[Leica] sensor cleanliness

[images at comporium.net (Tina Manley)]

I do use my camera hard in hostile environments and cannot wait until I
have a dust-free, wind-free opportunity to change lenses; therefore, I have
many, many dust spots and splotches on my sensors.  I clean them with the
little rotating brush thing and the eraser-looking thing.  My M9 has a
stubborn spot on the far left hand edge that I need to use a liquid cleaner
on but haven't gotten around to yet.  In the meantime, in LR I can isolate
that particular smudge and tell the program to spot it in every single
photo made with that camera.  Sometimes I have to go back and tweak a spot
or two but it's still easier than doing each individual photo.  For stock
submissions any microscopic spot of dust will result in a rejection with
punitive actions by the stock agency.  I am happy with my Leica sensors and
would not want anything in front of the sensor that might degrade the image
in any way.

Tina

On Sun, Mar 24, 2013 at 6:15 PM, Geoff Hopkinson <hopsternew at 
gmail.com>wrote:

> I am surprised to see this topic developing like the Aftermarket batteries
> and UV filters topics. Such widely different viewpoints expressed and
> different experiences reported. Leica M's of course don't have lots of the
> technology the big manufacturers use. We all know that. Fine by this
> amateur. Others may prefer more of course. I appreciate the approach of
> best possible optical path, absolute minimum of material in front of the
> photo sites.
>
> I don't do any of these special precautions. My camera always has a lens
> mounted so I can use it immediately. I just pull the next lens from the bag
> and take off its rear cap, twist the mounted one off and swap. A couple of
> times a year I spend 10-15 minutes to brush off the sensor then use one or
> two wet swabs. If the air was full of dust or blown sand/spray then I
> wouldn't. No one is paying me to get those shots. I don't use my cameras
> hard in hostile environments.
>
> Incidentally Nikon just told me that my D600 may develop excessive spots
> on the sensor and that I should return it to a service agent if so! Fancy
> that.
>
> cheers
> Geoff
>
> On 25/03/2013, at 6:46, Cedric Agie <cedric.agie at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > There must be a problem of stattic electricity, certainly with a new
> > camera containig electronics. When I change lenses of an M, R or
> > Hasselblad camera, and certainly with the M-9 I allways :
> >
> > 1? choose a quiet place and protect my camera as much as possible and
> > never when it's windy, if possible go inside somewhere, a car or a
> > building, be it a toilet,
> > 2? allways turn the camera with the lens down,
> > 3? have the new (clean) lens ready without its lenscap, clean my
> lenscaps,
> > 4? have a blower at hand and if possible and/or have a table or
> > somebody nearby for help and do the changes quickly after 2 or 3
> > strong blows inside with the blower without a brush!
> >
> > We all inspect the surfaces of our lenses closely and are used to see
> > lots of dust and dirt on it in no time. The same phenomenon happens
> > with our films, but the fine dust and particles are usually washed
> > away during the developping process. Not so of course with digital
> > cameras with interchangeable lenses. The dust and durt simply stays
> > where it is and the problem grows steadily untill you do something.
> > In my case this has worked without much fuzz for more than a year.
> > When I first discovered the problem, I went to the local Leica agent
> > who admitted the problem, cleaned the CCD in no time (about half an
> > hour) installed the latest software with no charge for this first
> > intervention.
> >
> > Kodak at some time developped sophysticated (often efficient but
> > expensive) systhems for labs that had such problems. Sometimes they
> > even advised to install metallic surfaces (usually stainless steel
> > plates) that were grounded to the earth of the building.
> >
> > Good luck,
> >
> > Cedric
> >
> >
> >
> > 2013/3/24 Stasys Petravicius <stasys1 at cox.net>:
> >> Hi All- I use panasonic p/s cameras on vacations. On the last trip I
> took about 1800 happy snaps. I have discovered that there is a smudge in
> the frame (depending on the light and composition). This is a $250 camera,
> and sending it in for cleaning is not economical. I've done it before under
> warranty- and it comes back if you shoot enough. Back on topic with Leica-
> I just had my R9 serviced at the factory in Germany and guess what? The
> spots are back in the images. I've had it back about 2 months. I can take
> the DMR back off and clean? the sensor- but interchanging lenses - the
> spots come back. I think the only solution is as suggested- a cleaning
> system incorporated in  the camera design - or a fixed zoom lens of say 28-
> 200 mm range which you do not take off the camera body.  Maybe I'll just
> buy another panasonic $250 camera and use it for another 1800 or 2500
> frames. Best, Stasys
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Leica Users Group.
> >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Leica Users Group.
> > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>
> _______________________________________________
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>



-- 
Tina Manley, ASMP
www.tinamanley.com