OM4-T Navy Blue Stingray Leather

[Newt_on_Swings]

Just spent the last 3 hours doing this mod. I'm off from work today =]. Its my first re-wrapping/covering of a camera in material that is non-standard, and was inspired by the OM1 a la carte post.

It is navy blue stingray/shagreen leather, and it has a few interesting characteristics. In history, shagreen was used for lots of coverings of goods from jewelry to boxes, as well as over sword handles for grip. The material is naturally smooth, but is covered in a pebble like surface that gives it much grip in the hand. Supposedly its even slip resistant when wet with water or blood lol. It has a particular luster to it in different lighting conditions, its very elegant.

I sourced it from a vendor in Florida off of the bay ~$35 which is enough material for two bodies. I first removed the original covering with a small piece of plastic, and it lifts off very easy. This was pasted onto a transparency sheet, and was used as a guide to cut out semi-rigid templates. The plastic templates were used to find an efficient arrangement over the leather to conserve material, and traced on with pencil. A serrated scissor and medium sized xacto knife were used in the cutting. The material is very tricky to cut, the pebbled skin is very similar to grains of sand when crushed or cracked and takes considerable time to cut neatly and cleanly, especially when cutting circles out. Edges were darkened with black fabric marker. The pieces were glued on with pliobond after the glue set for a bit.

here are some pictures sorry for the camera phone quality:






Things I should have done differently, labeling the cutouts, as I had one reversed and wasted a piece which detracts from the uniformness on the body. Use more of the edge material than the center, as the pebble surface is much more fine and easier to cut.

Future mods may be with brown lizard skin, or shark skin I have sourced as well cheaply for my other om4t, or other cameras.

[benjiboy]

I usually dislike tarted up cameras, but I really like this one.

[Newt_on_Swings]

Thanks! I've been letting the pliobond vapor off, now to maybe apply the same covering to a custom grip I've made for this camera out of plastic. It's a look here is very low key, the color is quite dark.

[Chris Nielsen]

Very nice!

[LJSLATER]

Let me know how the grip holds up during excessive bleeding; I've been in that situation before and better slip resistance would have been welcome ;)

[CGW]

Pimped SLRs are the future. Want fur on my Mamiya RB67 Pro S!

[resummerfield]

Nice job!

[dehk]

Pimped SLRs are the future. Want fur on my Mamiya RB67 Pro S!

[Newt_on_Swings]

Update: used some leftover pieces I had left over from a messed up front panel and made myself a custom grip wrapped in the stingray leather.



Works really well together and is a very tight fit. The grip molding and wrap covering took longer than doing the whole camera body lol. The screw is held in by a counter sunk washer within the plastic, and the screw also retains another smaller washer with split spring ring to prevent it from working loose over time.

[benjiboy]

Let me know how the grip holds up during excessive bleeding; I've been in that situation before and better slip resistance would have been welcome

Should be fine, stingray skin was used extensively in Japan to cover the handles of samurai swords which must have been subject to extremely excessive bleeding.