A day with a Leica Master-Youxin Ye

[ktmrider]

Great read. He did the last CLA on my 58 M2. Great service and great prices.

 

[furcafe]

Try Ken Ruth of Photography on Bald Mountain.

Hey there guys and gal,

I'm actually in the market to find a repair tech to furnish my Reid & Sigrist type IIIa. I've been doing a lot of research trying to find the right person for the job. I've had previous experience with Leica techs. It's been Leica USA and Sherry in the early 2000s. Leica USA could be a pain but they were able to get the job done. I sent them an M4 that came back AMAZING. Unfortunately I had to let it go. Sherry on the other hand, despite all these referrals and reviews, I sent her an M6 and it completely jammed, completely shut down, within four months and I was a busy working photographer and that is just not acceptable. So Sherry is not in the picture for this camera.

Sorry about the divergent but lets get back. This forum and photonet have been very helpful in my decision. Youxin has mixed reviews, but I can tell that he's a good man. Very professional looking website. His table may be messy and that could cause problems but that's just how he works. He looks like he's open for business.

DAG, great looking site, but the tardiness I've read about, losing a Minox camera and keeping a gentleman's M5 for over a year? Please. I did call him and I said "Oh you get some good reviews on the internet" and he said "Oh I don't read any of those forums. Those so called 'professionals'" with quite a distain for the people supporting him and he bought up the war as well in the conversation? I was out of there and quickly hung up.

So now Gus Lazzari. I read the photonet thread that you're referring to, and it reminded me of the experience I had with him. He privately solicited me with regards to servicing my Reid, which I like stuff like that you know, he's a go-gettter. But he was just rude and really attacked Youxin in a narcissistic and inappropriate way that really put me off. He really had something against him. I still researched him and contacted the people who left referrals and positive feedback on photonet. Everyone gave okay/ good reviews except for one who told me that Gus had manhandled his camera (damaged screws) and left debris in the viewfinder, as well as had his camera for a year. He also has a huge neighbor to neighbor argument going on on his thread and it's like, what is that about??

So here I am thinking who's going to fix my camera? And I've come to a point where I think no one in the USA is going to be able to do it. I think I'm leaning towards Youxin because he's the only one who's got the right spirit/energy for it. But my search continues.

 

[mdarnton]

Interesting discussion of this over on photo.net. One of the repairers with good skills and practice but perpetually overlooked in the recommendations online, strongly objected to the term 'master.'

A "master" is someone who's gone through a prescribed course of study in a system that offers the "Master" title. German trades do this, some American ones, like plumbing and machinist, etc., and colleges do. But media seem to want to tag the title on anyone who does what they think is an esoteric thing. It's like calling your lawn man "Doctor": ignorant and wrong, and disrespectful to those who actually have earned the title. I see this a lot in my business, where there are people who have really earned the title. . . . and then the ones the media bless, who are often total hacks, dangerous and incompetent, often amateurs working in their basements part time. Thus the irritation.

 

[Pioneer]

No, that is how "Master" is defined by those trades, unions and institutions that would prefer to control how things are done.

It is also possible to be a Master by working and studying hard outside of those avenues and becoming extremely good at what you do.

Masters are just as capable of screwing things up as us incompetent little amateurs. Oftentimes even better and far more dramatically. 🙂

 

[mdarnton]

Does the system have formal recognition for these people? If so, it's a formal title, not an assumed one. Could I start up on my own as a Master Plumber without the system's approval of some sort?
That's what's under discussion, and it would appear that I could not:
http://work.chron.com/journeyman-plumber-vs-master-plumber-5006.html

What Masters license or certificate does Y.Y. have that permits use of the title?

Here's how his state calls it:
http://www.mass.gov/ocabr/licensee/dpl-boards/el/regulations/rules-and-regs/237-cmr-1300.html

 

[raid]

In Germany, they have a Meister Baecker. they actually have to go through the ranks to reach that title.

Here, we can use the title Master simply to express some appreciation/respect to someone who has done a job well.

 

[goamules]

I'd rather use a grumpy or slow Master, than a fast and cheap hack. And....that's what I do.

I've now had about 6 job orders through the Master. I started with the "fast, cheap" repairman, who did two botched jobs that had to be returned. One I was told was "not repairable", so I stopped using him. Everything is repairable, albeit at a cost. My experiences may have been aberrations with the botched jobs. But those that fawn over their results with X may also be aberrations. When I've had 100% good service with a true Master, that's who I use.

Same with my car repairs, I use the slightly more expensive (10%) experts that have been in business since 1948, over Pep Boys or wherever is cheaper.

 

[raid]

I still have a Marty Forscher Polaroid back!