One-owner M3 DS gets new leather cover

[hepcat]

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I recently bought a one-owner M3 DS with a DR Summicron from an estate in Chicago.  The camera and kit are absolutely lovely.  The only issue is that the vulcanite was flaking off with every time it was handled.  I finished peeling it all off, mostly with my fingernail, and cleaned the remaining adhesive off the body with acetone.   I ordered a dark blue leather replacement cover from Morgan at cameraleather.com.   He was responsive and helpful and I had the new leather in my hands in about five days from the date of order.  Exceptional service!  And the leather... oh my... it's gorgeous.   Total install time was about ten minutes, and that with me trial-fitting it and figuring out how I was going to do the install.  It went perfectly.  it was simple and easy.   And I think it looks amazing!

My first M body was an M3 in 1974 that I promptly traded back in for an M2 that developed a severe case of fungus when I lived on Guam.  Since then I've had an M4-2, M4-P a couple of M4s and another M3 or two (and an M8 and M9P.)  My vision got so I couldn't focus the M4-P/M8/M9P well any more so I sold them in 2016.   A conversation with a friend recently about the 1:1 finder in the M3 and the differences from the later finders got me to wondering if it was different enough that I could still use one, and much to my surprise, I can see the focusing patch quite well in the M3.  It pleases me to have an M again.

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[dave.gt]

Looks great!!! Beautiful!😎😎😎

[dave.gt]

Btw, the Camera Leather website is almost unusable… so I recently did a cover replacement, in tan leather,  myself but had to use another company. So it was a pleasure to see how your recover project went. 

Is there an easy way to get in touch with Camera Leather? I loved my M3 with the verdigris green leather from Camera Leather, done years ago of course!🙂

 

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Edited April 11, 2023 by dave.gt

[hepcat]

8 minutes ago, dave.gt said:

Btw, the Camera Leather website is almost unusable… so I recently did a cover replacement, in tan leather,  myself but had to use another company. So it was a pleasure to see how your recover project went. 

Is there an easy way to get in touch with Camera Leather? I loved my M3 with the verdigris green leather from Camera Leather, done years ago of course!🙂

 

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Gorgeous M3!!!  Morgan is rebuilding the website, but for now the best way to contact him is email...  he has been quite responsive.  email:  info@cameraleather.com

[logan2z]

I've always heard that Aki-Asahi was the go-to place for replacement leather kits for Leicas.  Their web site is a bit of a cluster too, but I've only heard good things about their products.

http://www.aki-asahi.com/store/

[hepcat]

2 minutes ago, logan2z said:

I've always heard that Aki-Asahi was the go-to place for replacement leather kits for Leicas.  Their web site is a bit of a cluster too, but I've only heard good things about their products.

http://www.aki-asahi.com/store/

I checked Aki's site as well, but unfortunately shipping from Japan has now become unreasonably expensive in comparison to the other suppliers.  Some folks swear by Aki's products, others by Hugo's.   I had never ordered from any of them, and Morgan was fast, responsive, helpful, reasonably priced, and had reasonable shipping.   I can say I'm extremely pleased with this particular leather cover.  If all of his transactions are as painless and as high quality as this one, I'm a permanent customer.

[Huss]

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I've had one excellent experience w Cameraleather - for my M3 where the fit was perfect, and one not so excellent one with my 1F, where the fit was terrible.

Your M3 falls into the first category - looks great!

Some people may ask why remove the original vulcanite?  On my once perfect condition M3 the vulcanite literally started to crumble off in my hands - like the OP.

[logan2z]

41 minutes ago, hepcat said:

I checked Aki's site as well, but unfortunately shipping from Japan has now become unreasonably expensive in comparison to the other suppliers.  Some folks swear by Aki's products, others by Hugo's.   I had never ordered from any of them, and Morgan was fast, responsive, helpful, reasonably priced, and had reasonable shipping.   I can say I'm extremely pleased with this particular leather cover.  If all of his transactions are as painless and as high quality as this one, I'm a permanent customer.

Can't argue with the results, yours looks great.  

[Huss]

I found that Aki-Asahi's skins fit better than anyone else's.  Always perfect.  I have also tried Hugo Studios as well as Cameraleather.

But.. the Aki-Asahi leather has a plasticky finish, while the Cameraleather is much more lux.  However the Aki ones seem like they will last/wear much better.

[hepcat]

1 minute ago, Huss said:

I found that Aki-Asahi's skins fit better than anyone else's.  Always perfect.  I have also tried Hugo Studios as well as Cameraleather.

But.. the Aki-Asahi leather has a plasticky finish, while the Cameraleather is much more lux.  However the Aki ones seem like they will last/wear much better.

I'm relatively certain that I won't have to worry about the longevity of this application of covering.  Perhaps whoever buys it from MY estate in 15 or 20 years may need to have it re-skinned, but I suspect I won't have to do it again.   $25 for UPS shipping from Japan for an envelope with camera leather in it is a little over the top for me... (not saying anything at all about the relative quality of the materials.)  I think USPS from cameraleather.com was $4, and the prices for the product itself was similar.  Again, as I have never bought this stuff from any of the available vendors, and all seem to be fairly equal in reputation, I went with Morgan because he was responsive and "local."   And my experience was excellent.  And the leather IS "lux" in feel and grip.  Time will tell how well it holds up, but as logansz said above, you can't argue with success.

