Help with my M9 sensor

[Rodrigo castillo]

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Dear friends, since I almost never use my leica M9 with the focus very closed (I hardly ever go beyond 5.6) I have not had major problems with dirt or eventual damage to the sensor.  Also this camera I got for such a low price that I was not very careful in its review.  However reading here about the sensor problems in the M9 I would like to appeal to your experience to know (if possible with this image) if what you see is mostly dust and dirt or corrosion.  In the case of the two big brands on the right, it sounds more like damage than corrosion, but I don't really know.  The few times they appear in the final image, I limit myself to correcting in LR or discarding the photo if the problem is in an area where the correction damages the image irreparably.  Thank you So much in advance 

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[Ko.Fe.]

So called corrosion. On the stage where it was for a while. This is why price was low.

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[a.noctilux]

May this be some dust ?

Not as bad as below anyway

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[ianman]

2 hours ago, Rodrigo castillo said:

if what you see is mostly dust and dirt or corrosion

To me this looks like dust and dirt. It looks nothing like the corrosion I saw on mine. I would suggest a good clean with a Lenspen sensor cleaner.

Edited July 22, 2021 by ianman

[alan c. davis]

1 hour ago, ianman said:

To me this looks like dust and dirt. It looks nothing like the corrosion I saw on mine. I would suggest a good clean with a Lenspen sensor cleaner.

Agreed. Definitely looks like dust to me.

[Rodrigo castillo]

Thank you … to mee too but I though I was too optimistic …. I will make a clean 

Edited July 23, 2021 by Rodrigo castillo

[ianman]

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7 hours ago, Rodrigo castillo said:

Thank you … to mee too but I though I was too optimistic …. I will make a clean 

Do you know if you have the latest sensor in your M9? You don't mention this in your first post. If you do have the latest you can be sure that it's just dirty.

[Rodrigo castillo]

2 hours ago, ianman said:

Do you know if you have the latest sensor in your M9? You don't mention this in your first post. If you do have the latest you can be sure that it's just dirty.

No, I don’t know

[a.noctilux]

This long discussion may help

initiated by our regretted Pico (Jack)

[ianman]

48 minutes ago, Rodrigo castillo said:

No, I don’t know

Sorry, I should have posted the method:

Switch on your camera then follow this sequence:

Press "Delete" once
Press the up arrow 2 times
Press the down arrow 4 times
Press the left arrow 3 times
Press the right arrow 3 times
Press "Info"

Then select the "Hardware ID" menu and press "Set"

That will display the ID numbers of various items/boards you have insalled in your camera.

Turn off the camera.

I would srtonly recommend not playing about with settings in this menu!! 

My M9 has the new sensor and the ID is 15. I know that there are other IDs that are ok but I'm not sure. I guess if it's 15 or above you can be sure it's ok.

To be 100% sure, just send an email to Leica customer service with the cameras serial number, they will be able to tell you if the sensor has been changed and which version it has. Many people do this.

It's strange the seller didn't tell you if the sensor had been changed or not, but I'm guessing not as it's a strong selling point. Still, as I wrote in my first reply, the issue you have right now looks like dust or dirt.

 

[Rodrigo castillo]

3 hours ago, ianman said:

Sorry, I should have posted the method:

Switch on your camera then follow this sequence:

Press "Delete" once
Press the up arrow 2 times
Press the down arrow 4 times
Press the left arrow 3 times
Press the right arrow 3 times
Press "Info"

Then select the "Hardware ID" menu and press "Set"

That will display the ID numbers of various items/boards you have insalled in your camera.

Turn off the camera.

I would srtonly recommend not playing about with settings in this menu!! 

My M9 has the new sensor and the ID is 15. I know that there are other IDs that are ok but I'm not sure. I guess if it's 15 or above you can be sure it's ok.

To be 100% sure, just send an email to Leica customer service with the cameras serial number, they will be able to tell you if the sensor has been changed and which version it has. Many people do this.

It's strange the seller didn't tell you if the sensor had been changed or not, but I'm guessing not as it's a strong selling point. Still, as I wrote in my first reply, the issue you have right now looks like dust or dirt.

 

thank you very much for your help.  I followed the instructions successfully and it tells me that the sensor is 5, I am attaching a screen image, so I assume it has not been changed.  Leica M9 is not a very popular camera in my country, I live in Chile, South America, I don't think there are more than a few dozen in the whole country.  The camera actually traded it to its previous owner for a 1.4 35mm voitglander and a 28mm viewfinder, as he only shoots with film and hadn't used it for a long time.  In turn, he had bought it second-hand so he didn't know much about the camera.  At the time of making the exchange, check the basics of the camera including some images and note that at apertures lower than 5.6 the sensor problems were not visible, so since I usually shoot with very open diaphragms and that it was a bargain, I gave it much more importance.  The truth is that now I am worrying more about the subject not so much about the results of the camera for me, because I do not use it in conditions where sensor problems are evident, but rather because I have fallen in love with the leica system and I am looking forward to selling this camera to upgrade to a Leica M 240 or M10 which allows me to use my R lenses and other non-rangefinder lenses.  I don't know how much I can get for the camera in these conditions (everything else works perfectly) but for now I have commissioned a sensor cleaning kit so that after having cleaned it well, I can see that it is dirt and that it is corrosion, if any.  When looking at the images that I have taken in which if there are spots I notice that the round ones look like dust, or saliva or dirt in general, on the other hand, two elongated lines appear on the right that I fear may be corrosion or some other irreparable damage to the sensor.

