V.o.fox Posted May 11, 2017 Share #1 Posted May 11, 2017 Advertisement (gone after registration) HI all, just purchased a sweet M9; knew on the front end there was some dust on the sensor. It shows up, of course, at smaller than f8. No white halos..it just looks like the garden variety sensor dust. Seller had the sensor cleaned, according to service doc. from Leica, August of 2016. So it does not appear to be the corrosion issue and they had returned it without replacing the sensor. Maybe the previous owner was careless changing lenses. My question is this: has anyone had good results from using a rocket blower to clean off dust that may have been on there for a while? Is there risk of making it worse? I have been a Nikon user for 40 years, and on the digitals, have never cleaned my own sensor. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted May 11, 2017 Posted May 11, 2017 Hi V.o.fox, Take a look here Sensor cleaning with rocket blower?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
UliWer Posted May 11, 2017 Share #2 Posted May 11, 2017 With the M8 and M9 I used to clean the sensor wet - until I had serious corrosion on the M9-sensor in 2015. I was told that the sensor was scratched and had to pay the replacement (now I have the very rare priviledge owning a simple M9 for a paid price higher than for an M Monochrome). Since then I only used rocket blowers to remove dust - and it works. When te M10 was new I feared it would show the same greasy debris on the sensor I knew from the times when the M8 and M9 were new. It didn't - just a quick use of the blower with the camera's open shutter turned downwards was enough - yet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedaes Posted May 11, 2017 Share #3 Posted May 11, 2017 I have found VisibleDust's Arctic Butterfly brush very effective for removing pure dust. If used as per instructions seems completely safe and gentle. Next stage is the gell 'dab' stick as used by the factory and Leica UK. This is also a dry system that is pretty easy and safe. IMHO as always. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.o.fox Posted May 11, 2017 Author Share #4 Posted May 11, 2017 Thank you for these replies. Any other thoughts are welcome and appreciated. Some people say using the bulb shutter to open for cleaning is fine. I will probably try Leica shutter cleaning procedure from the manual. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ko.Fe. Posted May 11, 2017 Share #5 Posted May 11, 2017 (edited) It is the camera owner manual. Leica only recommends something like the rocket blower. No sensor touching. Dust is not "careless owner changing lens" related to always. It is absence of sensor shacking function to prevent dust sticking on sensor. All cameras without it are affected. "Bulb" was for cleaning of mirror in old film SLRs. Digital cameras have "sensor cleaning" function in the menu. Edited May 11, 2017 by Ko.Fe. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
otto.f Posted May 11, 2017 Share #6 Posted May 11, 2017 In most cases the rocket blower is ok. But to blow is to spread. It's better to vacuum clean. This is perfectly possible without touching the sensor. You can google that method. In the FAQ department of this forum various methods are summarized and narrowed down to safe ones. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobey bilek Posted May 12, 2017 Share #7 Posted May 12, 2017 Advertisement (gone after registration) If the blower is not sufficient, I use the Sensor loupe which is lighted and the pen which has a small pick up pad. You can see the "dust" and just touch the pen to it. I have not had to go beyond this for years. Once I bought a used Nikon D3 which was filthy and I resorted to Dust off. Today I use my air brush compressor and low volume air brush. It is not more forceful than hand blower, but the continuous action helps considerably. I would do the Pentax sticky wand if the pen does not work. Last resort is wet clean. Prevention is best which means keeps rear of lenses clean and inside of rear caps. This is the source of most dust. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted May 12, 2017 Share #8 Posted May 12, 2017 "Bulb" was for cleaning of mirror in old film SLRs. Digital cameras have "sensor cleaning" function in the menu. Erh?! How would that work exactly? Bulb is just a setting for long exposures. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
frame-it Posted May 12, 2017 Share #9 Posted May 12, 2017 https://www.facebook.com/SubramanyamHari/videos/10154337629886722/ Thank you for these replies. Any other thoughts are welcome and appreciated. Some people say using the bulb shutter to open for cleaning is fine. I will probably try Leica shutter cleaning procedure from the manual. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted May 12, 2017 Share #10 Posted May 12, 2017 We DO have an FAQ: https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/125097-leica-m8-m82-m9-m9p-mm-mtyp240-faqs-questions-with-answers/?p=1376034 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted May 12, 2017 Share #11 Posted May 12, 2017 Thank you for these replies. Any other thoughts are welcome and appreciated. Some people say using the bulb shutter to open for cleaning is fine. I will probably try Leica shutter cleaning procedure from the manual. Opening the shutter by using bulb is a highly risky procedure. Use the sensor cleaning setting in the menu. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ko.Fe. Posted May 12, 2017 Share #12 Posted May 12, 2017 Erh?! How would that work exactly? Bulb is just a setting for long exposures. No idea how. I was explaining OP what if someone has told him to use Bulb mode, it was relevant to film SLRs, not digital cameras. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.o.fox Posted May 13, 2017 Author Share #13 Posted May 13, 2017 Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. I used the instructions from users manual to open the shutter and a rocket blower. I'll try some stopped down exposures and see if that helped. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
otto.f Posted May 13, 2017 Share #14 Posted May 13, 2017 (edited) Stopping down to 16 will always gives *something*. So I always make a series, mostly the real problems are gone at 5.6 and negligeable spots can be seen from 8 to 16 Edited May 13, 2017 by otto.f Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedaes Posted May 13, 2017 Share #15 Posted May 13, 2017 No idea how. I was explaining OP what if someone has told him to use Bulb mode, it was relevant to film SLRs, not digital cameras. Bulb is an historic term that just means the shutter stays open for as long as the shutter is depressed (hense the warning - as soon as pressure is eased the shutter will close). It is still relevent in digital photography for long exposure outside the range of camera shutter times. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhluxton Posted May 13, 2017 Share #16 Posted May 13, 2017 I use a rocket blower on my M typ 262 and so far it has worked fine at removing dust that has appeared. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.o.fox Posted May 13, 2017 Author Share #17 Posted May 13, 2017 (edited) I did have some limited success with the rocket blower; fewer spots at f16. I can live with shooting wider than f8 for the most part, which displays little to no issue. Edited May 13, 2017 by V.o.fox Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
otto.f Posted May 13, 2017 Share #18 Posted May 13, 2017 Which is quite normal Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.o.fox Posted May 13, 2017 Author Share #19 Posted May 13, 2017 otto.f, Your work from Peru is stunning. Can't wait to browse your other folders. Thanks to all for the support and info. Just gathering consensus on what is normal for the M9 as I am brand new to it. I had done extensive reading before purchase, but I did not cover all bases. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
otto.f Posted May 14, 2017 Share #20 Posted May 14, 2017 Thanks a lot! The color photography is all M9 work so: you can be sure of your purchase! The B&W is from Monochrome 1 and Thailand is M10 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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