Cleaning advice from Leica

[jaapv]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Quite That is why the Green Clean system is such a good  one as It vacuums the dust off the sensor without touching it. As per the instructions that you quote. . The compressed air is not used on the sensor but creates the suction. 

[jankap]

15 hours ago, lct said:

The Green Clean vacuum cleaner sounds interesting though.

 

+1

[billhart]

jaapv, do you use the Green Clean vacuum exclusively....do you carry it to Crete?

[kiwidad]

On 9/5/2025 at 4:14 AM, jaapv said:

The ideal system is the little vacuum cleaner by Green Clean. It sucks the dust out without touching the sensor. 
 

 

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!

So when you suck air off where does the air replacing it come from?

You are not creating a vacuum so it come from somewhere and how will it not have dust in it?

[kiwidad]

On 9/5/2025 at 9:44 AM, jaapv said:

Actually the Green Clean air is supposed to be lab-quality pure, but I never put it to the test. Sucking the dust out works perfectly. 

Unless I am mistaken non of the air in that can actually touches the sensor. By blowing past the non suction end it draws air up the suction tube. 

[SrMi]

11 hours ago, billhart said:

jaapv, do you use the Green Clean vacuum exclusively....do you carry it to Crete?

I do not think compressed air can travel on planes.

[Kiwimac]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

1 hour ago, kiwidad said:

So when you suck air off where does the air replacing it come from?

You are not creating a vacuum so it come from somewhere and how will it not have dust in it?

That looks useful. However I don’t think it’s sold in NZ. 
 

At least I haven’t managed to find it. The manufacturers online shop doesn’t ship outside Europe. 

[jaapv]

6 hours ago, kiwidad said:

So when you suck air off where does the air replacing it come from?

You are not creating a vacuum so it come from somewhere and how will it not have dust in it?

The air replacing it comes from the sensor with the dust. It is drawn by the air stream that flows into the little dust catching cylinder in front. 
Basic aerodynamics. 
As a child did you never spray fixative on your crayon drawings by blowing into the same type of gizmo? 

[jaapv]

5 hours ago, SrMi said:

I do not think compressed air can travel on planes.

No I don't carry this traveling. I have a blower and swabs. 

[SudaliuS]

I noticed this feature: if there is a protective curtain in front of the sensor, like on the M11, then problems with dust on the sensor occur much more often than if there was no curtain at all. I have owned the SL2s for several months and was initially upset that it did not have a protective curtain from dust. Now I am glad about it, because much less dust settles. And if it is there, it is easily removed with a blower.

[lct]

1 hour ago, SudaliuS said:

I noticed this feature: if there is a protective curtain in front of the sensor, like on the M11, then problems with dust on the sensor occur much more often than if there was no curtain at all.

Different experience here. Dust protection does not bring more apparent dust to my M11, somewhat expectedly. I remove it only when i use some uncoded lenses or adapters then. YMMV.

[Yoyoid]

On 9/7/2025 at 8:55 PM, SrMi said:

I do not think compressed air can travel on planes.

Actually, I believe that compressed air is the only kind that travels on planes

[Yoyoid]

Haven't tried a vacuum product, but sometimes a mote becomes stuck to the sensor surface. For those times, and if you don't want to resort to a full sensor swab wet cleaning, I've had good luck with a sensor gel stick. It's a slightly adhesive, firm cube of gel on a stick that will grab hold of the foreign matter and retrieve it without residue. Typically, all that is required is to lightly touch the corner of the gel cube to the invader. 

[kiwidad]

On 9/8/2025 at 3:39 AM, jaapv said:

The air replacing it comes from the sensor with the dust. It is drawn by the air stream that flows into the little dust catching cylinder in front. 
Basic aerodynamics. 
As a child did you never spray fixative on your crayon drawings by blowing into the same type of gizmo? 

So where does the air come from that replaces the air with sensor dust then? You suck air out of a box and air replaces it from somewhere!

[jaapv]

The compressed air comes from the can, runs by the suction hose and drags the air from there into the dust collection can. What do you mean by "replaces" Do you ask yourself that with a vacuum cleaner? From the atmosphere around the sensor of course- you do not push the suction bit hermetically against the sensor - you hover over it. 

[charlesphoto99]

If using air, either with a manual puffer or compressed (in very short bursts), hold the camera upside down. Any dust should float and settle down, away from the sensor and interior. 

[marchyman]

4 hours ago, jaapv said:

The compressed air comes from the can, runs by the suction hose and drags the air from there into the dust collection can. What do you mean by "replaces" Do you ask yourself that with a vacuum cleaner? From the atmosphere around the sensor of course- you do not push the suction bit hermetically against the sensor - you hover over it. 

I think his point is that whatever air is sucked out of the camera body is replaced by air in the environment. Who is to say that the replacement air is dust free?  If it isn't dust free you could be replacing old dust with new.  I have no clue if this is a reasonable worry.

[jaapv]

No place but a professional clean room is dust-free. If you live in a reasonably clean house, this is a minor problem, if any at all. It is not as if this mini vacuum sucks cubic feet of air in. The nerdy solution is an oldie. Use the bathroom and run the shower beforehand.