Cleaning advice from Leica

[SrMi]

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 A statically charged brush (Arctic butterfly) also takes dust out of the lens chamber, however it can cause smears if encountering fluids on the sensor.

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[kiwidad]

Something that seems to be overlooked is dust between the back of the lens and the shutter. Unless you have an SL series or you don’t turn your m off for lens changes, no dust gets on the sensor itself during a lens change. Logically dust will build up in that area and air motion from shutter will cause air movement and draw air and thus any dust present onto the sensor. When I first got my m11 dust drove me crazy so I put my theory to practice. A few puffs to dislodge any dust and then let it settle with a lens back on before a quick puff on the sensor seems to have worked miracles. I think you little vacuum device would be well suited to cleaning this area!

[ALScott]

On 10/13/2025 at 7:21 AM, SrMi said:

 A statically charged brush (Arctic butterfly) also takes dust out of the lens chamber, however it can cause smears if encountering fluids on the sensor.

I bought an arctic butterfly from suggestions here and it was a long time before I needed to use it on my SL3 but when I did it made smears all over the sensor.  It was an unholy nightmare.  I was leaving for a trip and did this the night before.  The smears were truly unbelievable and alarming.  Luckily I had ordered some wet cleaning swabs and I had to use almost all of them to get the smears off.  Waaayyy more "cleaning" than I ever wanted to do.  I have assumed there was some residue on the arctic butterfly when I received it but this post makes me wonder.  Still, I am not going to use it on anything for fear of the same smearing.  I tried to return it but was outside of the return window because I ordered it for future need.  So it's over $100 down the toilet.

[SrMi]

1 hour ago, ALScott said:

I bought an arctic butterfly from suggestions here and it was a long time before I needed to use it on my SL3 but when I did it made smears all over the sensor.  It was an unholy nightmare.  I was leaving for a trip and did this the night before.  The smears were truly unbelievable and alarming.  Luckily I had ordered some wet cleaning swabs and I had to use almost all of them to get the smears off.  Waaayyy more "cleaning" than I ever wanted to do.  I have assumed there was some residue on the arctic butterfly when I received it but this post makes me wonder.  Still, I am not going to use it on anything for fear of the same smearing.  I tried to return it but was outside of the return window because I ordered it for future need.  So it's over $100 down the toilet.

I have been using several Arctic Butterflies, and the only issues/smears occurred when there was fluid residue built up on the sensor, especially in its corners. The fluid is sometimes hard to spot, the smears are not :).

I use Arctic Butterfly if blowing does not help, but before wet cleaning. It has been a very long time since I had smears caused by the brush, but I still never use it unless I have my wet cleaning kit with me.

[LocalHero1953]

1 hour ago, ALScott said:

I bought an arctic butterfly from suggestions here and it was a long time before I needed to use it on my SL3 but when I did it made smears all over the sensor.  It was an unholy nightmare.  I was leaving for a trip and did this the night before.  The smears were truly unbelievable and alarming.  Luckily I had ordered some wet cleaning swabs and I had to use almost all of them to get the smears off.  Waaayyy more "cleaning" than I ever wanted to do.  I have assumed there was some residue on the arctic butterfly when I received it but this post makes me wonder.  Still, I am not going to use it on anything for fear of the same smearing.  I tried to return it but was outside of the return window because I ordered it for future need.  So it's over $100 down the toilet.

If the sensor hadn't been cleaned for a while, I think it more likely the smears were already on the sensor. I guess there's always a risk of QC failings at Arctic Butterfly, but I've never had your experience (I've had two AB brush heads). I use a prophylactic blower regularly, Arctic Butterfly when spots are visible in an image, and wet clean rarely.

Edited 23 hours ago by LocalHero1953

[Derbyshire Man]

2 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

If the sensor hadn't been cleaned for a while, I think it more likely the smears were already on the sensor. I guess there's always a risk of QC failings at Arctic Butterfly, but I've never had your experience (I've had two AB brush heads). I use a prophylactic blower regularly, Arctic Butterfly when spots are visible in an image, and wet clean rarely.

