Sensor cleaning and lollipops - merged thread.

[ronaldc]

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Hi, so I have alot of dust on the sensor, I was just wondering about Sensor Swabs, some people say one side should be wet and one side dry, and others say both sides should be Wet.

 

what do you guys do ?

 

before I attempt this I wanted to ask here first, as I am far from Leica Dealer, and I do not want to be without my camera for any amount of time, I choose to do this myself. 

 

thanks

-R

[erl]

It is relatively easy. Make sure you use the correct size swab. ie. The width of the swab equals the width of the sensor. First, use a rocket blower or similar to blow loose dust off the sensor. Second, place a few drops of the cleaning fluid on the swab. It will soak through to the other side anyway. Make a firm single action swipe across the full face of the sensor, lengthwise, flip and make a return swipe so that the other side of the swab is used. Theoretically, that is it! Now make  photograph of a plain bit of sky, OOF, and examine the file on your computer, at 100% mag. to see if any specks remain. If some are still there, repeat the process until you are satisfied. Job done.

[Stevejack]

One thing you could try first is a lens pen. I use these rather than a swab most of the time, the rocket blower rarely gets all of the dust but wet cleaning is a bit of a pain.  

The lens pen has a little felt pad on the bottom, it easily dislodges most little bits of dust on the sensor which weren't removed with the blower. 90% of the time this is all I need. I also use a magnifying loupe like this one to see what I'm doing;

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If the specks are wet rather than dry you can end up smearing them with the lens pen, but that's when you pull out the swabs. Like I say though, I very rarely need to swab the sensor.

Edited March 6 by Stevejack

[Chris W]

I have done the 'erl' method several times on expensive cameras (inc M10) and it has worked every time.

Sometimes you have to blow then swab a few times to get the most stubborn dirt off.

[250swb]

Well first read the instructions in the manual on how to open the shutter for sensor cleaning. If wet cleaning (for oil or sticky dust) use a swab one size down, it doesn't matter if you have to make a couple of passes (but one pass per side of the swab), but a smaller swab gets into the corners better. Do not soak the swab, the use one drop of fluid, two at most. If dry cleaning (for loose dust) use a gel pad (like an Eyelead), follow the simple instructions and roll the pad onto the sensor and lift it off, don't stick it straight down flush and yank it up. If using air (for very loose dust) don't use a can of compressed air but a Rocket blower, but the problem with air is that you don't know where the dust has gone, it may still be in the camera.

Generally speaking gone are the days when Leica shutters spurted out oil when new, as with the M9, so a dry cleaning option is best to start with. The gentlest and most likely to remove dust away from the sensor is a gel pad. You are only cleaning the cover glass, not the sensor itself, and photographers have been doing it for a couple of decades now and I'm sure you'll feel better knowing you can easily do it yourself.

[LocalHero1953]

Each time I pick the camera and a lens or two to go out with, I use the blower on the sensor. I haven't had to use a swab in years. I have the Arctic Butterfly as a back-up, but haven't used that for a long time either.

Edited March 6 by LocalHero1953

[ronaldc]

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Thanks guys for all the tips, I ordered in a gel stick from Pentax and a vsgo swab kit. Will try the gel stick first and use swabs as a last resort thanks 🙏 

[jaapv]

Make sure to use a blower on the sensor first( opening down) to remove any loose particles from the surface. If you use a gel stick or swab , a mini grain of sand can damage the coating of the sensor. There is a “how to” in the M FAQ. 

[jaapv]

3 hours ago, LocalHero1953 said:

Each time I pick the camera and a lens or two to go out with, I use the blower on the sensor. I haven't had to use a swab in years. I have the Arctic Butterfly as a back-up, but haven't used that for a long time either.

How do you remove the haze that will collect over time on the sensor? Your wife will tell you that the windows need cleaning from pollution like industrial smoke, exhaust (Diesel), microdust, etc every few weeks and your sensor glass is not exempt. I give my sensors a wash twice a year, irrespective of dust to prevent loss of contrast. People enthuse over the last percent of image quality from their APOs yet forget this aspect. 

