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HELP! Spot on M10 sensor!


monTeur

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Hey guys,

 

I'm new to this forum and I'm also new to the Leica M system. 

I just bought my new m10 one month ago with a Elmarit 28mm ASPH (so far).

 

After some shooting I noticed a relatively big spot in the upper right part of the sensor. I don't know how this could have happened because I never changed lens till I opened the camera and attached the Elmarit the first time.  

 

It's very annoying to pay so much money for a camera and then having a spot on the sensor. 

 

Do you have advice what to do now? Should I send it to Wetzlar or can I fix it on my own? 

I did a sensor cleaning on my DSLR once, but I'm a bit afraid of doing so on this expensive, new camera. I don't want to make it worse...

 

Cheers,

Sebastian

 

The spot you mention could also be oil, deposited from the shutter. It's not uncommon for new shutters to spit some oil.

 

Dust or oil, it has nothing to do with how expensive or cheap the camera is. That's like buying a new Rolls Royce and then complaining to Rolls Royce that a bird has just shit on your new car.

Edited by earleygallery
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  • 7 months later...
On 6/21/2018 at 9:00 AM, onasj said:

Here is my hierarchy of sensor cleaning methods from easiest to most involved:

 

1) Invert your M10, use the Open Shutter feature, and use a rocket blower to blow several strong puffs of air on the part(s) of the sensor that correspond to the dust spots on your photos.  If the dust spot is in the upper-right corner of your photos, the dust particle is on the lower-right corner of the front of the sensor.  (That is, it is at the optically mirrored lower-left corner of the sensor as viewed from behind the sensor).  The M10's built in Dust Detection feature will identify where to clean for larger dust particles, but smaller dust particles will NOT show up on the Dust Detection feature even though they CAN appear in your photos.

 

2) Use an Eyelead Sensor Cleaning Gel Stick.  It is amazingly effective and easy to use, and supposedly used by Leica to clean sensors.  It's basically a blob of firm, sticky gel that does not leave residue behind on glass.  You push the gel blob on top of the part of the sensor you wish to clean, lift up, then firmly push the blob onto very sticky paper which pulls off any dust particles that adhered to the stick.  With practice, you can clean a full-frame sensor in 1 minute this way (it takes about 6-8 press-lift-stick cycles to cover the entire sensor).  I have done this successfully with all cameras I've used, including Nikon DSLRs, Sony A7riii, and Leica M10 cameras.  Usually if I do this process in a relative low-dust environment, the sensor is perfectly clean afterwards.

 

https://photographylife.com/product/sensor-gel-stick

https://www.amazon.com/Eyelead-COMINU061065-Sensor-Gel-Stick/dp/B00JPD0UQW

 

3) Use a wet sensor cleaning swab and some sensor cleaning solution (which, as far as I can tell, smells and behaves like simple methanol).  I would only use this procedure if you've repeatedly tried (1) and (2) and the problem persists.  In my experience, wet cleaning is only necessary if some liquid droplet (like oil or saltwater) lands on the sensor.  The problem is that the methanol can dry in ways that leave streaks on the sensor.  The streaks aren't permanent, but they require redoing the wet swab process.  If your technique is very smooth (typically, one firm swab swipe left to right, then right to left, or vice-versa, covering the entire sensor), then your odds of leaving behind no streaks or debris is higher.  Of course it's important to buy the sensor swab size that exactly fits your sensor's size (full-frame for the M10).

 

Good luck!  With practice this process is much less scary than it sounds.  Whenever I change lenses outdoors (or in an active area indoors), there's some risk of getting dust on my sensor, in my experience.

I use the following as it is specific to Leica... No one ever explained why or what is different but why take a chance.

https://photographylife.com/product/sensor-gel-stick-for-sony

 

The one on Amazon may be different.

Albert 😏

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On ‎1‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 7:14 PM, kuad82001 said:

For those of us that don't trust our hands how much does Leica NJ charge for the service?

No, they will clean the sensor for free. If you live close enough I would go there in person and they will do it on the spot for free.

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On 1/31/2019 at 10:03 AM, dkmoore said:

No, they will clean the sensor for free. If you live close enough I would go there in person and they will do it on the spot for free.

 

On 1/31/2019 at 10:03 AM, dkmoore said:

No, they will clean the sensor for free. If you live close enough I would go there in person and they will do it on the spot for free.

Really? I just sent mine in and they said they would clean it because the sensor was replaced by them last April.

 

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