Dust in the M10 viewfinder ??

[Brian Harris]

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I'm seeing dust accumulate INSIDE my viewfinder on my 5 year old Leica M10 which I use professionally. The camera is always wrapped in chamois leather when in my bag. It got really bad this weekend when shooting a story involving low angled sunlight to the point where i couldn't see to focus so just guessed the distance, fortunately i was using a 21mm so most frames were in focus. Is this a known problem ?? This is my 4th or 5th Digital M camera...all have failed in the past...but my 35 year old M6 still works fine...what does that say about technology or build quality ? Leica Mayfair are supposed to be getting in touch ASAP...lets hope this gets resolved soonest....the Fuji or Sony system beckons ???

[pedaes]

1 hour ago, Brian Harris said:

I use professionally

Welcome to the Forum.

Are you THE Brian Harris who spoke at the TLS weekend in Nottingham a couple of years ago? If you are, I enjoyed reading your book (and studying the images) that I bought on the day! https://www.fleetstreetsfinest.com/artist/brian-harris/

I have a M10 and haven't had any dust problems, nor have I heard about any here - and we do tend to hear about any issues quickly! It should be an easy fix, but more interesting thought is how dust is getting in. Good luck with it.

Edited June 13, 2022 by pedaes

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[jakontil]

The m10 should have been well sealed but im afraid it might wear off to slip in dust into viewfinder as time goes by

some actually experience such in the early days 

[nuc001]

Yes this happens. I got one the size of a sesame seed in there once, smack bang in the middle of the viewfinder. Don't know how it even got there in a 2 year old M10-P but it did. Time for a CLA.

[Adam Bonn]

Dust finds its way into most places eventually... when you change the battery, the SD card, the lens.

If Mayfair will sort it that's great. AFAIK M top covers are only held on with two screws, for those with mechanical minds and steady hands it's not beyond the home mechanic armed with a rocket blower. Just be careful with the ribbon cables, the trick would be to separate the top cover from the body only as little as as it needs to get a blower (or even a little vacuum device, something you might own if you were pretty serious about wrist watch servicing) in there. I wouldn't go unplugging the cables and separating the top plate completely

Of course for cameras in warranty or for people who's time and money budget allow for the official/reputable CLA, that's the way to go.

FWIW My first X-Pro1 picked up as much dust as a Dyson inside the VF, so it's not really a Leica thing, and I suspect EVF only cameras just hide it better. (If it's not on/in the EVF panel you won't notice it)

[PhongNguyen0196]

I bought a used M10 at the local Leica Store, there were fungus inside the viewfinder, found out about it right after I got home. Send in for CLA, took almost 3 months of waiting. 

[pedaes]

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2 hours ago, PhongNguyen0196 said:

there were fungus inside the viewfinder,

Difficult to believe, but I would have taken it back for a refund. If it has been kept in an environment that would produce fungus in a viewfinder, what about the rest of the camera. 

[PhongNguyen0196]

10 hours ago, pedaes said:

Difficult to believe, but I would have taken it back for a refund. If it has been kept in an environment that would produce fungus in a viewfinder, what about the rest of the camera. 

Here you go, it was the only M10 that they have. Send it back for a full CLA free of charge, they had to replace the glass on the viewfinder. Why would I lie about such thing? 

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[jakontil]

13 hours ago, PhongNguyen0196 said:

Here you go, it was the only M10 that they have. Send it back for a full CLA free of charge, they had to replace the glass on the viewfinder. Why would I lie about such thing? 

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Nobody said u r lying, he only thought, it is hard to believe an M10 inherits fungus since it’s released not so long ago, especially from a leica store where storing it in a well controlled environment, anyway glad it’s sorted out though the waiting time played a part

[timo01]

Dust in the viewfinder is possible. 

You can clean it yourself in a few minutes. I would not send the camera to leica as the dust is sure to come back in a few months...

[Bangrossi]

On 6/17/2022 at 6:49 PM, timo01 said:

Dust in the viewfinder is possible. 

You can clean it yourself in a few minutes. I would not send the camera to leica as the dust is sure to come back in a few months...

Can you please share step by step tutorial how to clean dusty M10 viewfinder?

I read in other thread, in order to clean virwfinder we need to remove top plate by removing two trox screws on bottom of camera. Then use rocket blower to clean up the dust. Is that correct?

 

thank you

[timo01]

There are two screws on the bottom. One in the battery compartment and one on the opposite side (Torx).

After that, the cover can be removed very easily. 

[yukosteel]

For some cases even official CLA doesn't always work to clean all the dust.

I sent one M10 to Leica USA for repair (which they did excellent) and CLA, and got it back with same dust particle in viewfinder front window and note "some dust particles could not be removed".

Well, yes, that particle was not under the glass of top cover, but under first glass element of the viewfinder. It required removing of electronic board above the viewfinder and a small plastic frame to get access. Took me 15 min to clean. And the second spot shown on picture is a dried moisture drop on the inner side of the top cover window - was easy clean as well. So I'm guessing Leica USA really has lots of work, and it's not always possible to clean things perfectly.

For such cases it's useful to know how to clean dust by your own. From the other side, such minor dust particles are purely cosmetic and should not cause troubles, unless camera is used in very humid environment and not properly stored, which may lead to fungus development from organic dust particle.

