Dust on sensor

[kstol23]

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Hello, I've only had my SL2 since January and haven't used it a ton, so I'm quite confused. I took it out yesterday and was shooting in nature, lots of blue sky. Came back home to edit and there's incredible amounts of spots (dust) showing up in the images. I took a look at the sensor, and indeed it looks dirty and I tried a blower but to no avail. It's not like I change lenses all the time or expose the camera to the elements, I'm not sure what the deal is, it seems excessive.

Any of you have dust on the sensor (I know it's common in cameras of course)? What did you do? In the past when I had my Fuji X-T3, I cleaned the sensor myself with a cleaning kit, but I'm not wanting to do that on the Leica, kind of afraid to be honest. Just wondering if anyone else had this issue--did you return it to the store, did you clean it yourself?

[jankap]

An example picture? I use a blower and post processing. I don't trust wet cleaning etc.

[kstol23]

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[kstol23]

32 minutes ago, jankap said:

An example picture? I use a blower and post processing. I don't trust wet cleaning etc.

I now attached one. There are two spots on this image, but in some other images, it's quite extensive.

[frame-it]

i change lenses almost everyday..and have to wet clean once a month...i think old vintage manual focus lenses really suck in the dust while adjusting focus

[kstol23]

Just now, frame-it said:

i change lenses almost everyday..and have to wet clean once a month...i think old vintage manual focus lenses really suck in the dust while adjusting focus

Thank you for your reply, so you clean your SL2 yourself and there's been no issues? I'm always terrified to touch the sensor.

[Herr Barnack]

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@kstol23   I don't change lenses a lot and as a result I need to clean my sensor about three times per year.  I have been doing it myself from the beginning and I have never had any problems as a result. 

The main thing is to read the camera manual and the directions of the sensor cleaning swabs and fluid, and follow the directions exactly.  If you do that, you should have no problems.

Getting too much cleaning fluid on the cleaning swab is the main concern.  I use the 24mm wide swabs.  I put three drops of fluid on the edge of one side of the swab (evenly spaced), rotate it 180 degrees and apply two drops of fluid on the edge of the other side of the swab (again, evenly spaced).  I then wait about 20 seconds for the fluid to wick into the swab and evenly distribute itself.  When you squeegee across the sensor glass, you want to apply a bit of pressure to the swab so that the stick flexes a bit.  It is hard to describe how much, but apply a moderate amount of pressure, causing a moderate flex in the stick.  Make one pass with one edge, then go back across the cover glass using the opposite edge of the swab.  That usually will do it.  Remount your lens and make an exposure of the sky and check your rear screen for any particles of dust still stuck to your sensor cover glass.  If you still see dust in the exposure, there's nothing wrong with repeating the process a second time to remove the dust that was left behind.

A friend took his Canon DSLR to have it "professionally cleaned."  A week later, it died.  He sent it off to Canon for repair, which cost $300.  Canon said liquid had gotten into the electronics of the sensor or camera and caused the problem.  My friend said he had not had his camera out in the rain or had it exposed to any water or other liquid since the sensor had been cleaned.  Taking your camera to a camera store to have the sensor "professionally cleaned" does not guarantee a good result.

When you clean the sensor, you are actually cleaning the sensor's cover glass, not the sensor itself.  This cover glass is hardened and you would have to really work at it in order to scratch or damage it.

I have shot with my M-P 240 since April of 2015.  That means I have cleaned the sensor myself around 20 times with no bad results, saving myself $1000 USD in cleaning costs.  Anyone else on this forum is capable of doing the same.  Just follow the directions exactly, use cleaning fluid carefully and you will be fine.

Here are the cleaning supplies I use:

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

Edited February 27, 2022 by Herr Barnack

[M11 for me]

I would advise to buy a blower. Most time it is enough to open the shutter and then blow the sensors dust away.

[Sailronin]

Use a good blower and Arctic Butterfly before resorting to wet cleaning.  It is very important to use a blower on the sensor prior to wet cleaning, I did manage to scratch the cover glass of my S(006), it's a small scratch but is permanent as Leica no longer can replace those sensors.  I'm sure that occurred due to wet cleaning without a good blowing off the sensor  and a hard particle was trapped between the swab and glass.

Edited February 27, 2022 by Sailronin

[Jonathan Levin]

Any know if that Eclipse solution has a self life/expiration? The 2oz bottle seems like it would last two life times.

[kstol23]

1 hour ago, M11 for me said:

I would advise to buy a blower. Most time it is enough to open the shutter and then blow the sensors dust away.

Yeah I did that but these aren't budging! ugh

[kstol23]

40 minutes ago, Sailronin said:

Use a good blower and Arctic Butterfly before resorting to wet cleaning.  It is very important to use a blower on the sensor prior to wet cleaning, I did manage to scratch the cover glass of my S(006), it's a small scratch but is permanent as Leica no longer can replace those sensors.  I'm sure that occurred due to wet cleaning without a good blowing off the sensor  and a hard particle was trapped between the swab and glass.

