sick of CameraLeather, alternatives?

[buzzardkid]

Hi all,

The short:
April 23 bought Granite pebbled Goat Skin for my IIIa (I thought)
May 18th started PayPal dispute: item not received.
May 22nd Upgraded to claim.
May 22nd Morgan emails stating he mailed before (?) and points out my error. Suggests new payment: 'We can ship immediately'. PayPal refunds.
May 23rd Paid the correct amount.
June 2nd Still nothing. Morgan does not respond to emails.
June 3rd opened dispute for second payment.


Aki Asahi seems to be offline and I have never succeeded in finding a page with samples of the leatherettes he sells.

Anybody any suggestion for a self-sticking leather kit for a IIIa?

Thanks!

[Mister E]

I've bought about 10 cameraleather.com kits and never had any issues at all.

[buzzardkid]

Originally Posted by Mister E

I've bought about 10 cameraleather.com kits and never had any issues at all.

Have you bought any recently?

I bought a GripTac kit a year and a half ago, no trouble either...


Lets talk alternative vendors for a self sticking IIIa kit.

[Mablo]

Aki has quite limited supply of different camera models. That's too bad because his leathers are great and his delivery is very quick. He seems to be out of office at the moment, I hope it's temporary.

[Mister E]

Originally Posted by buzzardkid

Have you bought any recently?

I bought a GripTac kit a year and a half ago, no trouble either...


Lets talk alternative vendors for a self sticking IIIa kit.

Sorry I don't know of any alternatives. Yes, I just bought 2 kits from them in the last month. They have been slowish about shipping, but the kits are still perfect. Sorry you had a bad experience with them.

[ZeissFan]

In the past year or so, I've bought many coverings from Asi-Asahi. I've been very pleased with the quality of the materials. Shipping to the U.S. from Japan was quick -- arrived within seven days.

To be brief, my experience with cameraleather was mediocre. About half of my orders arrived promptly (within two weeks). Half didn't and required multiple follow-up e-mails (orders took up to two months to fill).

[buzzardkid]

Any examples of Aki Asahi leathers online anywhere? I'm so fed up by now I'd stick almost anything on my IIIa, but do prefer olive green, to match the beautiful neckstrap fellow-RFF member rlouzan made me.

[mandatjan]

Hallo Johan,
Found this
http://aki-asahi.com/store/about.php
Selamat

[john neal]

Johan,

Try an email to Aki-san. I think he's moving or something, but does generally respond to emails.

Unfortunately, I had the same problem with Morgan over a black lizard skin for my IC - it never arrived, finally got a refund after many emails. Sad really, as Morgan has some really good stuff, and used to provide a great service.

[newspaperguy]

Count me in the "Happy with Camera Leather and his service," category.

Have had nothing but good transactions with Mr. Sparks.

[fergus]

I am another in the "Happy with Cameraleather" group.

I do not know of other alternatives, in answer to the OP's question.

Are there only two suppliers out there? (including Aki)

[Finder]

Try here:

http://www.micro-tools.com

[fergus]

I did; I found a lot of various tools.

In terms of camera coverings, I found: http://www.micro-tools.com/store/Sea...tegoryCode=RES

A few leatherette sheets, curtain materials, foam seal, etc... handy yes, a replacement for either of the two main suppliers for camera covers?

Did I miss something?

EDIT: Is there any other supplier out there, apart from Camera Leather or Aki ?

[newspaperguy]

No one else that I've heard of offers custom pre-cut camera leathers.

I believe there are several suppliers of raw/sheet leather that may be

suitable for re-covering camera bodies, but I've never tried them.

I'm not afraid of leather, having made many holsters and sheaths,

but dammed if I'd try to fit a RF or SLR camera body.

[buzzardkid]

I think Rick is right, somehow Aki Asahi and CameraLeather serve the planet together. One does not show samples and the other doesn't send kits out.

Nobody wanna get in there and do it right?

