Sensor Question, M8.2, cleaning and a slight brown "stain", barely visible.

[MikeMyers]

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Since I got my M10, I don't use my M8.2 all that much.  It's been sitting most of the time, except for when I take it out to take a few shots, then put it away.  I noticed that the sensor needs a cleaning.  My air blower didn't do much, and my VisibleDust tool removed about half of it, I probably need to get it cleaned better to get rid of what's remaining.

I'll post a photo of a test image I took to check the sensor - brightness is turned up, black is turned down, contrast is up, and I shot at f/16 at a piece of white paper.  

There is also a slight "brownish" tint to parts of the sensor - I never would have noticed but for doing this test.  I'll post a photo below.

Do I ignore it?  Get it serviced?  If so, by Leica?  

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[tommonego@gmail.com]

To me it looks like the sensor needs a cleaning, have you tried some Eclipse on it? Leica would probably do it for you, with a whole camera CLA. I don't think there are any replacement sensors in existance. 

[MikeMyers]

I agree - I feel confident using the "rocket ship" blower, but it wasn't enough.

My Visible Dust tool removed half the dust spots.  I will try that again later this week.  I was brushing from left to right - I think I'll go the other way next time. 

As to the "stain", I did some testing today for infrared photography, and I didn't see any signs of issues from the "stain", which might just be uneven lighting.  Next time I'll use my negative viewer, for previewing negatives before I scan them.

I like the images from the M8.2, and I like the capability of capturing infrared images - no anti-IR filter makes it great for me.

From today's testing, I like the images from the M8.2, but at 100% the M10 is better.  

[cboy]

Use this blower instead 

 

 

[farnz]

Mike, before you get too concerned about the cleanliness of you sensor and spending money to have it cleaned professionally, how evenly lit was the piece of white paper?  I suspect that there could be some marks that will clean off your sensor but I've found that our eyes are not necessarily very good at noticing variations in brightness on a sheet of white paper because the variations are very close to full brightness and our eyes need to readjust by changing the pupil size before we can properly determine the minor variations and this takes a little time.  (Like walking into a bright room from darkness.)

On the other hand, the M8's sensor is a faithful digital recorder that records exactly what it 'sees' (providing that there's no over-brightness causing peaking) and what you're interpreting as dirt/marks on the sensor might actually be variations in the brightness of the sheet of white paper that you've assumed to be uniformly bright but might not be and the sensor is showing this.

I might be well off the mark but it's probably worth considering before you go cleaning marks off your sensor that aren't actually there?

Pete.

[MikeMyers]

I've been busy with other things, but I agree with you, I need a better way to test.  My plan is:

Put camera in manual mode, set the ISO to 100, adjust the aperture on the lens to f/16 of f/22, focus as close as possible, and take a photo of the white or blue sky - preferably several, bracketing, so I can then view the best exposure, just as the sky becomes "white". Then, carefully view the captured image at 100% on my computer.

Everything you wrote is correct, and while I'm currently convinced there is some dirt on the sensor, I will re-test, hopefully this week.  

I have no desire to "wet clean" my sensor, and I think for now I'll stick with a combination of the rocket blower, blowing up, into the body from below, and the brush.  When I look into the camera, I think I will try wiping from right to left next time, so the brush goes completely past the sensor before I remove it.

I'll double check next time, but I'm pretty certain there are some things on my sensor.  If I'm wrong, I'm done.  End of story.  If there is dust I can't clean, then I'll let the experts do it.

Thank you!

[david strachan]

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Hi Mike

Suspect Pete is right.  Your initial image looks very uneven lighting, etc.

Sky, with very even light is best.  Shoot closed down as much as possible, at 90 degrees to sun, and lowest ISO.  Try a couple over and under exposure too....much is what you are saying.

And once you've got the problem worked out, remember to keep exercising the camera...M8's love a run.

All best ...

[MikeMyers]

22 hours ago, david strachan said:

And once you've got the problem worked out, remember to keep exercising the camera...M8's love a run.

Yeah, that's not as easy as it sounds, but I know I need to do so.  My Nikon cameras don't seem to mind being left alone unattended, but I feel I need to use the M8.2, and the M10, and now that I've got it back, my M3.  I usually go out for a "walkabout" mid-afternoon, and I try to take a different camera each time, so I stay up to date on how to use them. 

I just bought a 35mm f/2 "China-Cron" which will probably be used on my M2 eventually, but it should be just great for the M8 cameras.  With a 50, My M8 "felt" like it was stuck with a telephoto.  I'll start off with the sky photos for sensor test, then see how well it works.  Realistically, I accept that the M10 is a "better" camera than the M8.2, but emotionally, it's the opposite.  I guess that makes no sense whatever, but I'd be lying if I pretended it was the other way 'round.

[Matero]

On 11/23/2021 at 3:14 AM, MikeMyers said:

Realistically, I accept that the M10 is a "better" camera than the M8.2, but emotionally, it's the opposite.  I guess that makes no sense whatever, but I'd be lying if I pretended it was the other way 'round.

Makes perfect sense, to me at least. M8 feels a lot more capable, than it actually is. It hits some "photogenic" nerve of mine, and I feel I get better pictures with it than newer, more capable cameras. The same applies to my other gear, Nikon Df and Leica SL as well. And I've tested more modern cameras, but fallen back to these and going to stay here (so long I can keep these in working condition).