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Dingo
10-09-2005, 03:34
Guys,

I guess most of us should at least for once thinking of repaint your own cameras, for nothing but fun, so I did it. (In fact my friend who works in a garage painted it for me, I just do the assembling work). See it :


http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=5360

Ugly or not ?
Hektor
10-09-2005, 03:59
It's an unconventional colour !!!
Mister_Hat
10-09-2005, 05:46
It's eye catching. Mine 4AM has dark red leather with the standard chrome face. I'm still trying to decide if I like it or not.
darkkavenger
10-09-2005, 06:01
It's rather unusual, but not ugly. My Kiev-2A would need a little bit of black paint treatment, but is still in good shape :)
rbiemer
10-09-2005, 06:36
:cool: I like it. After seeing so many of those jaw droppimgly bad re-paints on ebay, this one is a refreshing change!
A few questions:
This is some kind of automotive paint?
Did your friend strip the chrome and then paint or paint over the chrome?
Can you see any of the red while looking through the viewfinder?
Very nice!
Rob
nomade
10-09-2005, 06:48
It looks good...
jlw
10-09-2005, 07:24
I like the color, but I would have carried it over to some other element on the camera so it looks more like a design scheme and less like he just painted one part.

How about doing, say, the accessory shoe or the self-timer lever in the same color?
Dingo
10-09-2005, 08:08
Rob,

My friend didn't treat it as usual as what he did to cars, he just cleaned it because he believed the paint would stay on the surface firmly, and the paint is really shiny and very hard (as the surfaces of car, you know).

And yes, I guess I will put something else into it with the same colour, may be a leather strap...

Thank you for accepting my crazy idea.
Dingo
10-09-2005, 08:10
Oh! The paint work doesn't affect the viewfinder and the rangefinder.
Stephan
10-09-2005, 08:14
Yar, it's ugly :D
derevaun
10-09-2005, 21:20
What better color for a FSU camera? I agree that it'd look nice with more red--maybe some classy red leather from Aki-Asahi or cameraleather.com. Wait, never mind! I want to be the first to show off a red rangefinder :)
Gabriel M.A.
10-09-2005, 21:29
Well, I don't think it's "ugly"; it has "personality" ;) Hey, it's not blue+yellow or green+yellow or...well, nothing pretty much matches with yellow except white or black, does it?
pvdhaar
10-09-2005, 23:10
:D Looks like half a job to me; why didn't you paint the aperture blades as well?
brians
10-10-2005, 00:49
I kind of like it! Reminds me of my days of being dumb watching pro wrestling with the NWO wolfpak. But... maybe I'm just a bit younger than everyone here.
pvdhaar
10-10-2005, 02:21
... maybe I'm just a bit younger than everyone here.
Hey! No need to remind me.. I feel old enough as it is right now :(

I can remember we had horses in the street when I was a kid.. And I mean not these skinny ones you see nowadays to do dressage or jumping, but REAL horses for pulling loads of coal. Should have had a camera then..

Couple of skinnies in the attachment..
hugivza
10-10-2005, 04:40
Have you thought of matching accessories (not shoes and handbag), but perhaps a lenshood in yellow or even puce? It would go well at Essendon in Victoria, Oz as red and black are the local AFL teams colours (or colors if you prefer).
RJBender
10-10-2005, 15:08
What better color for a FSU camera? I agree that it'd look nice with more red--maybe some classy red leather from Aki-Asahi or cameraleather.com. Wait, never mind! I want to be the first to show off a red rangefinder :)

Yeah, red leather, red star, KGB engraving etc.

R.J.
dexdog
10-10-2005, 15:27
no, this is ugly.

http://cgi.ebay.com/LEICA-II-Old-Rangefinder-35mm-Camera-MILITARY-GREEN_W0QQitemZ7553350510QQcategoryZ15234QQrdZ1QQc mdZViewItem
RJBender
10-10-2005, 15:53
no, this is ugly.

http://cgi.ebay.com/LEICA-II-Old-Rangefinder-35mm-Camera-MILITARY-GREEN_W0QQitemZ7553350510QQcategoryZ15234QQrdZ1QQc mdZViewItem

I wonder why Leica doesn't file VERO complaints on this kind of stuff:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidence/vero-rights-owner.html

