Besides Shintaro, who does superior Leica refinishing?

[rick_switzer]

I've just purchased an M2, and am *very* happy to have done so. It is

currently at DAG Camera for a full CLA. Inasmuch as I will not be

able to take possession for a few months, I thought that I would use

this time to have it refinished. It's had a few modifications,

different loading mechanism (Leica), M6 viewfinder, etc. So it's not

as if I will be defiling something minty. Since I greatly prefer black

cameras, I thought a nice, very dark hammertone would look good.

 

I have tried to contact Mr. Shintaro in Japan, but have received no

response from him. I have seen mention in other postings that there

are other very competent people in this country who can also do

quality work.

 

Can anyone make recommendations of who I should contact, and on what

basis do you know the quality of their work? First-person experience

is preferable. I strongly suspect that this is going to be 'my baby'

(or, given my feelings for my SL2, my 'second baby'), and I'd really

like the job to be done right.

 

Any help will be greatly appreciated. (Including warnings, if

appropriate. Though I think I'd prefer those in private

communication.) Thanks very much.

[Bill Blackwell Images]

Have you asked Don Goldberg? He might have some options that may be of some interest to you.

[grant_.]

i hear sears carries spray paint...

[eliot_rosen1]

GB Metzcar in the USA is an expert refinisher. Jim Lager shows some of his work in his volume on Leica cameras. But I don't know where he is currently located.

[edmo]

Send it to me, I can bang out a hammertone finish in a few hours and cheap too....use FedEx overnite.

[mark_ng]

Doesnt CRR do that stuff along with his vulcanite replacement service?

 

You could potentially even revamp your whole M by replacing the vulcanite, repainting (to

black, olive, hammertone, and other custom colours) then get a CLA right after the

baking!. Thats almost like buying a brand new Leica~! (unless you have mega dents)

 

If it were me? hmm Black or hammertone on me M4. Pretty Pretty. Priorities first though...I

need a meter. Mom was supposed to help me get one in HK, but never did.

[sandy.]

Mr. M received TWO of my very collectable base plates and never heard from him again... Mr. S received one of my base plate and again, never heard from him. Oh well, such is life. Grant's idea is not bad afterall because you still have in your possession the item(s) you wanted to restore. Send at your own risk.

[Uhooru]

Aluminum siding for the older M's. Last longer.

[claude_batmanghelidj]

CRR, did a stellar job for me. Your best bet with restoring a Leica is to have the CLA and paint job rolled into one. It is much much cheaper that way.

[paul t]

I've been thinking about this too; definitely, if you want a CLA in the next few

years, it's worth combining it with painting. Peter at CRR and - I believe -

Malcolm Taylor, both do this. But Shintaro, as far as I know, has much more

experience of painting cameras. I'm concerned that he's not returned a

baseplate, altho I know he's a busy photographer, and painting is just a

sideline. <p>

Does anyone here have experience of Malcolm Taylor's work? I assume

Shintaro's work - particularly the glossiness and thickness of the paint - is

close to a vintage Leitz finish, and would love to know if the same applies to

CRR or MT.

[claude_batmanghelidj]

Forget about Shintaro, seriously, why waste your time with him? Peter at CRR is the Man, he worked at Leica, and he does all the extra touches that I bet Shintaro could not even imagine. He is also much more reasonable. He got my Leica in and out of the door faster than the blink of an eye, and painted it too, with some kind of high tech indestructible paint. I have a one of a kind Leica now, and I would definitely not mess around with this Shintaro guy.

[paul_neuthaler]

Rick, why in God's name are you installing a M6 viewfinder in an M2? Call Don right away & tell him to stop!!!!

[jim_a]

I've been talking with Peter at CRR now for about a week. I have a body on the way to him today for a rebuild/CLA and painting. I've been very impressed with him and his knowledge. Hopefully in a few weeks I'll have some good news to report.

[jim_a]

Paul, I don't think Rick was saying he's having it added, but that it was done already.

 

I have an M2 purchased from another forum member. He sent it to Leica a few years ago, had the whole thing CLA'd, reskinned and they replaced the RF. They told him that it would be a rebuilt M4 RF.

 

When I got the camera is did appear to be an M4 RF. It did not flare like my M6 prior to the condenser upgrade and had the more accurate (larger field of coverage) frames found in the older M's. It needed a small RF adjustment and did not appear to need a CLA since it had one pretty recently. I sent it to Youxin Ye. He discovered that it needed the special tool used in the newer RF's to adjust it. He doesn't have the tool so he could not adjust it.

 

I sent it to Don. He told me that it was an M6 RF. He could see areas where the circuitry would be in the M6 RF. So how did Leica take this M6 RF and give it framelines that are more accurate like in the older M's? My best guess is that they used an M6 RF with the frame mask from the M4-2 or M4-P before the downsize. My M2 doesn't have the cutout frameline for the 35 at the bottom where you would find it for the M6 LEDs.

[mark_theken]

Can someone provide a link to contac Peter at CCR? Thanks, Mark

[jim_a]

<a href="http://www.angelfire.com/biz/Leica/">( Leica ) CAMERA REPAIRS & RESTORATION - LUTON , ENGLAND</a>

[andy m.]

Another vote for Peter at CRR, a firm favourite of mine for any Leica work. Very honest and efficient.

[wgpinc]

The chrome parts of my M2 are covered with black photo masking tape. It's black and it protects the chrome. Feels good when I hold it. Good luck.

[andrew n.bra hrefhttp]

FWIW, repainting is discussed in the Leica FAQ I maintain at:<p>

 

<<a href="http://www.nemeng.com/leica/004b.shtml">

http://www.nemeng.com/leica/004b.shtml</a>>

[paul t]

"He got my Leica in and out of the door faster than the blink of an eye, and

painted it too, with some kind of high tech indestructible paint. I have a one of

a kind Leica now, and I would definitely not mess around with this Shintaro

guy."<p>

I have used Peter for servicing, and he's great. But your camera was finished

in yellow, right? Generally, what people are looking for is something close to

the look of the original black paint, which might augment the value of their

camera, rather than reduce it. <p>I'd be interested to hear whether CRR's

black finish looks like Leitz paint; likewise Malcolm Taylor. One thing about

Shintaro is he's finished hundreds of cameras - I believe he's worked closely

with TOm Abrahamsson on a lot of specials - and is known for getting close to

the original look. It's almost impossible to tell from photos, but CRR's finish

looks rather glossier to me.

[claude_batmanghelidj]

Listen, I have talked to Peter, and the guy knows what he is doing. He knows Leicas inside out. He will do what you ask, it's very simple, contact him and let him know what you want, and see if he can do it. The reason he chose to do my Leica as a yellow, was that he felt like it was an interesting project and a one of a kind. I had actually lost my nerve, but he persuaded me it would come out well. He could just as easily have painted it black.

 

<p>The other thing, is that Peter will take your camera way beyond the condition it came out of the factory, it will be better than new. The original black paint on the M3/4 etc. was pretty crap, and the stuff he uses, is much much harder. I don't see why he couldn't dig up some of the old crappy paint, it isn't like it is the freakin' Coke formula you know!

[fred_obturateur]

I am contemplating having my grey minty M3 given a stealth painting and quite logically I'd much prefer give my money to someone who does this full-time (CRR), rather than a man who'd paint my camera when he's tired to take pictures.

 

Sheer logic.