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[ianman]

59 minutes ago, Rodrigo castillo said:

When looking at the images that I have taken in which if there are spots I notice that the round ones look like dust, or saliva or dirt in general, on the other hand, two elongated lines appear on the right that I fear may be corrosion or some other irreparable damage to the sensor.

They could be damage but I wouldn't rule out some sort of small hair ot something.

As for selling... it actually makes a nice change to see you have very good reasons to need an M240 or M10 and not just changing for the sake of it. I'm not the right person to advise you on this but unless you need video I would suggest skipping the M240 and try to get an M10... there must be quite a lot around because people have been selling their standard M10 to get on of the many variations... and the M11 is just around the corner so maybe waiting a few months will allow you to find a "cheap" M10.

Another point to know is that, indeed you have the original sensor on your M9 and as such makes it very difficult to sell. Even if you have no corrosion right now, it will be hard to sell for a good price because the sensor could develop the issue at any time. That being said, it is a very good camera, I have been using mine for almost 12 years and still enjoy it as much as when it was new.

I hope all goes well with the cleaning. Let us know and send some us some photos of Chile

 

 

[Rodrigo castillo]

1 hour ago, ianman said:

They could be damage but I wouldn't rule out some sort of small hair ot something.

As for selling... it actually makes a nice change to see you have very good reasons to need an M240 or M10 and not just changing for the sake of it. I'm not the right person to advise you on this but unless you need video I would suggest skipping the M240 and try to get an M10... there must be quite a lot around because people have been selling their standard M10 to get on of the many variations... and the M11 is just around the corner so maybe waiting a few months will allow you to find a "cheap" M10.

Another point to know is that, indeed you have the original sensor on your M9 and as such makes it very difficult to sell. Even if you have no corrosion right now, it will be hard to sell for a good price because the sensor could develop the issue at any time. That being said, it is a very good camera, I have been using mine for almost 12 years and still enjoy it as much as when it was new.

I hope all goes well with the cleaning. Let us know and send some us some photos of Chile

 

 

Thank you so much. My only issue in order to upgrade is can use R lenses. I hace lot of them and I love them. I don’t care about video. I almost don’t use video and if I need I have a Sony A7R2 and a Canon 70 D and a canon 6D, so… In eBay I cant find any M9 for less than 1,5 K (original sensor) so I assume that any way I could get something like 1,2 … but maybe for that money I will just keep it to maintain a CCD camera for portraits etc and wait for a M10 when the prices drop a little. Today not less than 4K. I will tell you after the cleaning …. 

[Tom Johnston]

If it is corrosion, Leica may offer a discounted price toward a new camera. In the past you could upgrade to the M10 or Q2, or others. On the other hand you might find someone who would want to buy, knowing the issues, and have the sensor glass replaced.

My M9 had the original sensor and logic board replaced as part of the goodwill program, but replaced before the newer sensor was available. I shoot mainly wide open, so it wasn’t until later when I was shooting stopped down that I noticed some unwanted blemishes. This was after sensors were unavailable. It was frustrating.

Now I’m shooting with a n M10 and Q2, and a very happy. I do miss the M9…

[tobey bilek]

Black spots on my M9 and soon some lines in middle of a shoot with no lens changes.  I could not clean and sent it in.  

Do not try to get silver M10R.  Waited 4 months and finally took a M10R silver chrome.

Save your strap as M10 ones are non adjustable and very long.

[Rodrigo castillo]

Hi, thank you to every one. Here I new image after sensor cleaning. 

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[Bart D]

22 hours ago, Rodrigo castillo said:

Hi, thank you to every one. Here I new image after sensor cleaning. 

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Unfortunately, this does look like corrosion to me 

[ianman]

On 7/28/2021 at 8:52 PM, Bart D said:

Unfortunately, this does look like corrosion to me 

No it's a branch

Seriously, I don't know... you could be right. But I've never seen it manifest like this before. It's usually totally random spots. In addition, see to the left of the top "scratch", it seems to continue but less visible.

However, if it is corrosion, there is some good news for Rodrigo in that I believe Leica will still accept the M9 in part exchange for an M10.

 

[Guest JMF]

On 7/23/2021 at 9:05 AM, ianman said:

Sorry, I should have posted the method:

Switch on your camera then follow this sequence:

Press "Delete" once
Press the up arrow 2 times
Press the down arrow 4 times
Press the left arrow 3 times
Press the right arrow 3 times
Press "Info"

Then select the "Hardware ID" menu and press "Set"

That will display the ID numbers of various items/boards you have insalled in your camera.

Turn off the camera.

I would srtonly recommend not playing about with settings in this menu!! 

My M9 has the new sensor and the ID is 15. I know that there are other IDs that are ok but I'm not sure. I guess if it's 15 or above you can be sure it's ok.

To be 100% sure, just send an email to Leica customer service with the cameras serial number, they will be able to tell you if the sensor has been changed and which version it has. Many people do this.

It's strange the seller didn't tell you if the sensor had been changed or not, but I'm guessing not as it's a strong selling point. Still, as I wrote in my first reply, the issue you have right now looks like dust or dirt.

 

Hi,

is the ID of the new sensor for the M9M similar ? 15 as well?

Thanks, Jean-Marc

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[ianman]

23 minutes ago, JMF said:

Hi,

is the ID of the new sensor for the M9M similar ? 15 as well?

Thanks, Jean-Marc

I don't know tbh. I've seen such info on summilux.net

I'll check...

Edit:  @JMF Jean-Marc, this is what I found:

Quote

capteur d'origine du Monochrom MM1 : CCD ID 52

capteur changé du Monochrom MM1 : CCD ID 53

 

Edited August 1, 2021 by ianman
added info