Cameraleather - Restoration Black Leather

Restoration Black Leather

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Morocco grain genuine leather,
made especially for cameras . . . and more.

After many requests, we have reproduced a classic pebbled leather ideally suited for restoring older cameras, or to impart a timeless feel to your contemporary photo equipment. We cut this leather into adhesive backed, pre-cut kits for any of our supported cameras, and offer it as an uncut sheet, with or without an adhesive backing, for you to cut your own leather parts . . . whether just a repair of a small area, or to recover the body completely. The Leica M8 shown here shows how "correct" this genuine leather looks on any camera you choose to recover.

This embossing is called "Morocco" grain, a texture that is seen on cameras from the early days of photography, right up to the end of the film era . . . on early Kodaks, the Canon F-1N, and hundreds of cameras in between.

Restoration Black leather has an embossing almost identical to the "Pebbled Black" leather we have sold for years. The old "Pebbled Black" leather has been discontinued since it is so well duplicated by this new offering.

This leather is sold in sheets approximately 8.25 X 11.6 inches (21.5 X 28 CM)
Smaller and (somewhat) larger sheets are available upon special request

Besides appearance, there are a couple of qualities a restoration leather should have: First, it must be very thin, and second, it should retain its embossing texture even when wrapped tightly around edges. It is relatively hard to produce a leather with both qualities. Our Restoration Black leather will go anywhere on a camera and retain crisp detail throughout.

Thin leather is also much easier to cut, especially when you are trimming off very narrow slices.

Restoration Black leather is available in uncut sheets for the professional camera repair tech, or for the hobbyist. You can purchase the leather with or without our synthetic adhesive laminated to the back. You should give some consideration to this choice . . . the adhesive backed leather provides an extremely strong and consistent bond across each piece, but it should be used as part of a systematic approach to your work: you should do all of your pattern making first, with a substitute material such as a heavy kraft paper. Why? Without a "sticky back" your substitute material can be handled freely, so that you can hold it up to the camera as often as you need, and trim the paper in increments to the precise shape. You can then use the paper substitute as a template to make the final cuts to the adhesive backed leather, which ideally should be applied just once, as the final stage of your work. You cannot work with the adhesive backed leather "on the fly" by trimming it to approximate shape, applying it, then removing to trim more, re-applying, etc. The adhesive will become quickly exhausted from repeated handling and peeling. With this in mind, when handling leather parts with exposed adhesive between your two fingers, it is good practice to place your fingers in the middle of the piece, and not at an edge.

It's possible, of course, to cut the adhesive backed leather with its release liner in place, and this method is acceptable for sections of leather that will lie flat on the camera, such as the sides of a TLR. For leather sections that have to make "turns", on a Leica for example, or most 35mm cameras, it can be tricky to bend the leather while the relaese liner is still attached, and you may end up with a "short" piece . . . since the radius of the leather is larger when the release liner is included.

If you do not choose the integrated adhesive, you can work with the "dry" leather freely, just like the substitute paper. In this case you will need to use your own solvent-based contact cement to adhere the leather. Best results will be obtained by applying a thin layer of cement to both the camera and the leather, and then waiting a few minutes to dry. Follow this with another thin layer of cement to the leather, which should be pressed into place after about a minute.

Hint: Since the cut edge of the leather is tan or grey, you can use a permanent black marker to blacken any exposed leather edges. This should be done after final cutting, and on the dry-backed leather, before applying contact cement. Look carefully at your camera, since most leather edges are fully hidden by the raised perimeter. Typically, the front sections of a 35mm camera have hidden edges, while the backs have exposed edges.

For pre-cut camera kits, Restoration Black is now a regular choice among the "Embossed Leathers" at the online order page. Uncut sheets, with and without adhesive back, are listed on the same page, Section 7.