[jaapv]

 

[LocalHero1953]

14 minutes ago, jaapv said:

How do you remove the haze that will collect over time on the sensor? Your wife will tell you that the windows need cleaning from pollution like industrial smoke, exhaust (Diesel), microdust, etc every few weeks and your sensor glass is not exempt. I give my sensors a wash twice a year, irrespective of dust to prevent loss of contrast. People enthuse over the last percent of image quality from their APOs yet forget this aspect. 

Don't ask, don't tell. I.e. I don't look for it. Our windows haven't been cleaned either, since building works finished last May.

[250swb]

Haze becomes a 'characteristic' and you'll be raving over it before long and far cheaper than a new old lens.

[Derbyshire Man]

Personally 99% of the time I charge a brush by blowing it with the rocket blower and then very gently run it across the sensor where the static collects the dust, more puffs of the rocket blower to clear the dust of the brush and recharge and then one more gentle wipe for luck.

Obviously not going to work for anything 'stuck' on the sensor.

[jaapv]

4 hours ago, LocalHero1953 said:

Don't ask, don't tell. I.e. I don't look for it. Our windows haven't been cleaned either, since building works finished last May.

Ooooh!  You’d be drummed out of the street over here! 🤣

[kiwidad]

18 hours ago, ronaldc said:

Hi, so I have alot of dust on the sensor, I was just wondering about Sensor Swabs, some people say one side should be wet and one side dry, and others say both sides should be Wet.

 

what do you guys do ?

 

before I attempt this I wanted to ask here first, as I am far from Leica Dealer, and I do not want to be without my camera for any amount of time, I choose to do this myself. 

 

thanks

-R

I fought dust and it felt like the dust was winning ! 
My suggestion is turn the sensor protection on and with an air bile thing blow like crazy all the area you see with the lens off! 
after that do the cleaning. Photosyatems sensor swabs with the non flight friendly solution works very well! The flight friendly in my experience is much harder to get a smear free result with!

I suggest  a filtered blower.

 

since I did this I am finding just a blower seems to be enough to keep sensor clean!  I reckon all that dust introduced by lens changes etc creates a greater opportunity tonattach to sensor after lens attached and sensor is exposed!

 

one other thing, Leica Australia have a great video tutorial and they use what looks like a sticky solstice on a stick which is marketed most places now by Pentax . Can’t say I have been brave nought to try that yet!

[TeleElmar135mm]

vor 5 Stunden schrieb LocalHero1953:

...  Our windows haven't been cleaned ...

... my osx either ...

[marchyman]

5 hours ago, Derbyshire Man said:

Personally 99% of the time I charge a brush by blowing it with the rocket blower and then very gently run it across the sensor where the static collects the dust, more puffs of the rocket blower to clear the dust of the brush and recharge and then one more gentle wipe for luck.

Obviously not going to work for anything 'stuck' on the sensor.

I'm sure I've mentioned this before... I first try the blower, then a sensor brush as you've described, and only then a wet swab.  Usually using the rocket blower is enough.  Rarely do I have to break out the wet swab kit.  Yes, using a wet swab was "scary" the first time. Now the "fear" is down to the level of "pay attention and don't screw up"!

[ronaldc]

Guys this hasn’t resulted good, I used the Pentax gel stick that the guy used in the leica Australia video and it seems to have made it much worse, my fear is elevated 10 fold, have I just removed the coating ? 
 

 

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Edited March 6 by ronaldc

[SrMi]

1 hour ago, ronaldc said:

Guys this hasn’t resulted good, I used the Pentax gel stick that the guy used in the leica Australia video and it seems to have made it much worse, my fear is elevated 10 fold, have I just removed the coating ? 
 

 

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No, you cannot remove the coating that easily. I tried the gel stick and hated it. Maybe they are pieces of gel stick. You need to do a wet clean. I use Visible Dust swabs (correct dimensions) with CMOS Clean liquid.

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[ronaldc]

9 minutes ago, SrMi said:

No, you cannot remove the coating that easily. I tried the gel stick and hated it. Maybe they are pieces of gel stick. You need to do a wet clean. I use Visible Dust swabs (correct dimensions) with CMOS Clean liquid.

I think you are right, must be glue from the gel stick, I have a vsgo 24mm wet clean kit coming tomorrow. I’m praying the marks come off, will never use a gel stick ever again