I spotted this nice OM1 on Ebay and thought someone had given it the cameraleather.com treatment. It turns out, however, that the seller, Ishmael, cut his own leather by hand as a replacement - and a very nice job he made of it.
Ishmael said he he used leather off-cuts and the result, whilst "not perfect", was much better than the shrinking leatherette that was on the camera. Ishmael said, "It was just luck that I had leather of the correct shade that fits the case and the amber coating on the lens.
"I find it satisfying to bring something back to a high quality with my own hands. I'd be happy to share any tips I've learned if you get any requests for how to do this. I've learned some things having done several now."
The new covering is certainly a good match for the case and the result is a classically pimped Olympus. Just before you go, take a look at the OM1. Has there ever been a better SLR camera design? I'm going to return to this subject at some point as I think 35mm SLRs reached their zenith - and I'm not talking about "features" here - with the OM1. With just one or two exceptions, it was downhill all the way after that!
2 comments:
hi there...what a great finish on the om-1...i have been looking to give new life to my om-1 also. I have looked around on camera leather and couldn't find one i liked. I am looking for an all white leather.
What advice can you give me on cutting out my own leather?
Please see October 16 post.
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