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Recurrent spots on M8 sensor


Speenth

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Ed, why have you kept this to yourself until now!?!

 

Going to Copperhill should be a condition of membership of this site, it is simply so fundamentally useful!

 

Thanks - it is the best tip.

 

Well I figured that anyone that has used a digital camera for any lenght of time would of researched sensor cleaning and stumbled across at least one of the many sites that detail the process.

 

Talk about dust & oil. I'm taking a trip up to Roanoke VA this weekend and wanted to have the M8's as clean as possible. So last night set out to do a really good cleaning job on both my Leicas. It took 6-8 wet cleanings of the black one and about 5 wet cleanings of the chrome one before I got all the spots off. Even then I still see at least one slightly dark area on each of them when zoomed in to 100%+. And I just cleaned both of them a little over a week ago. Yes they are both new within this month. So you are not alone.

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Well I figured that anyone that has used a digital camera for any lenght of time would of researched sensor cleaning and stumbled across at least one of the many sites that detail the process.

 

Talk about dust & oil. I'm taking a trip up to Roanoke VA this weekend and wanted to have the M8's as clean as possible. So last night set out to do a really good cleaning job on both my Leicas. It took 6-8 wet cleanings of the black one and about 5 wet cleanings of the chrome one before I got all the spots off. Even then I still see at least one slightly dark area on each of them when zoomed in to 100%+. And I just cleaned both of them a little over a week ago. Yes they are both new within this month. So you are not alone.

 

Hi' Ed, I am hoping my M8 will return from Solms a little less oily than it left the factory the first time round! If so, I can live with regular cleaning such as you describe, but one sensor to clean is enough for me! This thread has evolved in an interesting way and overall has served to reassure me that my M8 has a bit of a spotty problem, but its nothing that a bit of TLC won't fix (as in most things in life)!

 

Have a great trip to Roanoke - I am looking forward to seeing the pics!

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I am convinced that people are swabbing too quickly. I have posted this before but it might help others who did not see the first post, to see it again. I was shown by the guy from Cameraclean UK at the Focus on Imaging show. The first wipe you wiggle the wand very slightly from side to side as you wipe EVER SO SLOWLY, so that if you imagine it, the pad describes a series of tiny arcs as it goes across the sensor. Then on the return direction, you wipe straight without wiggling but still very slowly, to give time for the fluid to dissolve any grease. At my M8's very worst, when about 6 weeks old and looking like someone had been frying sausages near the sensor, using this method, the maximum number of swabs I have had to use is 3.

 

Wilson

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For me Eclipse and the swabs has worked every-time to leave a nice clean and clear sensor. I have the Arctic Butterfly and I view it as a waste of $80+ and their cleaning fluid leaves streaks and is more costly. That's my opinion.

 

That's what I suspected. Thanks for saving me $80!

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Wilson thanks for the tip. I will try the SLOW wipe the next time I clean. As for the wiggle, I think I already do that without trying. I'm going on 56 and the hands aren't as stead as they once use to be.

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Wilson thanks for the tip. I will try the SLOW wipe the next time I clean. As for the wiggle, I think I already do that without trying. I'm going on 56 and the hands aren't as stead as they once use to be.

 

Ed,

 

Being a bit beyond the 56, I know exactly what you mean. The wiggle wipe is no problem, followed by a stiff Lagavullin and I am ready for the steady wipe. The secret is to apply the alcohol both to the wiper and wipee.

 

Wilson

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I personally enjoy a Lagavulin after I have cleaned my sensor, and also when I haven't cleaned it. I occasionally buy Oban or Caol Ila, or even Talisker, to vary things a bit, but I keep coming back to Lagavulin. A few crates of it would have been an excellent investment a few years ago, in hindsight.

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I personally enjoy a Lagavulin after I have cleaned my sensor, and also when I haven't cleaned it. I occasionally buy Oban or Caol Ila, or even Talisker, to vary things a bit, but I keep coming back to Lagavulin. A few crates of it would have been an excellent investment a few years ago, in hindsight.

 

I went round the distillery in 2001. They had some bottles of 50 year old that they were selling for I think £700. I thought they were very mean not to let me have a taste. I did buy some bottles of the Pedro Ximenez double casked 18 year old Lagavulin and I still have about 3/4 of one bottle left - guests don't get offered it! We had a very interesting thread going in Barnack's Bar (where else) on which whiskey was as good as getting a perfect print on 13 x 19 gloss paper the first time of trying.

 

Wilson

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On both the M8 and my D2X, I first use a Rocket blower which does the job in most cases. If it doesn't, I used to use the Eclipse liquid system but recently changed over to the DustAid system which does an outstanding job in the five or so times I have used it. It may not get the "greasy/oily" deposits off if they occur, but so far so good.

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For me Eclipse and the swabs has worked every-time to leave a nice clean and clear sensor. I have the Arctic Butterfly and I view it as a waste of $80+ and their cleaning fluid leaves streaks and is more costly. That's my opinion.

 

I agree with John, and I paid more than $80 for my Arctic Butterfly. A simple blower (ear syringe or equivalent) will do a better job than the Butterfly. But don't use anything with more force than a bulb blower.

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After about 6 swabbings with Sensor Clean and several tries with the Arctic Butterfly, here is the result. Can I stop now!

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