Good quality product from cameraleather.com
I just got this rangefinder back from being serviced, and ordered a new cover to replace the brittle and peeling vulcanite.
The process went pretty well once I got the old cover off. It appears that hardware stores no longer sell paint stripper with methylene chloride, the active ingredient that cameraleather.com says is needed to remove vulcanite on a Leica, so I had to mechanically remove it. Luckily the old stuff was pretty brittle, with most of it fairly loose. Some parts were still very well glued, which took some elbow grease. After removing the vulcanite, the old glue had to come off. I did this with a towel and a bit of acetone to soften the glue, then scraped it off with a fairly dull hobby knife, being careful to not gouge the surface, or slip and damage other parts of the camera.
The new cover went on relatively easy. I used a combination of cameraleather's method (from their website) of wet, and dry application. I used a small paint brush to coat parts of the camera that the new cover may stick to when installing with alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Parts coated were the frame line preview lever, lens mount, rewind button, all other protrusions, and the flat areas around those protrusions. The cover slipped right on, and I was able to position it precisely before the hand sanitizer dried. Once dried, the cover is on for good. The adhesive they use is very strong. Used a toothpick to push the cover down in all the hard to reach corners and crevices.
The fit is very good - just as good or better than the original cover. The price for what you get is outstanding. Also - I don't know if it was a mistake, but they sent me two covers, so now I have an extra.
I just got this rangefinder back from being serviced, and ordered a new cover to replace the brittle and peeling vulcanite.
The process went pretty well once I got the old cover off. It appears that hardware stores no longer sell paint stripper with methylene chloride, the active ingredient that cameraleather.com says is needed to remove vulcanite on a Leica, so I had to mechanically remove it. Luckily the old stuff was pretty brittle, with most of it fairly loose. Some parts were still very well glued, which took some elbow grease. After removing the vulcanite, the old glue had to come off. I did this with a towel and a bit of acetone to soften the glue, then scraped it off with a fairly dull hobby knife, being careful to not gouge the surface, or slip and damage other parts of the camera.
The new cover went on relatively easy. I used a combination of cameraleather's method (from their website) of wet, and dry application. I used a small paint brush to coat parts of the camera that the new cover may stick to when installing with alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Parts coated were the frame line preview lever, lens mount, rewind button, all other protrusions, and the flat areas around those protrusions. The cover slipped right on, and I was able to position it precisely before the hand sanitizer dried. Once dried, the cover is on for good. The adhesive they use is very strong. Used a toothpick to push the cover down in all the hard to reach corners and crevices.
The fit is very good - just as good or better than the original cover. The price for what you get is outstanding. Also - I don't know if it was a mistake, but they sent me two covers, so now I have an extra.
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