Sensor cleaning and lollipops - merged thread.

[LocalHero1953]

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2 hours ago, jaapv said:

In that case I can only say you are the first whom I know of. May I suggest that the smearing came from oily spots on the sensor? That has been known to happen without people noticing. The smear will be on subsequent sensors as well. I fail to see how the material of the stick itself can smear, being a pure silicone gel. 
The factory recommendation is to clean the blob with Isopropyl Alcohol or a grease-dissolving sensor cleaning fluid in that case 

You may suggest that. But I have been cleaning sensors long enough to recognise the difference.

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[250swb]

2 hours ago, jaapv said:

May I suggest that the smearing came from oily spots on the sensor? That has been known to happen without people noticing. The smear will be on subsequent sensors as well. I fail to see how the material of the stick itself can smear, being a pure silicone gel. 
 

That was exactly my thought as well, the OP has simply spread oil that was on the sensor and has somehow or other automatically blamed the gel stick. So it shouldn't be a surprise wet cleaning got it off. But now he needs to clean his gel stick. Those are typical liquid spots, not gel, they are similar to the marks you'd get if you let any liquid splash on the sensor and left it to dry (or blotted a drop of oil), just like the spots you'd get changing lenses on an m43 camera in blustery rain (they don't have a shutter curtain to protect the sensor). When you've seen it on other cameras that are more prone to it and understood the cause you can identify it again and again.

Edited March 8 by 250swb

[jaapv]

Simple solution- Smear Away

[SrMi]

6 hours ago, jaapv said:

In that case I can only say you are the first whom I know of. May I suggest that the smearing came from oily spots on the sensor? That has been known to happen without people noticing. The smear will be on subsequent sensors as well. I fail to see how the material of the stick itself can smear, being a pure silicone gel. 
The factory recommendation is to clean the blob with Isopropyl Alcohol or a grease-dissolving sensor cleaning fluid in that case 

I had a bad experience with gel sticks as well. Switched to swabs, no issues. The picture in #22 does not look like smears to me.

I would not recommend gel sticks. I guess OP would neither.

[jaapv]

They are quite practical to remove a blob when in a shoot or traveling, situations in which wet clean is unpractical. But I agree, they should be used with care. I would not recommend them for routine cleaning. Blower + swabs or vacuum with wet/dry swabs are more suitable. 

[geoffc60]

Anyone used the Arctic Butterfly?

[LocalHero1953]

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13 minutes ago, geoffc60 said:

Anyone used the Arctic Butterfly?

Yes - it's what I use when the rocket blower doesn't remove something.

[SrMi]

56 minutes ago, geoffc60 said:

Anyone used the Arctic Butterfly?

Yes, after trying the blower first. Wet cleaning only if Arctic Butterfly fails to remove the spots.

Edited March 8 by SrMi

[Herr Barnack]

On 3/6/2025 at 7:40 AM, 250swb said:

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

The Summicron 35mm V4 is called the"King of Bokeh." 

With bated breath I await the coronation of the "King of Haze" lens.

Edited March 8 by Herr Barnack

[250swb]

2 hours ago, geoffc60 said:

Anyone used the Arctic Butterfly?

All the cleaning options aren’t based on only one thing miraculously working as many people seem to think.
 

There needs to be a backup as the OP found. I have an Artic Butterfly and it works very well, unless you think it must me dust but it turns out to be oil, in which case it makes a big mess and spreads it around the sensor.
 

Oil and grease deposits decline over time, so on new cameras assume it’s oil first and do a wet clean the first few times, then move to a ‘dry’ method, and the best is a gel stick ( and if like the Op found it really is oil you already have your wet cleaning kit), then maybe an Arctic Butterfly, and last for being pathetically pointless a Rocket Blower.

Edited March 8 by 250swb

[earleygallery]

39 minutes ago, Herr Barnack said:

The Summicron 35mm V4 is called the"King of Bokeh." 

With bated breath I await the coronation of the "King of Haze" lens.

Hazy beers seem to be all the rage now, we used to reject a pint if it was served hazy. 

Sell hazy lenses to the hipsters as ‘craft’ lenses for double the price they will snap them up!

[jaapv]

And don't forget Pollen - nice and sticky and sometimes greasy as well. And - I found when I used surgical microscope during sensor cleaning - years ago and quite over the top, but educational - just looking at the sensor to check would produce  dandruff, broken bits of eyelash, shedded epidermis, sweat drops, etc. All fatty. Basically only a robot in a clean room can properly clean a sensor - provided it does not scatter oil and grease...😅

 

38 minutes ago, 250swb said:

All the cleaning options aren’t based on only one thing miraculously working as many people seem to think.
 

There needs to be a backup as the OP found. I have an Artic Butterfly and it works very well, unless you think it must me dust but it turns out to be oil, in which case it makes a big mess and spreads it around the sensor.
 

Oil and grease deposits decline over time, so on new cameras assume it’s oil first and do a wet clean the first few times, then move to a ‘dry’ method, and the best is a gel stick ( and if like the Op found it really is oil you already have your wet cleaning kit), then maybe an Arctic Butterfly, and last for being pathetically pointless a Rocket Blower.

But do blow off sharp and hard "micro-rocks" before you do anything.