I bought two blowers and they were cheapies, which one do you recommend I get? I don't know what Arctic Butterfly is, I need to research that. Thank you for the tips, I'm kind of scared to clean it, even though I've cleaned them before, but not on my brand new Leica.

[kstol23]

1 hour ago, Herr Barnack said:

@kstol23   I don't change lenses a lot and as a result I need to clean my sensor about three times per year.  I have been doing it myself from the beginning and I have never had any problems as a result. 

The main thing is to read the camera manual and the directions of the sensor cleaning swabs and fluid, and follow the directions exactly.  If you do that, you should have no problems.

Getting too much cleaning fluid on the cleaning swab is the main concern.  I use the 24mm wide swabs.  I put three drops of fluid on the edge of one side of the swab (evenly spaced), rotate it 180 degrees and apply two drops of fluid on the edge of the other side of the swab (again, evenly spaced).  I then wait about 20 seconds for the fluid to wick into the swab and evenly distribute itself.  When you squeegee across the sensor glass, you want to apply a bit of pressure to the swab so that the stick flexes a bit.  It is hard to describe how much, but apply a moderate amount of pressure, causing a moderate flex in the stick.  Make one pass with one edge, then go back across the cover glass using the opposite edge of the swab.  That usually will do it.  Remount your lens and make an exposure of the sky and check your rear screen for any particles of dust still stuck to your sensor cover glass.  If you still see dust in the exposure, there's nothing wrong with repeating the process a second time to remove the dust that was left behind.

A friend took his Canon DSLR to have it "professionally cleaned."  A week later, it died.  He sent it off to Canon for repair, which cost $300.  Canon said liquid had gotten into the electronics of the sensor or camera and caused the problem.  My friend said he had not had his camera out in the rain or had it exposed to any water or other liquid since the sensor had been cleaned.  Taking your camera to a camera store to have the sensor "professionally cleaned" does not guarantee a good result.

When you clean the sensor, you are actually cleaning the sensor's cover glass, not the sensor itself.  This cover glass is hardened and you would have to really work at it in order to scratch or damage it.

I have shot with my M-P 240 since April of 2015.  That means I have cleaned the sensor myself around 20 times with no bad results, saving myself $1000 USD in cleaning costs.  Anyone else on this forum is capable of doing the same.  Just follow the directions exactly, use cleaning fluid carefully and you will be fine.

Here are the cleaning supplies I use:

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

Thank you, this was SUPER helpful!!! I'm afraid to do it, although as I said I cleaned the sensor on my Fuji. It isn't realistic to think I'll send it in every time it needs cleaning, and the fact is I need it for work, so I guess I do it myself (even though I'm scared). Thank you again!

[jrp]

I take mine back to Leica for an annual clean.  I would hesitate before doing other tha blowing on an ibis sensor, particularly as there is no user visible sensor cleaning mode. 

[Sailronin]

1 hour ago, kstol23 said:

I bought two blowers and they were cheapies, which one do you recommend I get? I don't know what Arctic Butterfly is, I need to research that. Thank you for the tips, I'm kind of scared to clean it, even though I've cleaned them before, but not on my brand new Leica.

Arctic Butterfly is made by Visible Dust company, they also sell blowers.  

[kstol23]

2 minutes ago, Sailronin said:

Arctic Butterfly is made by Visible Dust company, they also sell blowers.  

Thank you very much!

[Pixeleater]

2 hours ago, kstol23 said:

I bought two blowers and they were cheapies, which one do you recommend I get? I don't know what Arctic Butterfly is, I need to research that. Thank you for the tips, I'm kind of scared to clean it, even though I've cleaned them before, but not on my brand new Leica.

Leica Miami has an excellent air blower which comes in three sizes.

https://leicastoremiami.com/collections/eyelead/products/eyelead-basic-air-blower-large-with-dust-filter?variant=34243199729795

The bottom of the bellows has a filter which removes dust as the air is pulled in. Dusty air going into the blower means dusty air is blown out.

[kstol23]

32 minutes ago, Pixeleater said:

Leica Miami has an excellent air blower which comes in three sizes.

https://leicastoremiami.com/collections/eyelead/products/eyelead-basic-air-blower-large-with-dust-filter?variant=34243199729795

The bottom of the bellows has a filter which removes dust as the air is pulled in. Dusty air going into the blower means dusty air is blown out.

This looks interesting, thank you for sharing!

 

[frame-it]

9 hours ago, kstol23 said:

Thank you for your reply, so you clean your SL2 yourself and there's been no issues? I'm always terrified to touch the sensor.

yes i clean all my camera sensors myself

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[david strachan]

3 hours ago, Pixeleater said:

Leica Miami has an excellent air blower which comes in three sizes.

https://leicastoremiami.com/collections/eyelead/products/eyelead-basic-air-blower-large-with-dust-filter?variant=34243199729795

The bottom of the bellows has a filter which removes dust as the air is pulled in. Dusty air going into the blower means dusty air is blown out.

I've also heard old blowers can deteriorate and blow rubber bits onto the sensor...like my old Giotto Rocket Blower (might do).

I'm just not sure about either of these hypotheses, so have ordered a new eyelead blower, to be sure.

...

Edited February 27, 2022 by david strachan