R.J.
Chaser
10-10-2005, 16:18
could use a red soft release
Mister_Hat
10-10-2005, 17:22
What better color for a FSU camera? I agree that it'd look nice with more red--maybe some classy red leather from Aki-Asahi or cameraleather.com. Wait, never mind! I want to be the first to show off a red rangefinder :)

Well, combine Dingo's paint job with the leather (http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=19187) on my Kiev and they'll be stopping you at the border of the "blue" states.
John Robertson
10-10-2005, 18:10
no, this is ugly.

http://cgi.ebay.com/LEICA-II-Old-Rangefinder-35mm-Camera-MILITARY-GREEN_W0QQitemZ7553350510QQcategoryZ15234QQrdZ1QQc mdZViewItem

I have a green Bessa R2, and like it, but this is seriously ugly.
O.T.Please don't tell me you paint your toenails Dingo!! John. :rolleyes:
reagan
10-10-2005, 19:46
I think it looks great, Dingo. Tell your friend he did a good job. It's the right amount of heavy accent added without being a complete overhaul and I think it's right. Carry on.
rbiemer
10-10-2005, 21:02
no, this is ugly.

http://cgi.ebay.com/LEICA-II-Old-Rangefinder-35mm-Camera-MILITARY-GREEN_W0QQitemZ7553350510QQcategoryZ15234QQrdZ1QQc mdZViewItem
And the seller is threatening his/her customers:"ALL PICS ARE ACTUAL. YOU'LL RECEIVE WHAT YOU SEE."
That's just mean.
Rob
RML
10-11-2005, 00:45
It does look ugly, to me at least. Shows you we all have different tastes.
zuikologist
10-11-2005, 02:01
Dexdog - is that a plywood finish on the "Leica"!? Wow.
Dingo
10-11-2005, 02:56
Mister_Hat,

Wow, my camera gets a cousin !

Hey guys, why don't we all of us dress up our cameras ?!
taffer
10-11-2005, 03:01
Interesting,

not my taste though :D but hey, that's what colors were made for !
RML
10-11-2005, 05:10
Mister_Hat,

Wow, my camera gets a cousin !

Hey guys, why don't we all of us dress up our cameras ?!

I did enough pimpin' on my M2. :p

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=16655&cat=4934&page=1
Dingo
10-11-2005, 17:52
RML,

Fantastic ! Where did you find those coverings materials ?
RJBender
10-11-2005, 18:11
RML,

Fantastic ! Where did you find those coverings materials ?

It looks like it's from AKI ASAHI:
http://www.aki-asahi.com/store/

I bought "lizardskin" for my Kiev and they included a free red leatherette (vinyl) kit.
Do you want it?

R.J.
Mister_Hat
10-11-2005, 18:29
RML,

Fantastic ! Where did you find those coverings materials ?

You might also want to check out Cameraleather (http://www.cameraleather.com). He has some exotic lizard and snake coverings, along with a lot of different types of leathers. Nothing as flashy as that M2, though.
RML
10-11-2005, 22:36
RML,

Fantastic ! Where did you find those coverings materials ?

I got the Japanesque Gold from Aki Asahi. Great guy to deal with. Replies swiftly to emails, and ships so fast I couldn't believe my eyes when the skin arrived less than a week after ordering (from Japan to Holland).

Cameraleather also has nice skins but I find that Aki's cut fits tighter and better on my M2. Also, Aki communcates better, ships faster and his prices are (much) lower.

BTW, Aki didn't offer the Japanesque Gold for the M2. That is, until I asked him. He was hesitant whether it would look nice on the M2 but obliged anyway. And the M2 is the result. It might look a bit over-the-top but in real life it looks very nice. Also, the skin is vinyl and has great grip (unlike snake skin, which feels a it flimsy, lacks grip and gives me sweaty fingers and hands).
Dingo
10-11-2005, 22:55
Thank you all of you, it seems I have a lot of 'night projects' to do after dinners.

Oh ! R.J. , thank you, please keep the kit, I guess you will need it some day.
P C Headland
10-13-2005, 03:42
It needs some blue neon lights underneath ;)

Next project, since winter is coming up in the northern hemisphere, would be to recover a FSU rangefinder with fur, so it's not so cold in the hands....

Paul
kiev4a
10-13-2005, 06:29
Henry Ford once said customers could have any color Model T they desired --- as long as it was black. I'm sorta the same way with cameras. Not into snake skin coverings either. But hey, different strokes for different folks. It would be a dreary world if everyone had my tastes;)