Strangest dust on sensor you've ever heard

[nek724]

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How can I explain this one.. hear me out, so I went by the coast to shoot today, and did not swap out lenses, got home to reviewing the photos and noticed a blurry dot at the center top and a little to the right.

 

Alright, usually I know how to spot it and clean it. You could find it by using live view and stop down to f16 and focus to the closest and see it better, and usually blowing it out in the sensor cleaning mode and you're good unless it's sticky of course. I did few blows with the pump and also didn't see anything on the sensor. I fiddled with it some more and did zooming in on live view and found it. At first I thought it's on the lens, and made me look through the lens with a light thinking it's dust there, but nope. I tried another lens thinking there's no way I'll see it and I do. So it's on the sensor.

 

Here's the funny part, so ultimately I noticed that by zooming in the frame during live view at the second zoom I see it best. But what's really strange is that when I tilt the m11 up the dot goes down, when I tilt down the dot goes up. Same with left and right, it goes the opposite direction. In the end, I noticed that it actually stays within a rectangle invisible frame how ever I move the body. Never seen this before!

 

I didn't even own it for long. I'm not look forward to getting it shipped away for cleaning for few months yet.

Edited August 22, 2024 by nek724

[Pieter12]

Have you looked at the images on a monitor, not the camera screen?

[fenykepesz]

what about a spider web with a tiny little spider or a dust particle dangling from it in your camera ?

[nek724]

7 hours ago, Pieter12 said:

Have you looked at the images on a monitor, not the camera screen?

Not yet, I'm away, but it's present on a clear blue sky photo.

 

3 hours ago, fenykepesz said:

what about a spider web with a tiny little spider or a dust particle dangling from it in your camera ?

🤣 no, the sensor is CLEAN as far as I can see. I've only change lens in a desk at home and not outside yet. I've saw dust twice, but blew it out easy with pump.  I should do a video it should show I'm not joking 😔 I've never seen this.

[pedaes]

8 hours ago, nek724 said:

I'm not look forward to getting it shipped away for cleaning

I suggest you invest in some quality sensor cleaning kit and clean it yourself.

The factory use a gel pad but you may also need some wet cleaning swabs of the correct size. There are loads of YouTube videos and in my opinion it is more about confidence than skill. Also remember you are not cleaning the actual sensor, but the cover glass. 

As a very low risk option, I have found the static brush from Visible Dust effective if oil spots aren't the problem.https://visibledust.com/products/arctic-butterfly-724s-super-bright-sensor-brush-for-cleaning-sensor-of-digital-cameras/

Edited August 22, 2024 by pedaes

[jaapv]

Or on the rear element of the lens? 

[nek724]

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48 minutes ago, pedaes said:

I suggest you invest in some quality sensor cleaning kit and clean it yourself.

The factory use a gel pad but you may also need some wet cleaning swabs of the correct size. There are loads of YouTube videos and in my opinion it is more about confidence than skill. Also remember you are not cleaning the actual sensor, but the cover glass. 

As a very low risk option, I have found the static brush from Visible Dust effective if oil spots aren't the problem.https://visibledust.com/products/arctic-butterfly-724s-super-bright-sensor-brush-for-cleaning-sensor-of-digital-cameras/

I'll have a look into it later, thanks, but I really hope I don't have to touch the sensor if I don't have to 😬

 

28 minutes ago, jaapv said:

Or on the rear element of the lens? 

That's what I thought, I saw a few tiny speck of dust, but again, even after I changed to another lens, it's still present at the top center a little to the right of the frame. So definitely not on the lens.

Edited August 22, 2024 by nek724

[evikne]

Maybe one of these?

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[jaapv]

Just give a decent wet clean. That is pretty routine. And post an image..

[nek724]

24 minutes ago, evikne said:

Maybe one of these?

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

😬😬😬😬😬🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

 

23 minutes ago, jaapv said:

Just give a decent wet clean. That is pretty routine. And post an image..

I shall make a video to demonstrate.

[nek724]

Alright here it is. I never uploaded videos to YouTube before but if it's correct you can view only by the link. I didn't make it public. 

 

Correction from what I mentioned above, when I tilt up the dot goes up, down it goes down, left it goes left, and right it goes right.

 

And once more, the sensor and glass is clean from what I can see. All funny until it's not. Don't want to sent it away for clean for who knows how long. Guess I should also let Leica know about it already.

 

 

Edited August 22, 2024 by nek724

[hmzimelka]

Keep in mind the zoomed image during live view is digitally stabilised...  The stabilisation at least explains the movement of the dot. What the dot is would probably need closer inspection on the sensor. Do you have a magnifying loop?

