Our camera and lens choices are often personal and unique to us. They set us apart from others in much the same as our fashion choices. So why aren't customized cameras the norm?
I am currently reviewing a recently released kids' camera, and I wondered why we don't customize our equipment and make it more personal to us. The kid's camera is the Kidamento Model K which is bright turquoise and has a clever cartoon sloth design across the front and lens cap. It's fun and unique, my two-year-old daughter loves it and smiles whenever she looks at it. I'd love to have that feeling when I look at my own camera.
I'm not saying we need to anime our cameras, although that may be an extremely fun option, just add a little personality or artful aesthetics to our equipment. The detail to which we can customize characters in video games is a highlight to many, as we like to create something unique and personal to ourselves, and if we can do that to our gear perhaps we may even want to use it more often!
As I was pondering this topic, by chance, I came across an Instagram page that provides custom paint jobs for professional cameras. The designs are incredible and add a higher level of style and customization to both modern and analog cameras.
The page belongs to Shueido Camera, a camera repainting service based in Taiwan. From custom colorways to added brassing and battle damage, the paint jobs on display are unique to the individual camera and therefore the user. The custom nature of the service, available via its eBay store, enables the customer to add a bit of their taste and style to the camera, a cartoon sloth for adults if you will, and an opportunity to inject some personality into our equipment.
The page has a mixture of subtle sleek designs and maximalist color blocking. For example, there is an Olympus Pen F that has been completely matte blacked out except for the logo and text which is a subtle neon blue enamel, offering stealth and class, on the other hand, there is a Leica M7 painted white, bright pink, and purple to replicate a unicorn - such is the joy of custom painting!
While roaming the halls at The Photography and Video Show 2024, I was surrounded by the latest mirrorless cameras on the market, and as incredible as they are performance-wise, I noticed most were all uniformly black or silver. This is until I visited Nikon's stand and the new Nikon Zf and Nikon Z fc models which stood out amongst the typical. I had seen online the Nikon colors of the retro style cameras and it seemed like a quirky trend, but in person, they provided a cheerful pop of color and personality and I 'got it'.
The furthest I have gone to customize my camera is adding a red soft-release button to my Fujifilm X100F, but there is much more scope now that I have been awakened to the world of custom camera paint jobs. The only question I have now is - do I go sleek or unicorn?
See our guides for more information on the best pink cameras, the best retro cameras, and the best Leica cameras.
