thing.
All the best,
Jan |
rick oleson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, February 25, 2005 - 05:55 am: |
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so do i need to ask leica to return my money?
: ) = |
henry
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, February 25, 2005 - 10:01 am: |
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Yes Rick, ask them. And while you are at it ask them to buy a service manual for my R3. :-) They refused to sell me one a couple months ago and I've been debating purchasing a copy I located for $35 + $4 shipping. I love service manuals but I'm a tightwad old coot.
Henry |
Jan Dvorak
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, February 25, 2005 - 12:58 pm: |
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Rick,
Did you get the replacement material from Solms or from New Jersey? Either one probably gets the stuff from Cameraleather and re-sells it. I can't see Leica making the dies to cut the various shapes needed for all the different body variations. Specially, if the material is already available relatively inexpensively from somebody else.
As to if you should ask Leica for your money back, I guess it depends on whether you actually received the goods from them...... ;-)
All the best,
Jan |
linchihtung
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, March 10, 2005 - 08:56 am: |
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thanks so much that there are so many gurus giving out their nice and generous suggestions to me. highly appreciated. thanks again |
