[Leica] Slippery Leica recovering

[lrzeitlin at aol.com (lrzeitlin at aol.com)]

 RECOVERING A LEICA
        I posted this about five years ago but in view of the complaints 
about slippery Leicas, it still seems relevant.
        Vulcanite is Leica's cruel joke on Leicaholics. It becomes brittle 
with age and flakes off at the slightest excuse. Even Leica has abandoned 
Vulcanite on the new cameras, substituting a textured PVC covering.?
        I have recovered several user LTM cameras, an M3, and an Olympus OM1 
with 3M Safety Walk Nonskid Tape and have found it to be significantly 
better in appearance and handling ease than the original aged and battered 
Vulcanite. The nonskid tape is a resilient textured rubberlike material sold 
in hardware stores for $1.99/ft. in a 2" width. Greater widths are 
available. It comes in black, grey, and white colors with an adhesive back. 
The 2" width is perfect for LTM and M Leica bodies. I wouldn't recover a 
valuable collector quality Leica but it is just the thing for a hard working 
user camera. You can also play around with people's minds. I covered a IIIc 
in grey and panic fellow Leica fans when they think I am taking a Luftwaffe 
model on hiking trips in the Appalachians.
        The process is quite simple. Remove the cracked Vulcanite from the 
camera. That's the easy part. Next make a paper cutting pattern for the 
nonskid material. Be very precise in marking the position and outline of the 
lens mounting flange, the strap lugs, and the baseplate lug cutout. Indicate 
the exact position of the two shell mounting screws and the slow speed dial 
on the LTM models. The paper pattern should wrap around the body shell and 
be joined just below the center of the lens mounting flange. When you are 
satisfied that the pattern is as good as you can get it, cut the nonskid 
material to the same shape using a sharp Exacto knife. Since the tape edges 
are perfectly straight, I have found it easiest to use one side for the 
upper edge of the covering, the part that fits next to the top plate. Use a 
leather punch to cut precise holes for the strap mounting lugs and the shell 
mounting screws. On the LTM cameras the slow speed dial is attached to the 
chassis. You can press the soft material between the slow speed dial and the 
top plate. You will have to use your imagination in cutting the cover for 
the digital cameras
        When the covering is cut to shape remove the backing paper and align 
it to the camera. The sticky adhesive permits some movement as long as it 
isn't pressed hard to the underlying surface. When you are satisfied that 
the nonskid material is correctly positioned, press it into full adhesion. 
The adhesive sticks pretty well immediately and sets quite strong within 24 
hours. Check to see that the baseplate fits correctly. Slight corrections 
can be made with a sharp razor blade. If you've made an unfixable error, rip 
it off and try again. The stuff costs only about $2 per camera.
        A more daring alternative approach on the film Leicas is to remove 
the body extrusion entirely. I am hesitant about suggesting this latter 
method because most photographers are reluctant to take screws out of their 
camera. The body extrusion comes off easily by removing the black screws on 
the front of the camera and then the chromed screws on the top flange. The 
extrusion then slides off. The pressure plate and its springs will come off 
too. You now have a camera where the moving parts are open to inspection and 
a body extrusion. Wrapping a piece of paper around the body extrusion makes 
it very easy to make the template used for cutting the covering material. It 
is easy to mark the screw holes. Reassembling the camera is easy. Just slide 
the body back on, remembering to refit the pressure plate and springs, and 
put the screws back in the holes.
        Try this first on your least desirable camera. It is not hard, just 
takes courage. Leica cameras are robustly made and it is hard to foul up the 
process. Just don't lose any of the screws. If they drop on the floor, you 
will never find them again.
        Finally, most camera repair persons never bother about replacing the 
Vulcanite on tiny sections where it has chipped. They just drip a little 
black sealing wax, or black Crayola crayon wax, into the spot and press it 
flush with the surface of the remaining Vulcanite. I learned this trick from 
Sherry Krauter.
        When you are done you will have a Leica that looks as good as new 
(at least the covering) and handles a lot better. True to its name, the 
nonskid material permits a firm grip on the camera and absorbs and cushions 
slight impact better than the factory covering. If you hate Vulcanite and 
don't want to spend $100 on a custom cover give this a try.
        Here is a photo of a recovered camera. I did it a decade ago and 
both the camera and the covering are fine.
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Leica+IIIc+with+3M+Safty+Walk+Nonskid+tape_.png.html


Larry Z