 

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[k918]

That's ridiculous that Leica said that "some dust couldn't be removed". It absolutely is possible to remove that piece of dust. Sure it isn't inside the top cover but it's only one extra step to go a little deeper.

The top cover has a piece of glass that protects the viewfinder, but directly behind that, there is a black plastic trim piece. Under it is the "front optic" of the viewfinder assembly. It is held in on both sides by an adhesive. You can use a sharp knife and free this adhesive to remove that optic. After that, those dust particles are accessible for cleaning. I can see how that is more invasive than the average user is comfortable with but it is utterly unacceptable that Leica themselves wouldn't go that far. At the bottom of this post I attached a photo of a Digital M with fungus and dust inside every optic of the viewfinder. This was before cleaning. But you can see the strip of adhesive on each side.

Full disclosure, I am one half of Red Dot Repair, an independent Leica technician who still works on Digital equipment.
This isn't trying to be an ad or anything but I advertise this service on my website: https://www.reddotrepair.com/digital-cla

I know many independent techs don't work on Digital M so very little information about this is published on the internet. But I promise you this is very simple and possible.
Hope this info helps.

On 7/3/2022 at 9:03 AM, yukosteel said:

For some cases even official CLA doesn't always work to clean all the dust.

I sent one M10 to Leica USA for repair (which they did excellent) and CLA, and got it back with same dust particle in viewfinder front window and note "some dust particles could not be removed".

Well, yes, that particle was not under the glass of top cover, but under first glass element of the viewfinder. It required removing of electronic board above the viewfinder and a small plastic frame to get access. Took me 15 min to clean. And the second spot shown on picture is a dried moisture drop on the inner side of the top cover window - was easy clean as well. So I'm guessing Leica USA really has lots of work, and it's not always possible to clean things perfectly.

For such cases it's useful to know how to clean dust by your own. From the other side, such minor dust particles are purely cosmetic and should not cause troubles, unless camera is used in very humid environment and not properly stored, which may lead to fungus development from organic dust particle.

 

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Edited December 19, 2023 by k918

[paulleica]

The dust usually sits under the cover glass of the viewfinder. The repair is really very simple. I have already done this with my M10. It takes less than 10 minutes. Here are the instructions:

 

[yukosteel]

On 12/19/2023 at 3:50 PM, k918 said:

The top cover has a piece of glass that protects the viewfinder, but directly behind that, there is a black plastic trim piece. Under it is the "front optic" of the viewfinder assembly. It is held in on both sides by an adhesive. You can use a sharp knife and free this adhesive to remove that optic. After that, those dust particles are accessible for cleaning. I can see how that is more invasive than the average user is comfortable with but it is utterly unacceptable that Leica themselves wouldn't go that far. At the bottom of this post I attached a photo of a Digital M with fungus and dust inside every optic of the viewfinder. This was before cleaning. But you can see the strip of adhesive on each side.

Thank you for sharing extra details on further cleaning steps, it is definitely very useful for photo community to know more about how to deal with relatively simple DIY instead of waiting for months of official Leica CLA. Perhaps I didn't make it clear enough in last post, but I managed to clean both spots before posting details, but thanks anyway for your great hints - they will help others!

It's a pity to see that overall quality of official service is going down, pushed by market changes and perhaps many other reasons we don't know about. Now when my M10 is out of warranty it is often more reasonable to solve minor questions locally instead of dealing with official support - much quicker and often with better results.

Edited December 23, 2023 by yukosteel

[bherman01545]

Perhaps I've been lucky, but I've never encountered dust in the VF or rangefinder assembly, but there are a few things that contribute to the ingress of dust.

1.) DO NOT, under any circumstances use compressed Air (a.k.a) DustOff, as it can actually blow dust particles into the camera.

2.) I use a Static Master or camel's hair brush to clean dust off of the outside of the camera

3.) I use a good blower bulb such as a Zeeion Blower Bulb to blow the remaining dust off of the camera

4.) I use primarily Billingham Bags, which are not too 'fuzzy' inside and are fairly well-sealed from the outside elements

That said, if you tend to photograph or change lenses in dusty places, there is probably no getting around the dust issue.

-Brad

[boboleica]

I was fortunate to acquire a used M10 at quite a discount because the seller noted 'very heavy dust inside the viewfinder'.

It really took only a few minutes to resolve this:

1. Remove base plate, battery and SD card
2. Remove two Torx T-6 screws, one on each side, evident as the only screws
3. Carefully loosen the top plate up, do not force anything as there are two ribbon cables as mentioned
4. Remove the top ribbon cable with a spudger
5. Remove the back ribbon cable with silicone tipped tweezers or just use your fingers to be honest, there is no locking mechanism as far as I can tell - just do not kink/bend these ribbon cables
6. The top plate is now separated and you can simply clean all the elements on the top plate as well as on the viewfinder itself
7. Reattach the cables
8. Put the top plate back on and be careful to ensure the weather seal is properly seated - I just placed the top cover on and slightly pressed the seal into place where necessary
9. Screws back in (obvious but short screw in battery compartment, long screw on other side)
10. Enjoy your sparkling, crystal clear viewfinder with zero dust

I have to say, I was absolutely blown away that there are only two screws here - it makes the M10 a very user serviceable camera as you can perform the vertical rangefinder oiling/adjustment as well if necessary. All for free and in minutes rather than waiting months as it seems the service is very slow.

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