As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been having trouble with my light seals on my Yashica-Mat 124. I tried replacing them with felt, but it did not really fix the problem. So, I searched around the internet and found everyone talking about John Goodman’s light seal kits (he goes by Interslice on eBay). Since the seal kits are only $10, I went ahead and got one.
The kit itself is very well thought out and includes everything you see in the picture above. Of course, John provides many kits for many cameras, all with the pieces you need pre-cut and ready to be applied with the provided instructions. But, if you look at the contents of the kit, you might feel a bit ripped off. $10 for a tiny bit of felt, a stick, and some photocopies?
John’s kits are a great deal, but you need to realize what you are paying for. The deal in the kit is not the raw materials — it is the experience embodied in the instructions and selection of materials. From what I read, John has recently limited the amount of materials he’ll provide because other sellers stole his instructions and started selling competing kits on eBay. So, the choice to limit the materials in the kit is just a sound business strategy.
John’s instructions are very detailed and clear with a ton of little tips that I never thought of when I used felt. Obviously, I can’t share all of them with you now because that’d undermine his business, but I will share one that is obvious yet I never thought of it: remove the back door of the Yashicamat 124 before trying to apply the seals! Of course, John gives great instructions on how to remove the door safely.
With the instructions and the pre-cut seals, the whole process went very smoothly. John includes a custom-cut bamboo tool that helps, especially with getting the new foam in. I didn’t find the tool that useful for removing the old goo though. The foam is top-notch and applies pretty easily if you take your time.
So, if you need to replace your seals, I highly recommend an Interslice kit (click on the link to see all of his listings — he covers a lot of camera models, including Canon AE-1, Mamiya C330, Olympus OM-1, etc). Remember though, you are paying for the experience and information, not necessarily the materials. And $10 is a worthy investment in the information he provides!
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FYI, the new seals did not fix my light leaks. This is no fault of the kit — I believe my Yashicamat back is bent and that is causing the leak. My current solution is to cover that side of the back with gaffer’s tape when I’m shooting with it, but more about that another time.