M leather body-cover repairs and replacements
For those whom find Leica M's a bit boring, or else need to repair the leatherette or vulcanite body covering on their cameras, check out the self-adhesive M camera body covers from the following:
Camera Leather
<cameraleather.com/leica_m/preview.htm>
Lots of choice and textures (eg vinyl, leather, snake-skin or lizard-skin). For those who want a closer match to black vulcanite, have a look at their "Seal Grain Black" or "Pebbled Black" options at:
I have installed the "Pebbled Black" cover on my M6TTL and can report that the pre-cut kit is simple to apply and the end result looks great.
A note of caution, in late 2003 Camera Leather were flooded with orders after a write-up in Shutterbug magazine. Consequently don't be surprised if there are long delays if you wish to ask a question or buy a kit.
Aki-Asahi Camera
In early 2004 a competitor in arrived in the form of Aki-Asahi. Same idea of pre-cut self-adhesive leather covers, but at a cheaper price (M2 & M3 $US 24, M6 $US 18). The trade-off is that they currently have fewer options and textures, although they do appear to have the Leica M6 & Leica M3 situation (ahem) well covered:
Which of their covers most closely approximates vulcanite? Quoting from their website:
#4034 is called as Morocco Grain Black in micro-tools.com. Very Durable and solid touch (not slippery).
#4008 has similar surface with M3 original vulcanite.
They have also put together an incredibly detailed page, with close-up photographs, of how to go about removing your old vulcanite and affixing the new self-adhesive cover:
<fogfeet.com/installation.html>
"Griptac"
Looking for a higher-tech vulcanite/ leatherette alternative? Why not try the Griptac covers sold by David M Stephens in the UK. According to his website (see link below):
Griptac is a specialized material offering the strongest possible grip for any camera. Available in charcoal black.
With a very bold, gravel-textured surface, Griptac gives the impression of "Vulcanite-on-steroids"
See the URL below and click on the "Leica M8 Griptac" option:
For close-up photos of what a Griptac covered Leica M8 looks like, see the following Nov 2007 discussion:
Leica original camera covers
Apparently you can still buy some of the original (self-adhesive) covers used on Leica M bodies as spare parts. In June 2004 Emanuel Lowi, sent me the following details:
[An] alternative for M6 and later cameras is to order from Leica Solms or USA the leatherette used on the Japan-only MP6 and LHSA MP cameras. This looks quite a lot like old vulcanite but is self-adhesive.
[…] The M6J material is also available from Leica -- also looks something like old vulcanite albeit finer grained -- but this is cut for the M6J top cover which has those descending tangs on the front (like M2/M3 tops).
For ordering Leica spare parts, see this topic elsewhere in the FAQ.
"Lizliz" hand-painted
Not "way-out-there" enough? Check out the custom oil-based paint-work on the following Leica IIIB:
A note about possible broken links
This FAQ has over 900 external links. Over time it is inevitable some of them will break. If you are bothered by this, see this detailed topic elsewhere in the FAQ.