Is this considered blasphemy?

minicoop1985 · Dec 7, 2013

Don't worry-I have no plans to do that to my Hassie. Or if I can ever get a Leica. If it's a Leica or a Hassie, and it HAS to be re-covered, it's getting done in the right, original leather, and that's it. And someone else is doing it for me :lol:

I'll post some updates once I get this all started. I'm going to go to fabric store and see what they have, then decide what/where I'm going with.

terri · Dec 7, 2013

Derrel said:
It's a Minolta XG-7...even WORKING on one of these beasts, in an effort to revive it and bring it back to the land of the working, is worthy of nomination for sainthood. Restoring the health of a Minolta XG-7 and also giving it a new suit of clothes is will surely entitle you to canonization once you've left this Earth for the Big Darkroom in the sky.

ahhhh, Derrel you crack me up! :hug::

Derrel · Dec 7, 2013

terri said:
ahhhh, Derrel you crack me up! :hug::

Awww, thanks, terr-bear!

robbins.photo · Dec 7, 2013

Derrel said:
It's a Minolta XG-7...even WORKING on one of these beasts, in an effort to revive it and bring it back to the land of the working, is worthy of nomination for sainthood. Restoring the health of a Minolta XG-7 and also giving it a new suit of clothes is will surely entitle you to canonization once you've left this Earth for the Big Darkroom in the sky.

Friends, I'd like to thank Brother Derrel for his inspiring sermon today. Now, we'll be passing the hat this afternoon so please, be generous. It's only through your support that we can continue to minister to those who are in need of antique camera equipment.

vintagesnaps · Dec 8, 2013

Seems like it could be fun to do with a camera that's common and not working or of much value, I've thought of trying it myself sometime. I wouldn't want to see it done with an antique or more rare/unusual camera.

My Leica has a couple of chips in the vulcanite and I intend to leave well enough alone; my most recent antique camera purchase was one from the 1920's and I wouldn't want to alter that one. However I also have a Fisher Price camera, a variety of midcentury bakelite and plastic that I like as is, but if I found something like that in less that great shape for a few bucks I might decorate it up!

minicoop1985 · Dec 8, 2013

There's a Leica at a local shop that's fully functioning, but has some serious leather issues. If this works out, I might try to get that Leica and some ORIGINAL Leica leather (it might be a sharkskin model-I'd make sure first) and restore it to original condition. I've seen a few Leicas cross eBay with oddball color vinyl, but it's just so wrong.

dxqcanada · Dec 8, 2013

I put brown leatherette on a Minolta-35 rangefinder and dark green on a Minolta Autocord.
There should be some past posts of them in this forum somewhere.

It seems that Leica people only like original covering on theirs.

dxqcanada · Dec 8, 2013

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/collector-s-corner/280070-minolta-autocord-restored.html

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/collector-s-corner/324087-lsm-g-s-2.html

Josh66 · Dec 8, 2013

Some of those re-leathering jobs look pretty good!

I may have to do my 1N RS - the grips are starting to peel a little on the corners.

minicoop1985 · Dec 9, 2013

dxqcanada said:
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/collector-s-corner/280070-minolta-autocord-restored.html

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/collector-s-corner/324087-lsm-g-s-2.html

That Autocord looks FANTASTIC. I'm not big on brown stuff, which is just personal taste, but you did a great job with the fitment on the 35 too.

minicoop1985 · Dec 9, 2013

Here's the before photo. Sorta. Notice the missing screws-I had to remove and clean/lubricate the aperture reporting slider ring thingy (technical term) because it was quite slow and sticky. Breakfree CLP from my gun cleaning kit (I don't have any guns anymore but still have all the cleaning supplies for some reason) did a great job at making that smooth again. The leather had shrunk quite badly too...

Minolta XG7 as received by longm1985, on Flickr

I have the leather off, and will take a photo of that in a little while.

vintagesnaps · Dec 9, 2013

I have a set of camera repair books by Tomosy that are unfortunately out of print I think; in Book 1 there are recommendations on what adhesive to use, what NOT to use on a camera etc. (But I can't remember offhand and I haven't tried re-covering a camera.) I could look and see if your Minolta is listed.

Dennis those look nice. I think the reason usually people don't get Leicas re-covered is that having the original vulcanite covering probably helps preserve the value (not just monetary but the historic value). I lucked into finding one at an area camera shop; he had it priced decent and later when I saw it hadn't sold yet and he'd lowered the price... I couldn't pass it up; the lens alone usually costs what I paid. Just a matter of everything falling into place at the right time.

dxqcanada · Dec 9, 2013

The leatherette for the Autocord was precut from CameraLeather.com
The brown I bought a sheet from the UK, and used layers of painters tape to create a template. I've also purchased sheets from micro-tools.com.
I use Pliobond for adhesive.

Yes, Leica's don't like being depreciated !!
Yeah, I snagged a couple of old Leica's just for the lenses ... but it is getting harder to find a bargain, seems too many people watch those Antique Roadshow and Pickers TV shows ... I should have started collecting 20yrs ago when there was good cheap stuff to grab.

vintagesnaps · Dec 9, 2013

Yeah I lucked into the right circumstances, I thought maybe someday but didn't expect to find one when I did.

I didn't know micro tools sold that, thanks for the resource.

Now to see Minicoop's after photo!

minicoop1985 · Dec 9, 2013

Here's the "In the middle of working on it but some jackwagon glued a screw in place so AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH" photo:

Untitled by longm1985, on Flickr

ONE screw WILL NOT come out. And I'm afraid of stripping it like I have in the past (this isn't the first camera I've dissected-the first one I plan to put back together though) Once I get a better screwdriver set, I think I might get it out-otherwise, I'm not sure what exactly I'll do to get that sucker out. I could go Clarkson on it with a hammer... :lol:

The good news is that it's either the resistor or capacitor and those are CHEAP.

Vintagesnaps-I would REALLY appreciate that. As for those after pictures, there might be a slightly longer delay with those-I have some... plans... for this. :wink: