Purchasing a Leica camera on eBay is always a daunting task, between the sky-high price and the vintage nature you are bound to have some sleepless nights. One of the ways I have been able to afford such a camera is that I looked to purchase one that was mechanically functional but may have been lacking in looks.
The one I ended up purchasing this year works perfectly mechanically but the vulcanite grip that was used starts to flake off after decades of use. So I decided to try and replace it with leather. Boy was I in for a surprise!
Finding replacement leather that was laser cut to the exact dimensions of the Leica M4 was actually the easy part. I found several places that sell pre-made replacements for the M4 but I decided to save a bit and order from HugoStudio.
HugoStudio: Rangefinder Leather
They had several types and colors of leather but I decided to go with this dark green to match my camera strap and give my camera a bit of a unique touch over plain black.
Now the hardest part, removing the old vulcanite. Being careful not to scratch the exposed metal of the camera I gently pried up every piece of the vulcanite. This was messy and due to the glue that holds it down I sometimes needed a bit of force from some metal tweezers. Those were the most effective but had a high likelihood of scratching if I was not careful.
After removing the vulcanite I had another problem, most of the glue that held it to the surface was still adhered to the metal. This glue made the surface very uneven and would have made it difficult to lay down the new leather. To remove the glue I have heard of two methods paint thinner or a steady hand scraping with a razor blade. And since I didn’t have any paint thinner I went through the difficult process of scraping away the glue.
This was not too difficult on the flat portions of the camera where I could use the full width of the blade to gently remove the glue in slow controlled motions. But the smaller areas around the lens mount, timer, and frame selector were much more difficult. Unfortunately, I don’t have any video of this process as my camera malfunctioned.
Now apply the leather! Thankfully the very helpful people over at HugoStudio have a tutorial video that shows you how to add the leather in a way so that you have a few seconds to position the leather around the controls.
This is done by applying a small amount of pure alcohol hand sanitizer to the adhesive around the holes for the controls. I followed this procedure and had pretty good success in placement but it was not easy.
Once the front is aligned you can wrap the leather around the side. Be careful not to stretch as this can misalign the leather near the strap lugs and might need to be trimmed to mate with the film door in the back. This is the one mistake I made with my application but on the whole, it turned out spectacularly!
Here is the completed result!
Helpful Tips
If you want to attempt this yourself proceed with caution you could easily scratch your camera, but for the adventurous, I have a few tips.
Blue Masking Tape is Your Friend!
Vulcanite is messy to remove. Make sure to have a clean workspace that can be wiped down to remove small particles and dust. Have blue tape on hand. This will allow you to both masks off areas you don’t want to scratch and help stick down particles as you go. Use alcohol wipes to remove debris and allow you to get a clear view of the surface. Keep the lens mount cap in place during the whole procedure as any vulcanite dust can easily make its way into the shutter. And most importantly wear a mask to prevent inhalation of vulcanite dust.
Vulcanite Glue is Aweful!
Removing the glue on the camera is hard, go slow if you are using a razor blade for removal. If using paint thinner have the necessary equipment to clean up residue and use it outside. Paint thinner is nasty stuff!
Follow the Application Instructions to the Letter!
During the application of the leather follow the video instructions and make sure you use the pure alcohol hand sanitizer as instructed. Use just enough but not too much as it can prevent full adhesion if it cannot evaporate. Purchase from HugoStudio if you are not sure what sanitizer to buy.
Take Your Time!
Last but not least take your time, there is absolutely no reason to rush. You will either injure yourself or damage your camera so take deliberate steps and slow down. It took me a few days. One to remove the vulcanite, one for two to remove the glue, and one more to apply the leather (not whole days but I left time in between to give myself a break and recover my dexterity).
