neal Posted December 15, 2009 Share #1 Posted December 15, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) We have a couple of model IIIa's that have brown vulcanite, someone has suggested that it fades due to heavy use but the brown color extends into areas that are not handled. Any ideas? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted December 15, 2009 Posted December 15, 2009 Hi neal, Take a look here Brown Vulcanite. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
jc_braconi Posted December 16, 2009 Share #2 Posted December 16, 2009 It looks that some brown vulcanite were painted in black and this paint is vanishing with the UV. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neal Posted December 19, 2009 Author Share #3 Posted December 19, 2009 Here's an image of one of the cameras in question. [ATTACH]178588[/ATTACH] Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted December 19, 2009 Share #4 Posted December 19, 2009 It looks that some brown vulcanite were painted in black and this paint is vanishing with the UV. Yes, I remember the same issue emerged in the forum time ago, as a not uncommon phenomenom in items of the '30s Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted December 19, 2009 Share #5 Posted December 19, 2009 Isn't it just a case of ageing/deterioration of the material? I think prolonged exposure to sunlight also adds the the cause of it. I've seen a few 'brown' cameras and they definately don't appear as if the look was intentional. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pecole Posted December 19, 2009 Share #6 Posted December 19, 2009 We have a couple of model IIIa's that have brown vulcanite, someone has suggested that it fades due to heavy use but the brown color extends into areas that are not handled. Any ideas? When I showed one of the "brown" Leica from the Fontenelle Collection to Leitz people in Wetzlar some (quite a few..) years ago, they definitely confirmed it was a normal "aging" phenomenon, mainly due - not to sun exposure, but to hands transpiration. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neal Posted December 20, 2009 Author Share #7 Posted December 20, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) I'm wondering if there might have been some difference in the raw rubber used to make the vulcanite as both examples that we have date from the mid 1930's, I'm wondering if here was some sort of embargo of either French or Dutch rubber from the southeast asian region. This brown color appears to go clear through the covering. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ron (Netherlands) Posted December 20, 2009 Share #8 Posted December 20, 2009 Did they use rubber? mine, a III from 1934 seems to be fitted with genuine leather, which indeed was colored black but now, with age, has become brown. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neal Posted December 20, 2009 Author Share #9 Posted December 20, 2009 Did they use rubber? mine, a III from 1934 seems to be fitted with genuine leather, which indeed was colored black but now, with age, has become brown. One of the two Brown IIIa's that we have had all of the covering come off in pieces. I put it back on but it appeared to be the hard rubber vulcanite only brown rather than black. We also have a couple of older cameras which have seen lots of use but they retain their black coloration. The camera pictured above appears at first glance to be leather but it is not Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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