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Never use old wet sensor swabs to clean your sensor...


platel

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There was a tiny smudge on the sensor of my M10. As I still had a set of wet&dry swabs from The Netherlands, and as I previously routinely cleaned the sensors of my camera's in the past, I swabbed it...  🙀
The wet swab must have been over date. It left a huge amount of smudges and disintegrated. 
 ***stress***
I live in Manila, and they don's sell wet sensor swabs here anywhere. So ended up ordering them from China. You can check out my experience in this video that I recorded this afternoon:
 

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Edited by platel
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8 hours ago, frame-it said:

Manila, Philippines ? There is a leicastore at Greenbelt 5, they could clean the sensor.

They couldn’t. I was there, but it is only a Showroom. They don’t do repairs. For repairs they send camera’s to Singapore. But since the pandemic they haven’t been able to ship there... Repair time in normal times could take as long as 4-6 months. In pandemic time... unknown...

Contacted Leica Singapore directly, could ship it there with FedEx myself, but still the repair times (as always with Leica) are horrific. 

That’s why I chose to give it a try myself. If it didn’t work, I could send it to Singapore... Luckily it did.

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20 minutes ago, platel said:

They couldn’t. I was there, but it is only a Showroom. They don’t do repairs. For repairs they send camera’s to Singapore. But since the pandemic they haven’t been able to ship there... Repair time in normal times could take as long as 4-6 months. In pandemic time... unknown...

Contacted Leica Singapore directly, could ship it there with FedEx myself, but still the repair times (as always with Leica) are horrific. 

That’s why I chose to give it a try myself. If it didn’t work, I could send it to Singapore... Luckily it did.

Platel

Can i repeat my request for you to send me a personal message via this forum, advising me the brand name of the combined wet/dry cleaning kit you used.  I have checked the Alibaba site and there is a large selection from which to choose.  

Thanks

Edited by lucerne
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11 hours ago, lucerne said:

can you please PM me and let me know what the swab brand is. 

I will, but I will also share it here in case others also want to know. 

Here in the Philippines you can use “Lazada” to order stuff online, mostly from China. I looked everywhere else  to buy the ones I know, they are from ‘Green Clean’, but they are nowhere here in Asia. Ended up buying a set of ‘Huanor’ HN-P1 Dry+Wet swabs. They luckily are very good quality.

 

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9 minutes ago, vkdev said:

Wow. I sssscratched the sensor on my m240 too :) and sold my camera a year later. the new sensor ~1500-2000 eur

Luckily it was not scratched... But was already afraid of those prices!

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On 3/4/2021 at 6:34 AM, colonel said:

nasty cracks on the VF window :(

I thought maybe the OP just had odd fingerprints :)

I had some leftover actual SensorSwab brand swabs that were pre-wetted with Eclipse and sealed in a foil pouch.  The product is discontinued now, but I had kept some in the bottom of my camera case and tried one on an M240.  

I didn't realize at the the time that the Eclipse had evaporated in the package, leaving a completely dry swab.  Left a mess that looked a lot like yours.  Scared the hell out of me.

Wonder if this was the same brand?

Edited by Good To Be Retired
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8 hours ago, Good To Be Retired said:

I thought maybe the OP just had odd fingerprints :)

I had some leftover actual SensorSwab brand swabs that were pre-wetted with Eclipse and sealed in a foil pouch.  The product is discontinued now, but I had kept some in the bottom of my camera case and tried one on an M240.  

I didn't realize at the the time that the Eclipse had evaporated in the package, leaving a completely dry swab.  Left a mess that looked a lot like yours.  Scared the hell out of me.

Wonder if this was the same brand?

The old ones that I had were from Green Clean.

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On 3/5/2021 at 12:37 AM, lucerne said:

Platel

Can i repeat my request for you to send me a personal message via this forum, advising me the brand name of the combined wet/dry cleaning kit you used.  I have checked the Alibaba site and there is a large selection from which to choose.  

Thanks

Don’t ever use the junk from  Alibaba ! There is no reliable quality control nor enforceable liability in case of product-induced sensor damage.
The only reliable dry/wet system that I know of is by Green Clean. And even then, they are often too wet and carry the risk of moistening  and corroding the electronic circuitry next to your sensor.   But what is wrong by using a bottle/swab system from for instance Visible Dust or another reputable supplier?
But do you need a wet clean at all? Often a blow with a blower bulb ( not your mouth or compressed air!) is enough, or failing that a swipe with the Arctic Butterfly. The little vacuum cleaner by Green Clean works well too.
Next step is careful use of a a suitable  -like EyeLead for Sony- Gel stick. Wobble, not pull and never try to swipe.
Only tenacious sticky dust like lubricant splatter or Pollen needs a wet clean.

Leica sensors need products that are guaranteed for Sony sensors - even if some of the sensors are not made by Sony. The reason is the relatively thin cover glass.

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8 hours ago, platel said:

The old ones that I had were from Green Clean.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Those are really antiques! That foam swab has completely disintegrated. You probably got plasticizers from the foam on your sensor - those are very hard to remove.

They look like this now:

 

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On 3/5/2021 at 12:16 AM, platel said:

They couldn’t. I was there, but it is only a Showroom. They don’t do repairs. For repairs they send camera’s to Singapore. But since the pandemic they haven’t been able to ship there... Repair time in normal times could take as long as 4-6 months. In pandemic time... unknown...

Contacted Leica Singapore directly, could ship it there with FedEx myself, but still the repair times (as always with Leica) are horrific. 

That’s why I chose to give it a try myself. If it didn’t work, I could send it to Singapore... Luckily it did.

Sensor cleaning is not a repair... ;) Google yields this :


https://www.facebook.com/Tarlac-Camera-Sensor-Cleaning-Service-102285141239766/

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JaapvDon’t ever use the junk from  Alibaba ! There is no reliable quality control nor enforceable liability in case of product-induced sensor damage"

Jaapv.     Alibaba, Ebay, et al, dont buy, examine, service, stock, dispatch, handle or sell anything!  (but i'm sure you knew that).  
For any reader that needs to know, they are simply the conduit between registered independent buyers and registered sellers of a huge range of products.  The online platform enables and supports the buyer-seller transaction comprehensively. Turnover 2019 Us$50.9 billion

I agree that some advertised products may be junk, but others are not.  The customer has choice and should use their common sense.

I've used the platform without problem for 15 years.  

As far as choosing a wet / dry sensor cleaning product, there is sometimes a need but I advise only buying what you need, at the time you need it.  All products deteriorate / evaporate over time.  Hence, never use an old/stored product. Even Green Clean and Visible Dust.

Hope that clears up any misunderstanding.  The OP is satisfied with his purchase so we needn't feel concerned or encourage him to reverse his decision.  Of course, the identification of a cleaning service in the Philipines is useful.  I can see that the packaging of the swabs they are using shows them to be of Chinese origin (as expected).

 

 

 

Edited by lucerne
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@platel   I have always used these to clean my sensors - never have had a problem in 5+ years of sensor cleaning 2-3 times per year:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/259157-REG/Giottos_AA1900_Rocket_Air_Blower.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/127525-REG/Photographic_Solutions_EC_Eclipse_Optic_Lens_Cleaning.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1165567-REG/photographic_solutions_us3box_ultra_swab_type_3.html

B&H will ship to Manila as far as I know - and to everywhere else, for that matter.

Edited by Herr Barnack
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