Dust on sensor

[graeme_clarke]

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Pollen grains in the air from trees and grasses in spring and early summer are a real problem! Their protein coat sticks to the sensor cover glass (remember the days of fish and bone glue - both made from protein) and no amount of blowing or brushing with an arctic Butterfly will shift them - wet cleaning is the only answer. As above, I use a swab and Eclipse fluid with care, with success.

Graeme

[Paul2660]

Eventually you will have to wet clean the sensor. The SL2 doesn’t have what most IBIS equipped cameras offer, a dust removal high frequency vibration. So you either blow it or wipe it. If you wipe it use the correct swabs and solutions. MKe sure the camera is ON as this will lock the sensor down. If you attempt to use a swab on the sensor with the camera off you will move the sensor as it’s basically in a free state with the camera off. You can watch the sensor lock down when you first turn on the camera. Google the “math photographer and how to clean a camera with IBIS”. He has a great video that shows what I am referring to  

I use the visible dust swabs and solutions. Eclipse is another commonly used solution. 

Paul

[AZN]

16 hours ago, Herr Barnack said:

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.

This.

You can almost clean any way you want as the cover glass is toughened, so provided you don't use steel wool then you will be fine.

The real problem occurs when the dust gets between the cover glass and the sensor.  No amount of blowing or wiping will get it out.

I had this problem with my SL (typ 601) and had to send it to Leica to get rid of the dust.  Unfortunately the things where right in the top-middle of the image frame, so whenever there was sky in the shot the fluffy things were there to say hello.

[Herr Barnack]

@AZN  There was a fair amount of disassembly involved in that procedure, I would expect - what was the cost for that repair? 

[Eclectic Man]

Regarding blowers, I had an old 'Rocket' blower which was decaying and actually depositing little particles of rubber onto the sensor.  Get a more expensive one with filters (plural, one in and one out filter, if possible).

There are several tutorials on the internet showing how to clean a camera sensor using brushes, swabs and alcohol solvent.  I also suggest in addition to what is described in the tutorials that you wear a face mask to avoid any specks of saliva from breathing entering your camera.

I had a lot of trouble with dust spots on my SL2 sensor, and was advised to make sure the camera was pointing down when changing lenses, and this does seem to have helped.

[AZN]

7 hours ago, Herr Barnack said:

@AZN  There was a fair amount of disassembly involved in that procedure, I would expect - what was the cost for that repair? 

Luckily - free. Camera was still under extended warranty. Turnaround was about a month (here in Australia, 2019)

[david strachan]

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On 3/1/2022 at 2:31 AM, Eclectic Man said:

Regarding blowers, I had an old 'Rocket' blower which was decaying and actually depositing little particles of rubber onto the sensor.  Get a more expensive one with filters ..

Hi Eclectic Man

You mention rubber being deposited as little particles on your sensor...can you give a bit more insight into your research here please... Just not sure I've seen anything definitive.

Many thanks..

[Erato]

1 hour ago, david strachan said:

Hi Eclectic Man

You mention rubber being deposited as little particles on your sensor...can you give a bit more insight into your research here please... Just not sure I've seen anything definitive.

Many thanks..

VSGO V-B02 Hurricane Air Blower with Built-In Dust Filter, FYR.

This is the blower I use with "VSGO Full-Frame Sensor Cleaning Swab Kit (12x swabs + 10ml liquid), VS-S03-E" but I use my own fluid which is 100% DIY and organic.

 

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Edited March 2, 2022 by Erato

[V23]

On 2/27/2022 at 11:13 PM, kstol23 said:

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?

You say that you use to clean sensor on your X-T3, Leica SL2 is just a little bit different, but not much to it. Sponsoring Member michali posted excellent procedure on sensor cleaning, check it out.

[michali]

On 2/27/2022 at 2:13 PM, kstol23 said:

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?

Due to the nature of my work in Africa, I often operate in harsh, dusty environments. This is the procedure that I use on the SL2 & SL2-S, so far with no issues:

 1. Insert a fully charged battery.

 2. Turn IBIS OFF. 

 3. Power Saving > Auto Power set to OFF. 

 4. Camera ON  -make sure my  fingers are 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).

 5. A few blows with the Rocket Blower.

 6. Several passes with about 3 Visible Dust Green Swabs  and   Smear Away liquid sensor cleaning solution -not too much pressure, that's why I used more swabs than normal.

 7. A few more passes with 3 more Visible Dust Green Swabs with Sensor Clean liquid sensor cleaning solution - to remove any streaks left by the Smear Away.  I've also used 100% Isopropyl Alcohol for more stubborn spots. 

 8. A few more blows with the Rocket Blower & then sweep with Arctic Butterfly (optional).

 9. All clean.

10. Turn IBIS & Auto Power back ON. 

I used approx. double the amount of swabs than I would have normally used on the M10, Monochrom or SL601, as I applied less pressure for fear of damaging the sensor. 

 

[Eclectic Man]

16 hours ago, david strachan said:

Hi Eclectic Man

You mention rubber being deposited as little particles on your sensor...can you give a bit more insight into your research here please... Just not sure I've seen anything definitive.

Many thanks..

Two images of sticky tape.  The first before using a blower, the second after.  In the second image you can see a few small specs of decayed rubber sticking to the tape.

Before:

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After:

[kstol23]

7 hours ago, michali said:

Due to the nature of my work in Africa, I often operate in harsh, dusty environments. This is the procedure that I use on the SL2 & SL2-S, so far with no issues:

 

 1. Insert a fully charged battery.

 2. Turn IBIS OFF. 

 3. Power Saving > Auto Power set to OFF. 

 4. Camera ON  -make sure my  fingers are 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).

 5. A few blows with the Rocket Blower.

 6. Several passes with about 3 Visible Dust Green Swabs  and   Smear Away liquid sensor cleaning solution -not too much pressure, that's why I used more swabs than normal.

 7. A few more passes with 3 more Visible Dust Green Swabs with Sensor Clean liquid sensor cleaning solution - to remove any streaks left by the Smear Away.  I've also used 100% Isopropyl Alcohol for more stubborn spots. 

 8. A few more blows with the Rocket Blower & then sweep with Arctic Butterfly (optional).

 9. All clean.

10. Turn IBIS & Auto Power back ON. 

I used approx. double the amount of swabs than I would have normally used on the M10, Monochrom or SL601, as I applied less pressure for fear of damaging the sensor. 

 

Thank you @michali, ordered the stuff, I'll follow your directions. I can't seem to find IBIS off, which menu is it under?

[kstol23]

1 hour ago, kstol23 said:

Thank you @michali, ordered the stuff, I'll follow your directions. I can't seem to find IBIS off, which menu is it under?

Oh I found it!

[kstol23]

I would like to thank everyone for their help and advice! MISSION COMPLETED! All is clean again!

I used a SensorSwab Ultra Type 3 (24mm) and Eclipse Optical Cleaning Fluid along with the Rocket Blower, and all is good. 

Thanks again!