2wk Posted July 9, 2013 Share #81 Posted July 9, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) If the sensor is becoming dirty from grease from within the camera Leica should definitely be cleaning these under warranty. I just got mine yesterday and it had spots right out of the box. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 9, 2013 Posted July 9, 2013 Hi 2wk, Take a look here Adventures in M-Monochrom Sensor Cleaning. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
dont458 Posted July 23, 2013 Share #82 Posted July 23, 2013 Today I took my MM to my Leica dealer to have sensor cleaned (Hunts Photo). They said they had cleaned many, other Leica's and other brands, not MMs, and performed the service for free. This is a new camera with about 500 shots. I performed a cleaning only by use of a Giotto blower. Nothing was removed the best I could tell. After reading this and other posts I concluded that the problem was oil spots. This seemed to be confirmed by observation of the spots over time. Early shots have discreet spots, whereas in later shots the spots seem to have spread into larger blobs. I assumed this was from the oil spreading. The gentleman who performed my cleaning emphatically said these spots are not oil since their cleaning solution would easily remove oil. The shot attached is after his cleaning. I don't have a clear-screen before-shot but lots of the spots I've been retouching are gone. This shot is a 25% crop of the upper-center portion. There are a few more spots elsewhere which look identical to these. I'm going to contact Leica about this but would first like to have your expert input. I know many of you have stated I should clean this myself. I considered that but since the dealer offered to do it for free I figured to have someone who has done this before to it first and give me some pointers at the same time. With his failure to obtain a clean sensor I'm now at a loss as to what the problem is and how best to correct it, other than a trip to Leica. Thanks in advance for your advice and comments. Don T. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/195365-adventures-in-m-monochrom-sensor-cleaning/?do=findComment&comment=2380807'>More sharing options...
Hookeye Posted July 23, 2013 Share #83 Posted July 23, 2013 Okay, I confess I don't have the monochrom, but only a lowly M and an M8. But I do clean the sensors myself. While it does the job in most cases, and is clearly the best for greasy stuff I am quite sure pure 97% IPA is not the best in all situations. Spots based on proteins and carbohydrates (eg dandruff, epithelial residues, pollen etc)* will, however not be softened and freed by pure IPA. To the contrary, they become dehydrated and hardened and may get stuck as if glued to the sensor. In this case distilled water is the only stuff that will remove it. But take care to moisten the swab ever so slightly. If you get free water sloshing about down there you will face disaster. After having removed the spots with water I give it a final touch with pure IPA to remove residues and streaks. Unless it is grease you want to remove, even 70% IPA is better than the pure stuff as a general cleaning solution. Any chemists out there who can vouch for my observations? *(most household dust is either proteinaceous or carbohydrate based, if not minerals) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted July 23, 2013 Share #84 Posted July 23, 2013 If you have read through all the anally retentive and OCD related posts so far the only other thing I can recommend, other that clean the thing yourself, is not to trust your dealer. Who is going to do the job better, you, or somebody who you don't know and is working to a time with another pesky oil spot on his list? Honestly, just buy the kit and do it, and then you can do it yourself without having to go down to your nearest Leica dealer, you can even do it on holiday, at 1:00 in the morning, or just before you set out for a day of photography, what can be easier than that? Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnbuckley Posted July 24, 2013 Share #85 Posted July 24, 2013 But it's not easy, as I and others can attest. It was relatively easy with my M9 and M8, but the Monochrom is a horse of a different color, I have never before had to take a camera in to have the sensor cleaned. I recently took my Monochrom out on a hike in the Tetons of Wyoming. I got some great shots, or so I thought. But they were unsalvageable, there was so much dust and schmutz in the portions of sky I shot at f/11. I took the camera to a nice fellow at a camera store who cleaned the sensor and marveled at how hard he had to work at it. Now I don't want to change the lens on it. People can smugly declare that we Monochrom owners should just figure out how to clean the sensor and be done with it. And I do clean my M-240. But the Monochrom, great as it is, has some special problems we need to face up to. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest malland Posted July 24, 2013 Share #86 Posted July 24, 2013 What do you think are the reasons for the Monochrom having these greater problems with sensor dirt? —Mitch/Pak Nam Pran Bangkok Obvious [WIP] Eggleston said that he was "at war with the obvious"... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicks500 Posted July 24, 2013 Share #87 Posted July 24, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) Just to even this out a bit I have only had dirt problems once in 6 months and that was fixed with a Giottos rocket blower. (Touch wood!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_j Posted July 24, 2013 Share #88 Posted July 24, 2013 Maybe I had a bad M9 but the first one I purchased (second hand with 11,000 actuations) had a sensor which was so dirty neither the dealer nor Leica Mayfair could clean it and in fact Leica Mayfair said that previous attempts at cleaning the sensor had damaged it and it needed replacing. My dealer exchanged it for an almost new M9 with a clean (relatively) sensor. I now use the Pentax sensor cleaning kit which is a stick with an orange blob on the end which picks up individual dust spots. It's the stick which Leica use in Solms and which appeared on a video showing the assembly of the M9. With my various Canon 5D's I have never had to wet clean a sensor in 5 years so I think this is an issue for the M's in general with the MM obviously being worse than others. After my experience with the first M9 and the damage done by someone else cleaning the sensor I will leave any wet cleaning to the experts, however much other posters may say I am being "wet" myself. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont458 Posted July 29, 2013 Share #89 Posted July 29, 2013 Finally I just did it...cleaned my MM's sensor myself. Thanks to all the advice here, and a couple of items from B&H Photo, Visible Dust Vswap and Smear Away, literally one swipe of the swab and clean as a whistle. Before cleaning there were about 25 spots, 3 prominent ones, clearly visible on the sensor. They showed up as sparkles, almost like the sensor was pitted. They were there out of the box since my very first shots show the spots. There may have been more added along the way but I can't really tell because of f-stop and photo content. Following Vswab directions, I put four drops on the swab, let it soak in a moment, and one quick, not too firm, swipe across sensor. Every spot is gone. Inspection and several test screen shots shows perfectly clean. This makes me wonder what Hunts used to clean it, or did they just blow it out. As a point of reference, before deciding to proceed with the MM, I checked out my M8. The sensor on this guy has never been cleaned other than a quick blow out with the rocket blower, and that only twice before. The sensor and photos are perfectly clean. This is despite frequent lens changes, including on the dusty back roads of Kansas and Mexico. I'm just very careful about where I do the change and heavy use of the Rocket Blower. Guess that works. Now I'm convinced the MM is throwing oil. I'll see how this happens going forward, but at least it seems very easy to clean. Just keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks for letting me know that I can do this! Don Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WPalank Posted August 1, 2013 Share #90 Posted August 1, 2013 Walked into my local Pharmacy (CVS) and asked about Lab Grade Isopropyl. He said he could have a 16oz bottle by tomorrow for five dollars. The specs say it is 99% pure. Is there a danger in using too high a grade of isopropyl? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted August 1, 2013 Share #91 Posted August 1, 2013 As long as you don't drink it, it is fine. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WPalank Posted August 1, 2013 Share #92 Posted August 1, 2013 No worries jaap. it is marked "Do not drink" on the sheet as well. The part that might interest you is that under "Indications", they write: Solvent for cleaning gums, shellac, and essential oils. Wow, things have changed since I moved on to my specialty. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted August 1, 2013 Share #93 Posted August 1, 2013 It would do wonders for dehydration of the tissue, I guess... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WPalank Posted August 2, 2013 Share #94 Posted August 2, 2013 It seems that many people are having trouble locating and/or may be interested in trying the Pure Grade stuff. It seems my Pharmacist had a case of the stuff come in when I wanted only a bottle or two. So if you are in San Francisco and interested, go to the CVS Pharmacy on Market at Grant (near the Four Seasons), go back to the Pharmacy Department and ask for the Palank Solution. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tienhoodida Posted March 24, 2014 Share #95 Posted March 24, 2014 Finally I just did it...cleaned my MM's sensor myself.Thanks to all the advice here, and a couple of items from B&H Photo, Visible Dust Vswap and Smear Away, literally one swipe of the swab and clean as a whistle. Before cleaning there were about 25 spots, 3 prominent ones, clearly visible on the sensor. They showed up as sparkles, almost like the sensor was pitted. They were there out of the box since my very first shots show the spots. There may have been more added along the way but I can't really tell because of f-stop and photo content. Following Vswab directions, I put four drops on the swab, let it soak in a moment, and one quick, not too firm, swipe across sensor. Every spot is gone. Inspection and several test screen