[nek724]

26 minutes ago, hmzimelka said:

Keep in mind the zoomed image during live view is digitally stabilised...  The stabilisation at least explains the movement of the dot. What the dot is would probably need closer inspection on the sensor. Do you have a magnifying loop?

That explains a lot. And no I don't have one.

 

After reviewing the photo and comparing with the live view, I realized where the dot was initially in my photo and where the dot is from the live view is not the same anymore. So after few blows with the pump, it's gone but other dots appeared.

 

For someone who shot with the fixed lens x100v where the sensor is always clean to getting back into interchangeable lens system again, this is quite annoying needing to keep sensor clean. I'm careful usually but not enough still. Now, there's multiple dots in the corners from faint to dark solid ones and not coming off. I really don't want to touch it but will have to invest in cleaning it my self.. 😬😮‍💨

[Pieter12]

Really, I would check the images on a monitor before doing anything drastic. It could well be the camera’s screen that has a problem, not the sensor. If you don’t have access to a computer, can you use an app to view the images on a smartphone?

Edited August 22, 2024 by Pieter12

[jaapv]

M FAQ…

[edwardpychan]

20 hours ago, nek724 said:

How can I explain this one.. hear me out, so I went by the coast to shoot today, and did not swap out lenses, got home to reviewing the photos and noticed a blurry dot at the center top and a little to the right.

 

Alright, usually I know how to spot it and clean it. You could find it by using live view and stop down to f16 and focus to the closest and see it better, and usually blowing it out in the sensor cleaning mode and you're good unless it's sticky of course. I did few blows with the pump and also didn't see anything on the sensor. I fiddled with it some more and did zooming in on live view and found it. At first I thought it's on the lens, and made me look through the lens with a light thinking it's dust there, but nope. I tried another lens thinking there's no way I'll see it and I do. So it's on the sensor.

 

Here's the funny part, so ultimately I noticed that by zooming in the frame during live view at the second zoom I see it best. But what's really strange is that when I tilt the m11 up the dot goes down, when I tilt down the dot goes up. Same with left and right, it goes the opposite direction. In the end, I noticed that it actually stays within a rectangle invisible frame how ever I move the body. Never seen this before!

 

I didn't even own it for long. I'm not look forward to getting it shipped away for cleaning for few months yet.

The dot moving in the opposite direction of the camera's tilt is not normal. Have you contacted Leica support? Maybe it's a manufacturing defect? Try a wet cleaning method, but if that doesn't work, it's probably best to get it checked out by a pro.

[Maarten]

Am I correct looking at your video and see that the camera is focussed on the wall? 
Hope you checked if the wall is free from blemishes?!

[fenykepesz]

what about a particle dangling on a sort of semi-elastic thread or web just above the sensor surface, quasi hanging in air ?

[Mute-on]

As I understand it, the accepted method to test for sensor dust is to take a photo of a clear sky at infinity with the lens fully stopped down (~f22). Then review on a clean computer screen. Any dust will appear as fairly obvious opaque spots. This is exactly what the dealer did to test an M262 I was inspecting. Spots were found, sensor was cleaned (by them), retest and no spots. None I’ve seen since either (almost 12 months).

You are wasting your time searching for dust on the sensor if you haven’t reviewed the photo on a computer screen. 

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[nek724]

13 hours ago, Maarten said:

Am I correct looking at your video and see that the camera is focussed on the wall? 
Hope you checked if the wall is free from blemishes?!

It was set at f16, focused at 0.7m. The wall being around a little closer than 0.7m and with f16 so it would seem like it was focused to the wall but you could obviously see the one dot moving with my motion, right? If it's correct from the comment #12, it's doing this because of the digital stabilizer.

 

 

I understand seeing the actual photo on a computer is ideal, but it's pretty obvious when you move around with the camera and in live view you see dots. Some might suggest it come from the back screen, but during zoomed in you could track it so it's not the back monitor at fault for sure. It is just dust/dirt. After using the air blower a few times now, I think I should never use it too close as it press whatever that's floating in the air to be pressed to the surface so that's why I am actually seeing more dots in the corners now and a few that's not moving at all. So use the air blower at least 3-4 inch away to get a blast and not intense air in an area, but that was what I was trying to do to blow out stuck dirt.

 

I am away at the moment so can't get my hand on any cleaning products, but you guys think by snapping the shutter few times it would shake off the dust? I have no hope since the blower is not moving it anymore, but I'll pray.