View Full Version : Where to go for replacement camera leather
The only two options for replacement leather seem to be Aki-Asahi and CameraLeather.com - how reliable are these places?
I've emailed them both and am still waiting for a response. Does it take them a week or more to respond to sales inquiries?
I'm in a bit of a hurry since I'm shooting with a "naked" IIIf right now :(
You might check: http://www.micro-tools.com/
Go to their store and type 'leather' in the search box. They claim they have the closest match to Leica leathers.
A few years ago I recovered my Rolleiflex with their leather and am very pleased with it. I didn't use the self-adhesive stuff, I put mine on with automotive gasket shellac, which is really the same stuff camera manufacturers and repair men used in the old days. Works great and cleans off with alcohol. I don't really trust self-adhesive things. If you get a loose corner it will never stick down. Just IMHO :cool:
Cameraleather.com got back to me and my order should ship on Monday. I'm hoping for the best.
drewbarb
08-09-2007, 19:41
I have a black lizard skin from cameraleather.com on one of my cameras. It shipped pretty quickly, looks great, and has held up well over the three or four years I've had it on my camera. You should be happy with yours.
NIKON KIU
08-09-2007, 19:45
Cameraleather.com got back to me and my order should ship on Monday. I'm hoping for the best.
Cameraleather is kinda like a one man show, so have a little patience....it is in your neck of woods and he is a real nice guy.
Kiu
ZeissFan
08-09-2007, 19:52
Regarding cameraleather.com, the last time I traded e-mails with him, he was out of town. I have placed four orders, and only one shipped promptly. The others always required one or more follow-up e-mails.
Aki-Asahi gets my vote every time. I find his leathers better fitting on my M2 than the already not so shabby Cameraleather ones. Plus, Aki is cheaper and ships incredibly fast.
Another vote for Aki-Asahi. He sometimes takes a while to answer e-mail messages, but his shipping is impeccable. Also a one-man show, it seems.
Another Aki Asahi customer here. Always quality product and prompt shipping.
Mikael.N
08-10-2007, 02:41
My supplier of camera leather is furniture store i ask for leather sample for sofas they use to have some old ones you can have.
Aki-Asahi is actually in my neighborhood back in Japan. He lives about a 20 minute bike ride from me :eek: I emailed him though, and he said he currently doesn't have anything in my size.
I have a black lizard skin from cameraleather.com on one of my cameras. It shipped pretty quickly, looks great, and has held up well over the three or four years I've had it on my camera. You should be happy with yours.
Ugh- don't show me a photo of an M-series. I'm currently torn about buying a 'user condition' M3 or not :(
Charles Woodhouse
08-10-2007, 05:06
Aki gets my vote, but I have never tried Camera Leather. Aki made a special order for my M1 a while back by cutting a button rewind M2 and including the disc normally cut out for the frame selector lever. It fits like a glove and you really have to look closely to see the cut. I must send him another order because I now have five naked leicas.
Charles, you wouldn't mean "naked Leicas" as in the popular expression "camera porn", would you?
CosmicCharlie
08-15-2007, 12:59
I am another very happy Aki-Asahi customer.
Had what I needed for my III (F)
thomasw_
08-15-2007, 13:14
i have used both aki and C.L.; I had a terrible time with my first CL order but it was eventually all sorted out very fairly. Aki is a faster shipper and his skins fit well. Morgan at CL does take much more time than Aki; in all but 1 of my 4 orders, he takes 2 to 3 weeks; whereas both of my Aki orders arrived within 1 week of paying him. But I do prefer CL's higher quality leathers over Aki's standard vulcanite replacement; it seemed too shiny and plasticy for my taste. CL's levant leather smells so good, and its grippiness is an added benefit.
Would I use Aki or Morgan at CL again. YES and YES. Just plan ahead.
Camera Leather has a pretty website and a good product, but horrible customer service. Multiple emails to ensure delivery, lack of follow up to correct mistakes. Not a pleasant experience, overall.
I recommend Aki-Asahi from my past experiences. Great seller.
I have received a couple of covering kits and light-seal packs within eight days from Aki-Asahi. No problems at all. Camera-Leather is also often mentioned in a good context, but I have not checked to see if they both supply products for the same range of cameras so availability "off-the-shelf" could vary.
I ordered my leather kit lst week on Thursday. The kit came today, went on pretty easily and my IIIf looks great now.
I'm very satisfied with cameraleather.com :)
ZeissFan
08-15-2007, 21:31
i have used both aki and C.L.; I had a terrible time with my first CL order but it was eventually all sorted out very fairly. Aki is a faster shipper and his skins fit well. Morgan at CL does take much more time than Aki; in all but 1 of my 4 orders, he takes 2 to 3 weeks; whereas both of my Aki orders arrived within 1 week of paying him. But I do prefer CL's higher quality leathers over Aki's standard vulcanite replacement; it seemed too shiny and plasticy for my taste. CL's levant leather smells so good, and its grippiness is an added benefit.
