Lost my sensor cleaning virginity today!

[Gibbo]

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Well, I’ve had my M240 since 2013 and never cleaned the sensor, until today. 

My reluctance to clean the sensor has been mainly due to being timid but also because most of my photos have, until lately, been reasonably wide open and not shown up any spots. Why fix it if it ain’t broke? More recently I have been concentrating on landscape photos at smaller apertures with grey skies and there they were. Spots galore.

 I did a bit of research on here and YouTube which convinced me to buy an eyelead gel stick sensor cleaner! I wish I had done so before! It is so flippin’ easy so much so I would have been very annoyed with myself if I had paid to have it done!

So I’m a very happy bunny this morning 😊

[Peter Kilmister]

@Gibbo Thank you for posting about your experience. I'm tempted to try it myself. However, before buying a gel stick, I'd like to hear if anyone has a negative view on the subject. 

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I  have cleaned mine a few times.  Mostly using green Vswabs and either Sensor Clean or Vdust drops.  I also  use the Eyelead gel stick to finish off the job.  The only issue I have is cleaning the streaks left by the swabs and drops.  I find it sometimes takes multiple passes with fresh, barely moist swabs.  For some reason,  the gel doesn't seem to work as well as I had hoped it would. 

Definitely tests ones' nerves and patience.  But it comes out fine.

(Where do the spots come from??  I rarely change lenses and, when I do, it's in a clean environment.)

[ianman]

The gel stick didn't work for me. Probably I wasn't using it correctly, but even with the lightest of touches it left marks on the sensor.

Now I use the LensPen sensor cleaner (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lenspen-NSKLK-1-SensorKlear-Loupe-Camera/dp/B009JBK6RS) and it works perfectly - for me.

[fixedwheel]

I must admit to being a nervous wimp, but when I knew that I'd have to do my M-P 240 before a holifday, I got an Artic Butterfly.

Seems to have done the job, without having to put any real pressure or fluid on the sensor.

I'll keep my fingers crossed that it will continue to be enough, and i won't have to get more courage to have to do a wet clean.

John

[jaapv]

The EyeLead gel stick for Sony is excellent. The only things are: don't touch the gel with your fingers - it will smear  grease and you'll have to  clean it (and your sensor with smear-away) and  don't pull, wobble.

[Guest]

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16 hours ago, Peter Kilmister said:

@Gibbo Thank you for posting about your experience. I'm tempted to try it myself. However, before buying a gel stick, I'd like to hear if anyone has a negative view on the subject. 

there's a 'negative view' here, Peter:

http://talkingtree.org/warning-avoid-eyelead-gel-sticks-sony-a7-cameras-part-1/

[LocalHero1953]

I haven't used the eyelead gel stick brand, but I used the sticky pads for a while as a way of removing single specs of dust. Then on one occasion I must have moved the pad slightly sideways and got smears on the sensor - I haven't used them since. 

I tried the water-based cleaning swabs without success - they just resulted in more smearing; I guess water based cleaners don't work on oily smears!

The IPA solvent-based cleaning swabs work very effectively at removing smears, so they are now my last resort as cleaning aids: 'last' because they require the most forceful contact with the sensor. My preferred sequence is:

- air blower to remove loose specks.

- Arctic Butterfly brush to remove dust that adheres slightly

- IPA solvent and swabs to remove stubborn specks and smears

And I use a loupe at each stage to check if I need to move to the next stage. I don't aim for perfection: as long as most of the stuff has gone, especially the bigger bits, I am happy to clone out anything that still shows - though this rarely happens after a clean. I think the eye sees more stuff there than actually shows up in the image, unless you are at very small aperture.

[250swb]

There are three types of dust and contamination, loose dust, sticky dust, and oil thrown off from the shutter.

An Eyelead is a great product, I use it, but it will only take off loose dust.

Wet cleaning is needed for sticky dust, but an everyday fluid won't clean oily spots. Wet cleaning can of course be used on it's own for loose dust, before products like the Eyelead it was all we had.

Oily spots need their own wet cleaning fluid, but this can leave streaks, so finish off with an everyday fluid.

So if one product doesn't work for you it doesn't necessarily mean it's not a good product, just that it's not the right one for the particular job, much like using the right sized screwdriver.

An Eyelead is the first thing I try and usually gets rid of all the spots, oily deposits are less common nowadays and perhaps the M9 taught Leica a lesson. Sticky dust often appears when the camera has gone through big temperature changes, times of high humidity etc. 

Rocket blowers should be consigned to the waste bin, you want dust out of the camera, not redistributed somewhere else inside the camera.

Edited January 9, 2019 by 250swb

[LocalHero1953]

2 minutes ago, 250swb said:

There are three types of dust and contamination, loose dust, sticky dust, and oil thrown off from the shutter.

An Eyelead is a great product, I use it, but it will only take off loose dust.

Wet cleaning is needed for sticky dust, but an everyday fluid won't clean oily spots. Wet cleaning can of course be used on it's own for loose dust, before products like the Eyelead it was all we had.

Oily spots need their own wet cleaning fluid, but this can leave streaks, so finish off with an everyday fluid.

So if one product doesn't work for you it doesn't necessarily mean it's not a good product, just that it's not the right one for the particular job, much like using the right sized screwdriver.

An Eyelead is the first thing I try and usually gets rid of all the spots, oily deposits are less common nowadays and perhaps the M9 taught Leica a lesson. Sticky dust often appears when the camera has gone through big temperature changes, times of high humidity etc. 