[250swb]

Yes changing lenses during the high pollen season, and especially tree pollen, can cover the sensor in sticky pollen. It’s not a reason to avoid changing lenses, but a reason to know how to deal with it.

Edited March 8 by 250swb

[earleygallery]

You really need one body per lens. I’m surprised that Leica doesn’t promote this idea.

[Herr Barnack]

20 minutes ago, earleygallery said:

You really need one body per lens. I’m surprised that Leica doesn’t promote this idea.

Don't give them ideas.  

They might decide to start building M lenses with M bodies attached to them - every time you buy a new M lens, you would also have to buy a new M body. 😳

Edited March 8 by Herr Barnack

[ronaldc]

8 hours ago, 250swb said:

That was exactly my thought as well, the OP has simply spread oil that was on the sensor and has somehow or other automatically blamed the gel stick. So it shouldn't be a surprise wet cleaning got it off. But now he needs to clean his gel stick. Those are typical liquid spots, not gel, they are similar to the marks you'd get if you let any liquid splash on the sensor and left it to dry (or blotted a drop of oil), just like the spots you'd get changing lenses on an m43 camera in blustery rain (they don't have a shutter curtain to protect the sensor). When you've seen it on other cameras that are more prone to it and understood the cause you can identify it again and again.

this was most definitely not the case, my M11 is only 2 months old so no oil was on it, i put my lens on it the day i bought it and never took it off, i noticed alot of dust on the sensor when i was shooting a landscape at f16, thats when i went about trying to clean it, i did research and found the Gel Stick recommend by Leica Australia Youtube video about cleaning, i used the exact one. it seems the sticky glue must have come off the pad and onto the Gel stick, then that was deposited onto my sensor, I tried the VSGO swab kit and it didn't remove them, so I went out and bought some Eclipse E2 fluid and that took it off after 3 goes. I used 20mm swab for more precision also.

Edited March 8 by ronaldc

[250swb]

1 hour ago, ronaldc said:

this was most definitely not the case, my M11 is only 2 months old so no oil was on it, i put my lens on it the day i bought it and never took it off, i noticed alot of dust on the sensor when i was shooting a landscape at f16, thats when i went about trying to clean it, i did research and found the Gel Stick recommend by Leica Australia Youtube video about cleaning, i used the exact one. it seems the sticky glue must have come off the pad and onto the Gel stick, then that was deposited onto my sensor, I tried the VSGO swab kit and it didn't remove them, so I went out and bought some Eclipse E2 fluid and that took it off after 3 goes. I used 20mm swab for more precision also.

You actually confirm the diagnosis, the gel stick did nothing because you were using it to blot oil and not dust, you tried a general swab kit for dust but that usually won't work for removing oil. But there are cleaning fluids made specifically to remove oil, which I guess your Eclipse 2 did. So again, there is no reason to suspect the gel stick, you are misinterpreting the problem.

You say your camera was two months old and I'll have to say it again, new cameras are the ones that spit out oil, oil doesn't come from anywhere other that from inside the camera. Changing lenses or not has nothing to do with the shutter spitting out oil.

Edited March 8 by 250swb

[ronaldc]

1 hour ago, 250swb said:

You actually confirm the diagnosis, the gel stick did nothing because you were using it to blot oil and not dust, you tried a general swab kit for dust but that usually won't work for removing oil. But there are cleaning fluids made specifically to remove oil, which I guess your Eclipse 2 did. So again, there is no reason to suspect the gel stick, you are misinterpreting the problem.

You say your camera was two months old and I'll have to say it again, new cameras are the ones that spit out oil, oil doesn't come from anywhere other that from inside the camera. Changing lenses or not has nothing to do with the shutter spitting out oil.

the spots i posed in first photo came from after using the gel stick, those spots were not there before hand, all those spots came from the gel stick, 100% a residue came off the gel stick onto the sensor.  I used the general swab kit after the gel stick left residue on the sensor to try and remove it. which failed and then i proceed to use the Eclipse which did remove it.  

Edited March 9 by ronaldc

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[ronaldc]

here's a photo i found from someone else who had residue come off the gel stick onto their sensor, if you examine the residue and color you will see its the exact same that was left on my sensor..

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[250swb]

@ronaldc Let me explain again. New cameras especially can sometimes spit oil from the shutter mechanism, and it's a traditional problem with Leica's. Yours is a new camera. I guess you saw some 'dust' in your photos and got a gel stick to remove it. But the 'dust' was a combination of tiny oil spots and dust, or maybe just oil. On using your gel stick it picks up the oil and spreads it around on the sensor because it is made to pick up dust, it will not absorb oil.

So you now see streaks and spots from the oil being spread. You try a cleaning fluid that isn't very good at removing oil and then try one that is good at removing oil, this is a thing photographers discover, they need two types of cleaning fluid.

Then you decide to blame the gel stick not picking up the oil or spreading it, I don't know what you are trying to blame it for but try blaming the camera instead. Yes using the gel stick caused the oil to spread but your reasoning is as if you drive your car into a wall and you blame the wall. If other photographers are also blaming gels sticks in the same way they are also not thinking things through in a logical sequence and they also never knew in advance they had oil on their sensor.