shots shows perfectly clean. This makes me wonder what Hunts used to clean it, or did they just blow it out. As a point of reference, before deciding to proceed with the MM, I checked out my M8. The sensor on this guy has never been cleaned other than a quick blow out with the rocket blower, and that only twice before. The sensor and photos are perfectly clean. This is despite frequent lens changes, including on the dusty back roads of Kansas and Mexico. I'm just very careful about where I do the change and heavy use of the Rocket Blower. Guess that works. Now I'm convinced the MM is throwing oil. I'll see how this happens going forward, but at least it seems very easy to clean. Just keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks for letting me know that I can do this! Don Hi Don, I bought a Xmas gift Leica M-240 for my wife. Out of the box, she took only 5 pictures in house, we have not noticed any spots at all. Yesterday, she took quite few landscape photos and discovered there are many oil spots. I really don't want to send it to the Leica corporate to clean it - there is no trust. I have never had cleaning any oil spot on the sensor and worry. If you can share the details how to clean away the oil spots that would be helpful. I can not believe the brand new Leica M(240) has so many oil spots just like a low-end Nikon D600! Thanks in advance Don! -Tienhoodida Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick_S Posted March 24, 2014 Share #96 Posted March 24, 2014 Can someone please suggest a good illuminated sensor loupe that will work well for viewing the Monochrom's particular type of sensor? Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted March 24, 2014 Share #97 Posted March 24, 2014 Hi Don, I bought a Xmas gift Leica M-240 for my wife. Out of the box, she took only 5 pictures in house, we have not noticed any spots at all. Yesterday, she took quite few landscape photos and discovered there are many oil spots. I really don't want to send it to the Leica corporate to clean it - there is no trust. I have never had cleaning any oil spot on the sensor and worry. If you can share the details how to clean away the oil spots that would be helpful. I can not believe the brand new Leica M(240) has so many oil spots just like a low-end Nikon D600! Thanks in advance Don! -Tienhoodida Just look at top of the forum in the FAQ thread -and 499 other threads on the forum. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted March 24, 2014 Share #98 Posted March 24, 2014 Hi Don,I bought a Xmas gift Leica M-240 for my wife. Out of the box, she took only 5 pictures in house, we have not noticed any spots at all. Yesterday, she took quite few landscape photos and discovered there are many oil spots. I really don't want to send it to the Leica corporate to clean it - there is no trust. I have never had cleaning any oil spot on the sensor and worry. If you can share the details how to clean away the oil spots that would be helpful. This thread is about the MM, not the M 240, so resolving the problem may be different. Almost any camera is going to shed dust as the shutter starts to be used, it is the mechanical components bedding in, it proves they are new. Oil is a well known problem at the start of the M9/MM shutter life, along with regular dust, but the M240 seems far less prone to oil contamination than the M9/MM, so are you sure it is oil and not just dust? With mine it went from no dust at all in the first week to a lot of dust a couple of weeks later after a few thousand exposures. To test my theory that it didn't look like oil spots I went straight for a dry clean using an Eyelead sticky wand and this removed ALL of the dust, there was no oil. It took just five minutes to do. I was kitted out with isopropanol alcohol to clean the Eyelead wand if I had been wrong and it had become contaminated by oil, but the solution may be simpler than you expect. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynp Posted March 25, 2014 Share #99 Posted March 25, 2014 Hi Don, I bought a Xmas gift Leica M-240 for my wife. Out of the box, she took only 5 pictures in house, we have not noticed any spots at all. Yesterday, she took quite few landscape photos and discovered there are many oil spots. I really don't want to send it to the Leica corporate to clean it - there is no trust. I have never had cleaning any oil spot on the sensor and worry. If you can share the details how to clean away the oil spots that would be helpful. I can not believe the brand new Leica M(240) has so many oil spots just like a low-end Nikon D600! Thanks in advance Don! -Tienhoodida Welcome to the Leica digital world, where nothing is easy. Shooting more will improve the situation. When your wife takes , like , 1000 exposures the sensor will be less prone to getting dirty. Another option is ... to buy a slightly used M. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafael_macia Posted March 28, 2014 Share #100 Posted March 28, 2014 Hi Mitch, you can buy Isopropyl Alcohol anywhere. You don't have to take it on the plane. Just buy it in the pharmacy wherever you are. I think you really want 99% isopropyl alcohol. The 70% rubbing alcohol leaves residue. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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