Unsure if my prob is classic sensor prob - sound familiar anyone?

[Guest gamincurieux]

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Today I put my M9 in for inspection at the designated Australian repairer Camera Clinic with the following cover letter:

 

Dear Technician,

 

Thank you for assessing my Leica M9, serial number 4201795. I’ve taken the liberty of writing this cover note to explain what I am seeing as wrong with the sensor of this camera.

 

I am aware of the ‘sensor corrosion’ issues that are currently circulating on the Internet. Now I don’t know if my camera has that problem, not being a trained technician. But, the topical nature of the problem has certainly caused me to look again carefully at my own camera’s sensor issues, which I am now convinced totally warrant serious consideration by Leica. Please read on.

 

My camera has long suffered from spots on the sensor, my pictures have long required significant spotting in post-processing, all beginning pretty soon after I bought the camera new. You’re told & you think ‘Oh well sure it’s the build of the camera, it’s a dust magnet, this happens from changing lenses, everyone’s got the same problem, etc etc, but it’s a Leica and it’s a magnificent machine you’ve purchased’. In a way, with that in mind, you kind of learn to live with it. So, you get it professionally cleaned every now & then and carry on.

 

Camera Clinic has performed a clean on this sensor a couple of times now, certainly once as part of a major repair last year, the other times I think it was when the focus needed adjusting to my lenses. It must be said that none of the cleans ever made that much of a difference. Indeed each consequent clean was obviously less effective than the clean before it. I do recall remarking upon this at one time while at reception. Either way, I never got back a ‘clean’ sensor, excepting superficial dust. Again, as an M9 owner you kind of think to yourself that you’ve done all you can & just carry on.

 

I recently I made a test shot (lens face down on a lightbox @ f16, closest focus distance set) to see what the bare sensor looked like, never having done so before. Frankly I am shocked at the result. Besides the glaringly numerous spots, a long mark is also revealed. The spots maybe don’t exactly match the appearance as some of these ‘sensor corrosion’ reports are showing - my spots do indeed look like dirt, i.e. dark spots - though some of the spots do have a white flaring about them. Normal shots under normal lighting show spots up almost as distinctly as the set up test shots that are meant to exaggerate them.

 

This sensor is in an unacceptable state and something is clearly wrong with it. Even if it is ‘dirt’, with the M9 being ’susceptible to dust accumulation’ as the myth has one believe, I have not been to Afghanistan with this camera, nor to the beach or even a dusty paddock, nor have I ever had the camera shutter locked open for inspection and exposed while performing arc-welding work in front of it. It has a relatively low shutter count. I don’t use the camera that much all told, and the spots mean I’ve come to use it even less over time. I now can’t be bothered with all the spotting in post, it’s terribly reminiscent of spotting film scans. I simply cannot understand how a sensor could get to this state under the circumstances that I use it, let alone in a product from this manufacturer.

 

The spots are not dirt, this problem has gotten progressively worse, whatever is on there is seemingly burnt on, and I am no longer prepared to ‘just live with it’.

 

I ask Camera Clinic to please clean this sensor again in the manner you normally do.

 

If the sensor cannot be satisfactorily cleaned (and I boldly suggest you will not be able to), I ask for recognition that there is something inherently wrong with this sensor that requires onward escalation within Leica for an appropriate solution.

 

Please don’t hesitate to contact me for further information. Thank you for your help - I do appreciate your efforts under what is probably a heavy workload at this time.

 

Best regards,

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[jaapv]

Could you please upload your image? Though it seems your camera is due for a holiday in wetzlar (or an exchange

[bocaburger]

Hate to say this but I would be really shocked if the camera tech read past "Thank you for assessing my Leica M9" and then go through whatever testing protocols they have in place. If something checks out amiss, they'll fix it. If not they'll return your camera to you exactly as it is.

[TRIago]

I'm on the same boat. Tried to clean it several times with the rocket blower and the spots don't even move. Back and front of the lens were also cleaned w/ rocket blower, and there was no filter on the lens. M9 @ iso 160 w/ a Rigid 50mm summicron @ f/16 shot @ 1/125.

Here are the 100% images:

 

What do you guys think it is?

 

Thanks.

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[jdlaing]

Dirt. Needs a wet clean.

[Tom Johnston]

these spots look similar to what was showing up in my files, when shooting @/5.6. i was beginning to see a couple of irregular spots when shooting wide open, which were easy to clean up in processing. i was concerned about the spots that have a more pronounced halo around them.

 

with the recent concerns of corrosion, i decided to send my m9 to new jersey for cla and sensor inspection.

 

just off the phone with them this morning and happy to report, no sensor corrosion. so i'm in for a basic cla.

[Guest gamincurieux]

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...

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

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[Guest gamincurieux]

Could you please upload your image? Though it seems your camera is due for a holiday in wetzlar (or an exchange

 

uploaded

[Guest gamincurieux]

Doesn't matter, they're going to replace it

[sblutter]

I'm not sympathetic to these images - even if all you ever intend to photograph are cloudless blue skies or white walls with no other content whatsoever.

 

In PS, LR etc you can touch them up in 2 seconds

 

There is no such thing as perfection in any photography. In darkroom days we had all sorts of similar issues; dust, hair... scratched negatives were the worst but we managed

 

I suggest you concentrate on 'the moment' and not on your 99% perfect sensor.

[Guest gamincurieux]

I'm not sympathetic to these images - even if all you ever intend to photograph are cloudless blue skies or white walls with no other content whatsoever.

 

In PS, LR etc you can touch them up in 2 seconds

 

There is no such thing as perfection in any photography. In darkroom days we had all sorts of similar issues; dust, hair... scratched negatives were the worst but we managed

 

I suggest you concentrate on 'the moment' and not on your 99% perfect sensor.

 

Err, yeah, sure, whatever