I cleaned one of mine recently with a charged sensor brush and caught the metal surround of the sensor, this picking some oil which was then deposited across the sensor on the next sweep (wet cleaned ensued when I reached home at the end of my trip with camera hobbled - it was lower left corner which meant smears in every sky!). It may well be that the arctic butterfly did the same but then due to rotation did a ‘skates on ice’ deposition of oil across the sensor?

[Derbyshire Man]

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9 minutes ago, SrMi said:

It has been a very long time since I had smears caused by the brush, but I still never use it unless I have my wet cleaning kit with me.

This was what I learnt!

[LocalHero1953]

1 minute ago, Derbyshire Man said:

I cleaned one of mine recently with a charged sensor brush and caught the metal surround of the sensor, this picking some oil which was then deposited across the sensor on the next sweep (wet cleaned ensued when I reached home at the end of my trip with camera hobbled - it was lower left corner which meant smears in every sky!). It may well be that the arctic butterfly did the same but then due to rotation did a ‘skates on ice’ deposition of oil across the sensor?

I'm surprised there was oil there, but what do I know? What camera was it?

What do you mean by 'rotation'? The Arctic Butterfly brush should not be used on the sensor powered-up.

When I'm away from my full cleaning kit, I only use the blower, simply to avoid what happened to you: smears from contact cleaning which you can't get rid of till you're home. 

[SrMi]

5 minutes ago, Derbyshire Man said:

I cleaned one of mine recently with a charged sensor brush and caught the metal surround of the sensor, this picking some oil which was then deposited across the sensor on the next sweep (wet cleaned ensued when I reached home at the end of my trip with camera hobbled - it was lower left corner which meant smears in every sky!). It may well be that the arctic butterfly did the same but then due to rotation did a ‘skates on ice’ deposition of oil across the sensor?

Once a brush touches the oil that sometimes resides in the sensor's corners, it needs a good cleaning. I always avoid coming too close to the corners when using a brush.

[Derbyshire Man]

4 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

I'm surprised there was oil there, but what do I know? What camera was it?

What do you mean by 'rotation'? The Arctic Butterfly brush should not be used on the sensor powered-up.

When I'm away from my full cleaning kit, I only use the blower, simply to avoid what happened to you: smears from contact cleaning which you can't get rid of till you're home. 

M11D, I’ve never had an artic butterfly so I assumed it rotated but I take it from your reply only when charging itself?

[LocalHero1953]

Just now, Derbyshire Man said:

M11D, I’ve never had an artic butterfly so I assumed it rotated but I take it from your reply only when charging itself?

Yes: the motor gives it a high frequency 'shake', which charges it with static. You then stroke the charged brush across the sensor once or twice. It seems to work!

[Derbyshire Man]

6 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

Yes: the motor gives it a high frequency 'shake', which charges it with static. You then stroke the charged brush across the sensor once or twice. It seems to work!

I do that with a normal sensor brush an a Giotto rocket blower. My batteries last longer😂

[SrMi]

24 minutes ago, Derbyshire Man said:

I do that with a normal sensor brush an a Giotto rocket blower. My batteries last longer😂

The Arctic butterfly comes with a built-in flashlight so that you can see in the dark chamber and avoid touching the edges. You can also operate it with one hand. The AAA batteries last a long time, but your solution works as well.

[LocalHero1953]

I bought my AB some years ago now, but with it I bought an illuminated loupe (like this but without the case and filter), which shows all the dust and marks I can't see with the naked eye. Very handy for the rare deep cleaning sessions.

[SrMi]

27 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

I bought my AB some years ago now, but with it I bought an illuminated loupe (like this but without the case and filter), which shows all the dust and marks I can't see with the naked eye. Very handy for the rare deep cleaning sessions.

+1 for the usefulness of the loupe. I do not wait until my images are spoiled by dust. Instead, I use the loupe to preemptively blow the dust away.

I prefer this model: link.