OH NO--spots in my lens!

[rjsphd]

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I was processing some recent shots in lightroom and noticed several unusual spots on the images.  I shoot a SL2 and the images were made with the 24-90 SL. Not dust, more like drops of liquid. They are round and translucent and present the entire range of zoom focal lengths.   One spot is particularly bad: right in the center edge at the top.  I shoot a lot of landscapes and its always dead-center of the sky.  

I had assumed they were on the sensor, but I don't have the spots when I shoot with my primes--90 and 35mm SL  summicrons.  I cleaned the back element of the zoom with a lens pen and brush but no help.  I have a filter on the front and its as clean as a whistle as is the front element.  I fear oil or some other problem that will require Leica 6 months to address,l

Before I freak out, what are my options for diagnosing and addressing this?  I have not noticed the spots in the years I have used the lens before.

Advice, please.

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[LocalHero1953]

You may only see them when stopped down - have you checked the primes at small aperture, in order to confirm it is the lens at fault?

If the spot is distinct, I would be surprised if it was not visible either on the back of the rear element or on the sensor. Do you have a loupe to look under bright light?

[Donzo98]

3 hours ago, rjsphd said:

I was processing some recent shots in lightroom and noticed several unusual spots on the images.  I shoot a SL2 and the images were made with the 24-90 SL. Not dust, more like drops of liquid. They are round and translucent and present the entire range of zoom focal lengths.   One spot is particularly bad: right in the center edge at the top.  I shoot a lot of landscapes and its always dead-center of the sky.  

I had assumed they were on the sensor, but I don't have the spots when I shoot with my primes--90 and 35mm SL  summicrons.  I cleaned the back element of the zoom with a lens pen and brush but no help.  I have a filter on the front and its as clean as a whistle as is the front element.  I fear oil or some other problem that will require Leica 6 months to address,l

Before I freak out, what are my options for diagnosing and addressing this?  I have not noticed the spots in the years I have used the lens before.

Advice, please.

Can you post an example pic??

[rjsphd]

4 hours ago, LocalHero1953 said:

You may only see them when stopped down - have you checked the primes at small aperture, in order to confirm it is the lens at fault?

If the spot is distinct, I would be surprised if it was not visible either on the back of the rear element or on the sensor. Do you have a loupe to look under bright light?

LocalHero--you were correct.  When I shot with the prime stopped to f11 the spots are there. 

So not the lens, thankfully.  However, the ol' blower isn't taking care of the problem on the sensor.  Now I need to figure out how to wet clean the SL2 sensor without doing more harm than good.  I' ve never done a wet clean before on any leica, so I will need to do some research

[michali]

20 minutes ago, rjsphd said:

LocalHero--you were correct.  When I shot with the prime stopped to f11 the spots are there. 

So not the lens, thankfully.  However, the ol' blower isn't taking care of the problem on the sensor.  Now I need to figure out how to wet clean the SL2 sensor without doing more harm than good.  I' ve never done a wet clean before on any leica, so I will need to do some research

If you open the link below I've outlined the procedure I've used to wet clean my SL2 many times with no issues. 

 

[LocalHero1953]

47 minutes ago, rjsphd said:

LocalHero--you were correct.  When I shot with the prime stopped to f11 the spots are there. 

So not the lens, thankfully.  However, the ol' blower isn't taking care of the problem on the sensor.  Now I need to figure out how to wet clean the SL2 sensor without doing more harm than good.  I' ve never done a wet clean before on any leica, so I will need to do some research

Can you see the spot on the sensor? I have a sensor loupe with built in lighting: try a bright light and magnifying glass. Wet cleaning is the third and last of my cleaning techniques, after the blower and the Arctic Butterfly brush. I haven't needed to wet clean a SL sensor (only M or CL) so I don't know what precautions you need to take for the stabilisation mount.

[rjsphd]

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23 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

Can you see the spot on the sensor? I have a sensor loupe with built in lighting: try a bright light and magnifying glass. Wet cleaning is the third and last of my cleaning techniques, after the blower and the Arctic Butterfly brush. I haven't needed to wet clean a SL sensor (only M or CL) so I don't know what precautions you need to take for the stabilisation mount.

I have a loupe but it doesn't have the light.  I do have an Arctic Butterfly and I am going to try it first before wet cleaning per michali.  Besides, I don't have any of the wet supplies and will need to order them.  I will turn off the iBIS but don't know what other precarious to take with SL2  Do you have any advice?

[LocalHero1953]

No, though I wouldn't worry about using the brush - it's a very light touch.

[michali]

8 hours ago, rjsphd said:

I have a loupe but it doesn't have the light.  I do have an Arctic Butterfly and I am going to try it first before wet cleaning per michali.  Besides, I don't have any of the wet supplies and will need to order them.  I will turn off the iBIS but don't know what other precarious to take with SL2  Do you have any advice?

As Paul says try the Blower & Arctic Butterfly options before proceeding to wet clean. 

Steps #1 to #4  in the procedure I posted above & repeated below, are the most important to follow.

Also do not apply too much pressure when brushing or using swabs.  

 1. Insert a fully charged battery.

 2. Turn IBIS OFF. 

 3. Power Saving > Auto Power set to OFF. 

 4. Camera ON  -made sure my  fingers were nowhere near the shutter button. (Camera ON is important as it locks the sensor into place & there's no sensor movement. I briefly experimented with the camera OFF  & could feel the sensor moving).

 

[Eclectic Man]

How old is your blower?  If it is an old one, the internal rubber may be decaying and do more harm than good.  You can get a new one, or test the old one by blowing at a clean piece of clear sticky tape and checking any debris that accumulates.

I suggest you check out the various YouTube presentations on how to wet clean a sensor before doing yours.  I would also advise wearing a face mask.  Whatever you do, do not just breathe on the sensor.  Breath contains not only CO2 and water vapour, but also bacteria and can contain fungal spores - not things you want growing in your camera.

I have used eyelead and VisibleDust cleaning kits with some success.

In addition to michali's advice above, I always put my camera into Electronic Shutter mode, so there is no chance of damaging the shutter blades. (Surely the next version of software will include a 'sensor cleaning mode' to do all of this?)

You should not need good luck, just a reasonably steady hand and a clean environment.  All the best!

[earleygallery]

Probably oil spots from the shutter. Wet clean required.

[rjsphd]

The Arctic Butterfly is an amazing tool.  Removed the pesky spot that looked odd and many more...except one.  And that one would not budge. So I called Visible Dust for advice.  They said its likely from breathing on the sensor and the Sensor Clean should be enough.  So we shall see.  Many thanks to all for your advice.