In Praise of Leica Repairman Youxin Ye

mabelsound said:
He exchanged half a dozen emails with me yesterday helping me to troubleshoot a light leak on a Canon P, for free. Who has time for that? He also had the advance lever I was looking for and sold it to me. I'll send him my cameras in the future!
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Just for the record -- the P seals around the hinge turn into absolute goop. The rest of the back does not seem to leak, the grooves are deep enough.

You can fool around with the goop, or you can just cut a piece of black gaffer's tape and put it on the outside.

The tape never leaks. And you will never notice it. The P is a great camera, IMO as good as any of the pre-metered Leicas. I finally sold mine to a fellow NHS member, because my eyes could not keep up with it. Now eyes are significantly improved and I miss it.
 
I love the P. I was dumb to sell my last one. On this camera, the bottom light baffle wasn't flush; you could press on it and it would move. I taped it down on each with with a little adhesive felt. And yes I will replace those hinge seals too, I think. But the leak pattern seems to suggest the baffle is the problem:

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Anyway, back to Youxin!
 
mabelsound said:
But the leak pattern seems to suggest the
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Unless I am reading the negs wrong, looks like the upper left corner where the back closes?

You should be able to improve that, mechanically. But don't have one in my hands. Never had that leak.
 
photomoof said:
Unless I am reading the negs wrong, looks like the upper left corner where the back closes?

You should be able to improve that, mechanically. But don't have one in my hands. Never had that leak.
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Hmm.....I guess I had forgotten that the image is recorded upside down and backwards. Right? This could equally mean that the hinge seals are at fault, though, couldn't it? Because that's the side where the film is exposed; on the latch side, it's still in the cassette.

It's also possible that I accidentally half-lifted out the rewind crank with the film in; this could have let light in. Youxin seemed to think that might be the culprit, but I'm not certain I actually did that. And of course, again, the film is in the cassette on that side. Anyway, next roll will tell...I'll replace the hinge seals too.
 
Got my 'beater' M3 back from Youxin today and oh man, its night and day! Fast service, great communication, reasonable price and oh did I mention fast... It is buttery smooth. IIIf RD-ST awaiting its return from him as well.
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I sent Youxin two lenses for CLA and optical cleaning, just last Monday.
And I got a package this afternoon with the lenses returned looking optically brand new!
Great work done by a true master craftsman.
He was great with responding to my emails, and I cannot believe how fast the service was.
The lenses were a 35mm Summilux pre ASPH which had some haze, and 28mm Elmarit-M vrIII which had some haze and needed the focus re lubed.
 
I just sent him a 50 Summicron and 90 Tele Elmarit for cleaning and tightening. He has already sent me a couple emails on some questions I have had.

Sent him a 1959 M2 a couple years ago for a CLA. It is literally the smoothest M I have ever owned. I do not know if it was his magic or just the fact the the M2 has had its rough edges worn smooth.
 
Fast Return!

Fast Return!

I sent him a 50 Summicron and 90 Tele Elmarit which he received on Friday for a CLA. I got an email from him yesterday (Sunday) saying the lenses are done. I paid him this morning (Monday) via paypal and the lenses are already shipped.

All I can say is WOW! If previous experience with him is any indication, I will be very pleased.
 
I really like Youxin, great guy!

Haven't dealt with him in over a year, but I'm sure I'll call on his services again.

Since making and buying my own tools, I've been doing a lot of cleaning myself.

My wallet Is still occupied by dust bunnies however!
 
I have sent many cameras and lenses to Youxin and have always been happy with his work.
He is also very good on communication.
Very easy to work with and I will continue to do so.
 
Youxin is a great guy. I just received a 111F, & lens back this week. It was 6 days round trip. Both had a cla, have sent him many cameras & lens over the years. All finished perfect.
 
Youxin is incredibly friendly and helpful. He helped me resolve a technical issue on my M4 through email. He also did a one-day turnaround CLA on my lens. Outstanding service! Can't recommend highly enough.
 
I just emailed him, on a Saturday afternoon, a question about my Rollei 40 f2.8.
He replies 20 minutes later!

This guy is unbelievable.
 
Got my M3 back from a CLA by Youxin about a month ago now, and have shot & developed about a dozen rolls through it.

When I sent it in, the slow speeds were sticking, the viewfinder was dirty, the frame preview was not working, and the rangefinder alignment was off. I also sent in a 50mm Dual Range Summicron that had haze and general dirt.

The M3's lugs were shot and the vulcanite was starting to go, so I had new lugs and covering added to the CLA.

Youxin's communication was great and his turnaround was fast. Everything is working now, exposures and focus are great, the viewfinder is amazing like an M3 should be. The Aki-Asahi recover was cleanly applied. The DR 'cron is clear as day and feels like the precision instrument it is.

In response to some of the issues other have noted with his work:

When I first got the camera back, I literally stuck my nose into it as far as I could and could detect a faint smell of machine oil. That smell has faded away and I've not seen any issues that suggest over-oiling.

Externally, there are still tiny areas like corners and deep grooves in both lens and body that have residual old dirt and grime. The film chamber, viewfinder, and all glass is clean as can be.

My overall conclusion is that, for those of us who want to shoot old film Leicas, and need have them brought up to proper working condition at a reasonable price and turnaround time, Youxin is a tremendous asset our community is very lucky to have. Is he the absolute last word in museum-quality restoration? Probably not. But he'll be seeing more business from me.
 
Youxin is not only a super great fellow but knows what he's doing. I had a 1957 edition of a 50 f2 DR Summicron with haze/fog. He had warned me ahead of time when I was looking for one not to get one with a serial number under 2mil as the whale oil Leica used was bad news and caused in part the haze. Moreover, the coatings were softer.

I took his advice, found a super nice one and bought it to discover the haze. He fixed that in short order and now it gives the Zeiss 50 f2 Planar lens a real run for the money. Not bad for such an old lens and kudos to Youxin for his making that old lens "shine" once again.
 
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