marks on sensor or lens?

[jag1971]

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Hi, I've just bought my very first leica a few days ago and have been exploring & testing the functions, and reading many of the threads on this forum which has been very helpful. The image quality is wonderful, although I'm still getting used to the focussing.

 

I bought (from 2 different leica dealers) a mint cond. M8 (less than 300 shots taken & the dealer said that the sensor tested fine) & Summicron 28mm f/2 (6 bit).

 

However, I've found marks in some of the images, and am not sure if it is the lens or the sensor, which makes it a little tricky when I bought them from independent dealers. Samples are posted at MobileMe Gallery and these were taken after cleaning the lens with a leica lens cloth. Can anyone determine whether it is the sensor or lens?

 

Also, the white balance was fine until I started playing with it. Now it seems a little inconsistent, giving images a slight blue tinge. The sensor/lens tests shown were taken on white paper, auto white balance, but have turned out very grey. The last image was taken with manual white balance - and certainly better, but still a little grey. Is this something to be concerned about?

 

Thanks, Julie

[ho_co]

Julie--

1. Dust spots on sensor--sensor needs cleaning
   
2. White balance is just that: making whites neutral; what you're seeing is auto exposure of the white paper, which means the camera is trying to make it middle gray. That's how the Ms' meters work, viz, to expose as if the metered scene is middle gray (18% reflectance).
   
3. Welcome to the forum!
   

 

Use forum "search" function to:

• Check threads regarding sensor dust and cleaning; there are many.
  
• Check threads on how the M's meter works; there are many.
  

 

If you can see the "scratch" or "spot" or whatever, it's not on the lens, because the lens can only image what's in front of it and project that image behind it. (If the lens is dirty, you'll see the effects of the dirtiness by loss of contrast, but you won't see an image of the dirt or smudges or scratch itself.)

 

Hope that helps a bit!

 

And congratulations on the M8! It's a fine camera!

[jag1971]

Thanks Howard!