Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/01/26

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Subject: [Leica] M8 / Digi-Cameras and dust
From: grduprey at mchsi.com (grduprey at mchsi.com)
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:49:08 -0600 (CST)

Frank,

The amount of dust you get is proportional to how many times you change 
lenses.  However, I do not get very much dust at all, and I do change lenses 
quite often.  My practice is to either dust off or blow off dust around the 
lens mount before removing the lens, then use a blower or just blow into the 
shutter chamber, and then mount the new lens.  I realize I'm not a pro who 
has to change lenses quickly, but this works very well for me.  I do a 
cleaning maybe 4 times a year using this method.  Now in really dusty 
environments, even this won't help much, and you need to clean more often.

Gene

----- Original Message -----
From: "Frank Filippone" <red735i at earthlink.net>
To: "Leica Users Group" <lug at leica-users.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 12:00:15 AM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central
Subject: [Leica] M8 / Digi-Cameras  and dust

I took the M8 on a recent 3 week trip.  Within a few days the sensor was
pretty dirty... and of course, I did not bring any cleaning stuff ( my first
digi-camera, so what did I know?).

Bottom line is a lot of images that need to be cleaned, if possible.... 

Is this typical of digital cameras and the M8 in particular?  

Yes, I changed lenses a lot..... 
The environment was mostly dampish.... not dusty like a desert.... 

Question... I do not need any gizmos to see the dust, it is pretty obvious
on the sensor.....   Should I send it to Leica USA for a $75 sensor
cleaning, then keep it clean myself or just clean it myself and learn from
that experience and continue forward with cleaning it myself from now on?

How often do you clean your sensor ( Leica or otherwise...)?  Is it a daily
routine?  ( yes, I realize that dusty = more often, not used = less
often).....

Lastly.. how do you minimize dust with Digi-cameras?  Not changing lenses
comes to mind.... but then I have a very expensive P+S.....
Use only the Tri-Elmar?  ( which while not fast, does give me "3 lenses"
without a change)?

For those that might think I am complaining, I am not.  I need to learn this
stuff, and what better place than from those that have already solved the
problem......
I just wish I had asked before my trip.....

Thanks.....

Frank Filippone
red735i at earthlink.net





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