[jesse1dog]

Johan
If you have removed the old covering it isn't too difficult to make a paper pattern for a new one. Using that with any thin material of your choice you can make your own cover. Thin leather sheet is available, and double sided 'stick' is around too. - Jon Goodman used to have some.
As for Aki Asahi - great for what he advertises but I've never had a reply to any email I've sent him - and all I wanted was an uncut sheet of his material.
jesse

[helenhill]

Morgan Sparks did FINE by Me....he actually convinced me
that I could do the skin myself for my M4...
He was Right mind You, it turned out Brilliant

***sorry to hear of your Difficulties***
Best- H

[ZeissFan]

Originally Posted by buzzardkid

Any examples of Aki Asahi leathers online anywhere? I'm so fed up by now I'd stick almost anything on my IIIa, but do prefer olive green, to match the beautiful neckstrap fellow-RFF member rlouzan made me.

He has some green materials, but they're sort of a lizard green and not an olive green.

I really like the black lizard from Aki-Asahi.

Here's a Minolta XD-11 that I re-covered.







I just put this same covering on a Contax 139.

[buzzardkid]

Helen!!

Fashionista!!

Lovely camera that is, happy for ya!

[FallisPhoto]

I've never had a problem with Camera Leather, but then I don't buy kits, just sheets. Have you tried ebay? There is every kind of leather you can imagine there. I've had a lot of luck with the goat leathers and kidskins from Fashion Leathers International: http://stores.ebay.com/Fashion-Leathers You'll see that he mostly sells lambskins; don't buy those -- they're not thin enough or tough enough (kind of like a sponge). The goat hides are thin and very tough though; they make motorcycle seats out of them. You're looking for the sample pieces that are .3 or .4mm thick.

Edit: The rule of thumb is that if you are applying a flat sheet of leather to a rounded surface (shutter door of a Bessa RF or body of a Kodak Realist, to name two examples), go with the limpest real leather you can find that has no stickum on it. Leatherette and anything with stickum on it will be too stiff and it will be like wrapping a bowling ball in paper without having any wrinkles -- all but impossible. They are fine for flat surfaces though. The limp goathide without stickum can be molded some and can be made to contract and/or stretch a little to fit against a rounded surface. You stick it down with contact cement.

[jmkelly]

Some cameras are easier to cover than others. I bought a stingray hide from an exotic leather supplier on eBay to recover a Pen F. I used the original coverings as a template after carefully removing them, taking care to avoid pulling them out of shape. Stingray is very hard to cut but it is very easy to make thinner with an orbital sander and 220 grit paper.

When I wanted to re-cover a IIIf with black lizard, Morgan at Cameraleather responded to an email to tell me he was out of supply before I placed the order. Don Goldberg had a lizard hide in stock. I could not use the original covering as a template as I could not get it off in one piece. I used a new IIIf covering from Aki-Asahi as a template. There are plenty of options for sticking raw leather to your camera. I like old-time head gasket shellac as it cleans up easily with rubbing alcohol.

I bought a goat hide from Fashion Leathers for a project that has yet to reach fruition. Beautiful, thin, tough leather and reasonably-priced.

[jwicaksana]

Hi all, sorry to bump an old thread, but can someone share with me the latest situation with cameraleather.com? Do customers still have problems with shipping and all?
Thanks.

[Archlich]

Yes.

With Morgan, it's pretty much miss or hit, as it had always been.

[jwicaksana]

Originally Posted by Archlich

Yes.

With Morgan, it's pretty much miss or hit, as it had always been.

Too bad. Aki Asahi doesn't have a cover for FM2n.
Do you have any idea who sells ready-to-apply cover for FM2n?

[Tony Whitney]

I don't know why anyone would waffle around with Cameraleather, given its spotty reputation. Aki-Asahi is fast, obliging and its products are excellent and as long as this supplier has the material for your camera, why go anywhere else?