Rocket blowers should be consigned to the waste bin, you want dust out of the camera, not redistributed somewhere else inside the camera.

I think dust can get into the rest of the camera pretty effectively without help from a rocket blower. I doubt either of us has actual evidence on where dust goes, but I suspect much of what I blow off the sensor also gets blown out of the camera - but who can tell? Whatever works.

[250swb]

2 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

I think dust can get into the rest of the camera pretty effectively without help from a rocket blower. I doubt either of us has actual evidence on where dust goes, but I suspect much of what I blow off the sensor also gets blown out of the camera - but who can tell? Whatever works.

You know where dust is when it's stuck to the gel head of your Eyelead, you can only wonder where dust has gone using a blower.

[LocalHero1953]

True, but I prefer a non-contact method to start with.

[Exodies]

Re blowers: it’s four tiny specks of dust. Cant be interested where they are as long as it’s not on the sensor.

[andybarton]

I have had my D700 for 10 years and never had to clean the sensor

I have had my M240 for 4 years and had it cleaned by David Stephens once after about 6 months to take the manufacturing crud off, but have only had to use a blower since. I don't suffer much from dust if I use the blower regularly.

The though of putting some Blutac on the end of a stick onto my sensor makes my palms sweat.

I used to wet clean the DMR, but that was so simple and easy to get right.

 

 

[M9reno]

As a matter of principle, since the experience of Leica addressing the M9 corrosion issue years back by blaming it on users cleaning their own sensors, I let Leica own the problem.

I’ve not forgotten that email.  It was, to put it kindly, not Leica at their best.

Yes, it entails taking the time every now and then, whenever I’m in the metropolis on other business, to stop at Leica and get it done.

Not only is it a free service, but it helps to prevent the potential aggravation of being blamed by Leica at some future point for nonsense, including their own manufacturing defects.

[andybarton]

I believe that it's only free if you go to Leica in Mayfair.

 

Dealers charge a fee.

[Gibbo]

Blutac 😂 oh Andy, you do make me laugh 😂 

[wlaidlaw]

Can anyone recommend a decent micro vacuum cleaner? I was given this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/Keyboard-CrazyFire-Rechargeable-Cordless-Keyboards/dp/B07BKRS19B/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1547030749&sr=8-4&keywords=micro+vacuum+cleaner as a Christmas present. It was so feeble it would not have disturbed the scales on a butterfly's wings and has been returned to Amazon for a refund. I want it for sucking dust out of digital camera chambers, film chambers and around the mounts of lenses, prior to mounting them. If it could also do laptop keyboards, that would be a bonus. 

Wilson

[jaapv]

2 hours ago, 250swb said:

There are three types of dust and contamination, loose dust, sticky dust, and oil thrown off from the shutter.

An Eyelead is a great product, I use it, but it will only take off loose dust.

Wet cleaning is needed for sticky dust, but an everyday fluid won't clean oily spots. Wet cleaning can of course be used on it's own for loose dust, before products like the Eyelead it was all we had.

Oily spots need their own wet cleaning fluid, but this can leave streaks, so finish off with an everyday fluid.

So if one product doesn't work for you it doesn't necessarily mean it's not a good product, just that it's not the right one for the particular job, much like using the right sized screwdriver.

An Eyelead is the first thing I try and usually gets rid of all the spots, oily deposits are less common nowadays and perhaps the M9 taught Leica a lesson. Sticky dust often appears when the camera has gone through big temperature changes, times of high humidity etc. 

Rocket blowers should be consigned to the waste bin, you want dust out of the camera, not redistributed somewhere else inside the camera.

I have inspected dirty sensors using a microscope. Some dust looks like sharp  miniature rocks, a strong argument for using the Rocket Blower  or a special vacuum cleaner (Gran Clean) before starting ANY other attempt at cleaning the sensor. Even stamping or using a Butterfly might pit or scratch the coating, if you are unlucky. So blow/suck it off.

Most of the dust is common household dust, lint, etc. If the blower doesn't remove it completely, an EyeLead stamping tool is more than sufficient. A sensor brush will do the job as well. The sticky dust Alan refers to is partly Pollen, and thus seasonal. Othe sticky stuff comes from the photographer himself, hanging over the sensor to inspect it. Dandruff, minuscule sweat drops, skin flakes, small broken pieces of eylash, hair, you name it. Any wet cleaning will remove all. Oil spots are shiny and colourful, rather pretty really However, if it is oil or grease you will need a product like SmearAway to remove it. Wet cleaning is safe, if loose dust has been removed beforehand. Not too wet, you don't want moisture on the electronics around and behind the sensor, nor moisture seepage between cover glass and the rest of the sensor.

BTW, I find that the main drawback of wet-dry cleaning systems like the GreanClean swabs.

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[jaapv]

42 minutes ago, M9reno said:

As a matter of principle, since the experience of Leica addressing the M9 corrosion issue years back by blaming it on users cleaning their own sensors, I let Leica own the problem.

I’ve not forgotten that email.  It was, to put it kindly, not Leica at their best.

Yes, it entails taking the time every now and then, whenever I’m in the metropolis on other business, to stop at Leica and get it done.

Not only is it a free service, but it helps to prevent the potential aggravation of being blamed by Leica at some future point for nonsense, including their own manufacturing defects.

Leica didn't blame it on the users. There was one panicked (by one employee, probably)  mail, which was officially retracted within the week.

There is not one instance of Leica refusing guaranty on sensor corrosion by user error. On the contrary, even corroded sensors that exhibited clear scratches were replaced under the guaranty scheme, without exception.