[dave.gt]

32 minutes ago, hepcat said:

I'm relatively certain that I won't have to worry about the longevity of this application of covering.  Perhaps whoever buys it from MY estate in 15 or 20 years may need to have it re-skinned, but I suspect I won't have to do it again.   $25 for UPS shipping from Japan for an envelope with camera leather in it is a little over the top for me... (not saying anything at all about the relative quality of the materials.)  I think USPS from cameraleather.com was $4, and the prices for the product itself was similar.  Again, as I have never bought this stuff from any of the available vendors, and all seem to be fairly equal in reputation, I went with Morgan because he was responsive and "local."   And my experience was excellent.  And the leather IS "lux" in feel and grip.  Time will tell how well it holds up, but as logansz said above, you can't argue with success.

It occurs to me that since the leather is inexpensive, and from my experience as well, very easy to put on the camera, one can easily afford to buy a new leather cover anytime on a whim,  just to enjoy a different color or feel.😃

They really are that simple to put on once the crumbled vulcanite is removed and the camera is cleaned up. The next re-cover will be much easier.

👍👍👍

[dave.gt]

Btw, I picked up a black plastic VF plastic ring from DAG. They really make a nice difference as mine was showing noticeable paint flaking and scratches.

Edited April 11, 2023 by dave.gt

[hepcat]

43 minutes ago, dave.gt said:

It occurs to me that since the leather is inexpensive, and from my experience as well, very easy to put on the camera, one can easily afford to buy a new leather cover anytime on a whim,  just to enjoy a different color or feel.😃

They really are that simple to put on once the crumbled vulcanite is removed and the camera is cleaned up. The next re-cover will be much easier.

👍👍👍

The adhesive on this was REALLY strong.  I'm not entirely sure how easily it'll come off...  especially with age.  But hopefully so, yes.

[hepcat]

38 minutes ago, dave.gt said:

Btw, I picked up a black plastic VF plastic ring from DAG. They really make a nice difference as mine was showing noticeable paint flaking and scratches.

Hmmm... not quite sure what this ring is?  Do you have a photo or something?

[Huss]

27 minutes ago, hepcat said:

Hmmm... not quite sure what this ring is?  Do you have a photo or something?

It is a plastic trim ring that goes over the vf surround - it makes it look like a modern Leica like MP/M6 etc.  I have them on my M3, M5 etc.  It is very nice as it looks stock, and prevents you from scratching your glasses.

 

https://www.dagcamera.com/store/p109/Plastic_Eyepiece_Guard_for_all_metal_M_eyepieces.html

Edited April 11, 2023 by Huss

[andrew01]

Nice job, looks great!  

I had my M3 vulcanite replaced with Aki Asahi #4008 when I had it serviced.  #4008 is an almost perfect replica of the original vulcanite.  This was a few years ago and I remember it was sent with regular Japan post for a few $.

[hepcat]

2 hours ago, Huss said:

It is a plastic trim ring that goes over the vf surround - it makes it look like a modern Leica like MP/M6 etc.  I have them on my M3, M5 etc.  It is very nice as it looks stock, and prevents you from scratching your glasses.

 

https://www.dagcamera.com/store/p109/Plastic_Eyepiece_Guard_for_all_metal_M_eyepieces.html

I had no idea that was a "thing."   I'll have to see if I can get one from Don.  Thanks for the link!

[hepcat]

12 minutes ago, andrew01 said:

Nice job, looks great!  

I had my M3 vulcanite replaced with Aki Asahi #4008 when I had it serviced.  #4008 is an almost perfect replica of the original vulcanite.  This was a few years ago and I remember it was sent with regular Japan post for a few $.

Yes, Aki laments the unreasonable new shipping costs on his website.  Apparently something changed in 2021 that caused shipping from Japan to become exorbitant

I decided that I wanted something dignified and appropriate, but that still made the camera look different from Vulcanite.  I think I succeeded with this cover.

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Look here: Leica M

[Lux50]

The blue looks very nice on your M3DS!

[mediumformula]

Your camera looks great.   I tried buying a skin through Morgan a couple years ago but unfortunately had to request a refund through paypal when he suddenly became unresponsive.  I have used Hugo Studios for several Barnacs and my M3 with mixed results.  Some of them fit really well but my M3 one is a little too small.  They are cheap enough that I might try ordering another through them and hope it fits better. I even re-skinned my Canon F1 New with black leather and it looks and feels great.

In other news, I had to send my MP in for repair to Leica NJ to get the jammed frame selector fixed.  For some reason they have to remove the leather covering to do this repair.  I was upset because I have an A La Cart MP with a grey natural leather covering that will be removed for the repair and they were going replace it with vulcanite.  I personally hate the plastic coverings so I raised a protest and long story short, they don't have access to my grey A La Cart leather anymore but they gave me other natural leather options and I chose black saddle leather, which the Leica NJ lady said looked nice.   You'll also all be interested to know that the invoice amount for the vulcanite on the repair was $50 and the amount for the saddle leather is $200.  This is all supposed to be covered under my 5 year mechanical warranty so I won't be paying for it. 

Edited April 11, 2023 by mediumformula