[Leica] Recovering a Classic Leica

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

I suppose the complaints about the Leica M9 finish have something to do with 
it but I have had several requests for a three year old post about 
recovering Leicas with 3M tape. Here it is. Incidentally the Leica shown in 
the gallery illustrating the technique is my favorite walk around camera. I 
used it today to take pictures of old tractors and farm equipment. It seemed 
appropriate since it was older than most of the tractors.









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RECOVERING A LEICA











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. It comes in black, grey, and 
white colors with an adhesive back. The 2" width is perfect for 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 2" 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. The slow speed dial is attached to the chassis. You 
can press the soft materia
 l between the slow speed dial and the top plate.?











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 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 III 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 that little section between the slow speed dial and the top 
plate. It breaks off so easily. 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.




http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Leica+IIIc+with+3M+Safty+Walk+Nonskid+tape_.png.html











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.











Larry Z