Would I use Aki or Morgan at CL again. YES and YES. Just plan ahead.
I totally agree. Of four orders with cameraleather, three have required multiple follow-up e-mails to get the product delivered. Great product -- terrible delivery schedule. Better not need it tomorrow. You might get it right away -- you might get it in two months.
bananasplit
08-31-2007, 13:53
I tried both of them and agree with all the comments.
I prefer Asahi which I consider:
- reliable
- affordable
- his covering have the right dimensions (including the thickness, always forgotten)
A Leica with a new covering too thin will have the top and bottom plate sticking out. Not nice...
Partners used purse buy her a new one or friendly goat... bleat
Noel
I would love to reskin my M8 in a nice more grippy leather, unfortunatly no one makes a kit and the it would void the warranty.
Maybe when my coverage is up.
Used Both.
Camera Leathers offer a wide selection and High Quality. Slow on getting orders out. Morgan will work with you, but it all takes awhile.
Aki-Asahi is super fast in getting orders out (about a week door to door from Japan to USA) not much variety, but what he has is great and fits very well. Also less expensive.
Randy
FallisPhoto
12-16-2007, 08:34
I get Italian kidskin leather and baby lambskin leather from a guy who sells garment grade leathers on ebay, .3mm thick (just right). The stuff is beautiful, and finishes up nicely, but you do have to measure, cut and glue it yourself. http://cgi.ebay.com/ITALIAN-Goat-skin-Leather-Hide-BLACK-1-Sq_W0QQitemZ270196772174QQihZ017QQcategoryZ83936QQ cmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.com/Lambskin-Hide-Skin-Leather-Hides-Skins-Black-nz-c_W0QQitemZ270153327779QQihZ017QQcategoryZ83936QQc mdZViewItem The photos don't show it very well, but the texture of the goat leather is an an almost exact match for what you would find on a Retina and the lambskin texture is more like what you would see on a Moskva 2, a Leica or a Yashica GTN.
FallisPhoto
12-16-2007, 08:45
I tried both of them and agree with all the comments.
I prefer Asahi which I consider:
- reliable
- affordable
- his covering have the right dimensions (including the thickness, always forgotten)
A Leica with a new covering too thin will have the top and bottom plate sticking out. Not nice...
That is mostly a problem with leatherettes. With real leather the problem is finding it that is thin enough that the edges don't stick up, catch on things and begin to peel off (it just plain looks bad too). Usually about .3mm to .4mm is going to be just right. Most of the stuff you find is .5mm and .7mm though, and that's way too thick.
Hello:
As a tangent, is there a consensus on which covering gives the best grip?
Vulcanite does not show wear 'till it starts to fall off. How durable are some of the more attractive coverings?
yours
Frank
Kim Coxon
12-17-2007, 05:29
I find that real leather gives the best grip and is nicer to hold than Vulcanite. The best feel is from the goatskin kits from Cameraleather but not cheap. For general use, I use calfskins which have been skived doen to 0.4mm. I think I paid about $7 for a "neck" which was thined to the correct thickness, embossed and dyed to choice. Total area was about 3 Sq ft. Most tanneries that provide leather for bookbinding should be able to help at a reasonable cost as the pieces we need are far too small for most other uses.
Kim
Hello:
As a tangent, is there a consensus on which covering gives the best grip?
Vulcanite does not show wear 'till it starts to fall off. How durable are some of the more attractive coverings?
yours
Frank
FallisPhoto
12-18-2007, 19:35
Hello:
As a tangent, is there a consensus on which covering gives the best grip?
Vulcanite does not show wear 'till it starts to fall off. How durable are some of the more attractive coverings?
yours
Frank
Goatskin is the most durable of the "normal" leathers and it feels the best too. Sheep leather is too soft and porous (feels like a cleaning chamois) unless you use a lot of sealer, and then it is too hard. Calfskin usually feels slick, by comparison to either sheepskin or goat. I can't tell you about the exotic stuff (snake, lizard, ostritch and so on) because I never use it (although I hear that ray skin is the utmost in durability -- the surface is covered in tiny knobs of bone). As for which gives the best grip, it would depend on how you finish it. If you use a silicone sealer, pretty much anything you put it on is going to be slick. If you use wax though, it will give you a good grip.
Shin Oyama
10-09-2008, 03:22
The great thing about C.L. is that Morgan will make covers for any camera you send him. He did a Zeiss Ikon (ZM) for me and its great. He is pressed for time though.
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