A chat with a local museum curator changed how I handle old camera leather

I was fixing a 1950s Leica IIIf for a client last week and met with the curator at our city's history museum about it. She told me, 'That adhesive isn't just failing, it's actively eating the leather over time.' She showed me a display case where a similar camera's covering had turned to powder from old glue. I've seen sticky backs before, but I never connected it to long-term damage. Now I'm stripping and re-adhering every piece, not just the loose ones. Has anyone else switched to a full removal process after seeing something like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_xena7d ago

I had a Contax IIA with that same sticky mess last year. I used to just clean off the gunk and stick the old leather back down. After reading a conservator's blog post about acid migration, I started doing full strip-downs too. The old glue really does become corrosive over decades.

sageross7d ago

Wait, you were just sticking the old leather back down? @the_xena, that's wild. I can't imagine doing all that careful cleaning only to trap the bad glue underneath again. It makes total sense that it eats through the body over time, but it's still a shock to hear it from a pro. I guess some old camera fixes are a lot more permanent than they seem.