AESTHETIC REFRESH
What's old can be new again…
or even better!
Once upon a time, you could get your camera in black. Or silver and black. Aaaaaaand, well, not much else. If the finish started to wear off you might even find yourself trying to touch it up with a Sharpie marker.
But no longer are you restricted to the same-old, standard finish! Body components, switches, dials, and even a camera's original leatherette - virtually every part of your camera's exterior can be re-worked in a dizzying array of colours and finishes!
REPAIR & REJUVENATION
If it ain't broke…
But if it is? Lets chat about it!
Vintage cameras, lenses of all kinds, and digital cameras: nothing lasts forever.
A ding or dent here, that's pretty easy to deal with. Something a bit more substantial? Well, that might not be out of the realm of possibility! With fairly extensive experience working on modern digital cameras and lenses, vintage lenses, and even some vintage cameras, if there's an issue plauging your kit then I might have a solution.
Now, I say this unequivocally: your first stop for repairs of modern equipment should always be the manufacturer. If you're dealing with vintage gear or the manufacturer has discontinued service on your gear then understandably you need another option. Our repair services may grow to be more comprehensive over time, but meanwhile if there's something not working quite right with gear you'd like to get refinished just reach out. Let's start a conversation and assess the possibilities to see if your specific issue is in my wheelhouse.
Astro Modification
My heart belongs to the stars
Modern digital cameras are a technical marvel, but they fall short in a few key ways when used as devices for astrophotography. Unfortunately, most camera manufacturers decided to install pesky filters in their cameras that prevent a good proportion of deep red wavelengths from being picked up on-sensor.
Those wave bands typically cut off a large portion of Hydrogen-alpha emission, otherwise known as H-alpha. Sitting in the vicinity of a 656nm wavelength this missing light can be the difference between an okay-ish image of a hydrogen emission nebula or a bright, vibrant expression of the cosmos.
We're able to support sensor modifications services for most digital cameras, including installation of third party IR/UV cut filters or full spectrum filters. Aftermarket filters can be either sourced from a third party on your behalf or they can be customer provided.
There's an amazing sky up there to experience, let us help you see it in a new light.
WHAT'S HAPPENING OUT HERE
Why "La Salamandra" anyway?
As with many things that I do, I find it difficult to not work some kind of joke into the mix. The story of La Salamandra starts sometime in the summer (or was it spring?) of 2020. Ugh, I know, right? Anyway, a film-addled camera collector friend of mine started sending me instagram links to all these fancy-AF refinished film cameras. As I came to discover, there's a company in the States called Cerakote that makes a line of resilient ceramic coatings. In addition to a bunch of people stencilling rainbows and unicorns onto their surrogate penises guns, some other intrepid souls had started doing the same to cameras…
I was intrigued! I started researching how they were accomplishing this. I was already quite comfortable inside of most cameras so painting the outside was pretty trivial. But oh-hoh, it wasn't that simple! They needed to be baked, for lack of a better word. And there were acetone baths involved. And abrasive blasting. All kinds of nonsense. So in September of 2020 I decided that I would give it a go, and I bought an oven. It was on sale. And then I did nothing for about another year-ish.
As I write this it's the start of 2022. So there you go.
Oh, wait, I didn't explain the name! Ok, well:
I only use assumed names on social media (they aren't getting anything from me for free!) and one day my film-friendly friend discovered this, coming to the realization that my online identity wasn't totally congruent with my offline identity. I explained why I feel the need to deny the big sosh meeds monopolies my identity. At some point thereafter I noticed that he seemed to follow suit, changing his social media handle - to Elle Salamander! In my head I started referring to him as "El Salamander" which started to morph into "El Salamandor." Pretty cool nickname material, frankly. So I decided to look it up just to be sure I wasn't committing an oopsy goofer and… discovered that in Spanish, salamander is actually a feminine noun. Which means it's La Salamandra.
So when it came time to call this venture something I asked him if I could use the nickname, since he was the one who introduced me to this Cerakote nonsense in the first place. And thus, La Salamandra is named in his honour.
Oh, and one day I texted him a photo of nail polish that I use to colour recessed lettering and he asked "Starting a salon?" and I responded "You know it! A salon… but for cameras!"
And there you have it. La Salamandra Camera Salon.
At your service.
The irony of the placement of these social media links is not lost on me.