Cleaning an M8 sensor - horror story

[runny]

Cleaning a sensor is easy I hear! Well maybe not if you are ham fisted like I am. I bought a sensor cleaning device recommended by my (usually) very competent photo store in Central Hong Kong. It consisted of a rubber device on a small "stick" that supposedly attracted the dust. "Use carefully" it said - although the instructions contained exactly 4 sentences. I went to the manufacturers web site to see photos of it in action, it seemed simple enough. So off I went.

Just one pass later, the sensor looks like it has been attacked by slime! I do a test shot of a blank wall at F22 to see the mess - and it is considerable. My beautiful M8 now delivers pictures like a used dinner plate before washing! So off to the local Leica Service Centre to see just how much they can charge me to fix this.

Bottom line. I would recommend using now more than a hand blower to blow away dust - and let professionals only near you sensor should that not work. I just hope the damage is only a surface thing and nothing permanent or the repair bill will be eye watering. Maybe I get them to do the M8.2 upgrade at the same time?

David

 

[Keith]

Cleaning a sensor is easy I hear! Well maybe not if you are ham fisted like I am. I bought a sensor cleaning device recommended by my (usually) very competent photo store in Central Hong Kong. It consisted of a rubber device on a small "stick" that supposedly attracted the dust. "Use carefully" it said - although the instructions contained exactly 4 sentences. I went to the manufacturers web site to see photos of it in action, it seemed simple enough. So off I went.

Just one pass later, the sensor looks like it has been attacked by slime! I do a test shot of a blank wall at F22 to see the mess - and it is considerable. My beautiful M8 now delivers pictures like a used dinner plate before washing! So off to the local Leica Service Centre to see just how much they can charge me to fix this.

Bottom line. I would recommend using now more than a hand blower to blow away dust - and let professionals only near you sensor should that not work. I just hope the damage is only a surface thing and nothing permanent or the repair bill will be eye watering. Maybe I get them to do the M8.2 upgrade at the same time?

David

The trouble here is that what you assumed to be dust on your sensor is actually lubricant from the shutter mechanism and what you've succeeded in doing is spreading it across the sensor. I had exactly the same thing happen when I tried to clean mine first time ... it appears that Leica put sufficient of this gunk into the shutter blades that the first few hundred actuations actually flicks the excess off, all over the sensor ... brilliant! 🙁

You need to actually clean it with a liquid chemical cleaning kit and not just a dust remover.

Mine took two goes to get really clean!

 

[nikon_sam]

Leica should have this info and they haven't done a recall ??? Good Lord what more could go wrong with this camera ???

Sorry to hear this bit of bad news...

 

[runny]

Sensor cleaning

Sensor cleaning

Thanks all for the comments. I will let you know what the folks at Leica say. I hope it is just what you say and some over zealous lubricant - but better to be safe than sorry. I will ask the technicians to recommend a self-powered cleaning method while I am there.

Cheers
David

 

[DennisPT]

Hi David,
Just wonder if it is a dry cleaning kit?
Cheers,
Dennis

 

[Tuolumne]

Never heard of that M8 problem before. My only comment is: No Comment.

/T

 

[nikon_sam]

Recall? Something wrong with the M8? Bad news?

Every digital camera out there with an exposed sensor has this "problem." It's a matter of using good cleaning tools and practicing your technique. The more times/sensors you clean, the better you get at it. But sometimes, depending on the type of spots (e.g. oily type) it might require several passes. Only with drier spots (e.g. dust) and a fair bit of luck will you ever get away with a "quick swipe."

Proceed carefully, but git 'er done.

Sorry, I wasn't very clear on what I was calling a "Problem"...I was refering to the over lubricating of the shutter that Keith was talking about that was getting on the sensor...
I am aware that the sensors are very sensitive to dust, dirt and everything else that's airborne and could land on it...That's why most digital shooters use zoom lenses...😀

 

[JWW]

I use the Visible Dust Arctic Butterfly and works great for dust. I also ordered their wet cleaner and that gets the oil smudge off and I only had to use that once in two years of M8 ownership. I found that when the M8 was new I had to clean it often but now I only clean it every few months.

Jan

 

[user237428934]

The dust accumulation on my m8 is nothing against the problems a friend has with his Canon 5D. We have a cleaning kit (sensor swabs and eclipse cleaner) and it works pretty well. I am glad that I never had this problem with my 40D because of it's integrated cleaning system.

 

[runny]

The solution

The solution

Well folks - thanks for the notes - and yes, it was a "dry" cleaning kit.

I went to the Hong Kong Leica Service Centre (Schmidt Marketing) and they were very helpful. A technician took it away for a about 20 minutes and came back with a completely clean and fully functioning M8. Now, to put to rest some of the things in this thread - they claim that the shutter on the M8 is "dry" and doesn't have any lubricant to deposit on the sensor - and that came from the most senior technician they had there. He was not sure what had created the mess on the sensor, but thinks that the dry cleaning "wand" I had was somehow contaminated with something. He then showed me how they clean sensors using a "swab" on a little shovel shaped implement and a drop of ethanol. He would not use anything else.

The best bit of all this, is this was no charge - as they are about to hit me with the price increase on the M8.2 upgrade for this guy...... Lose on the swings and gain on the roundabouts.

Regards all and Happy Chinese New Year!
David

 

[Keith]

Well folks - thanks for the notes - and yes, it was a "dry" cleaning kit.

I went to the Hong Kong Leica Service Centre (Schmidt Marketing) and they were very helpful. A technician took it away for a about 20 minutes and came back with a completely clean and fully functioning M8. Now, to put to rest some of the things in this thread - they claim that the shutter on the M8 is "dry" and doesn't have any lubricant to deposit on the sensor - and that came from the most senior technician they had there. He was not sure what had created the mess on the sensor, but thinks that the dry cleaning "wand" I had was somehow contaminated with something. He then showed me how they clean sensors using a "swab" on a little shovel shaped implement and a drop of ethanol. He would not use anything else.

The best bit of all this, is this was no charge - as they are about to hit me with the price increase on the M8.2 upgrade for this guy...... Lose on the swings and gain on the roundabouts.

Regards all and Happy Chinese New Year!
David

Bold statement by that tech ... when I got my M8 and became aware of the problem you could visibly see the lube on the shutter blades. It looked like one of those white lithium based greases that you use on lens helicals.

Obviously I imagined it! 😛

 

[jaapv]

I don't recall the poster, but there was a warning against using these rubber stamping kits for sensor cleaning on this forum about a year ago. Not only do they redistribute any other dirt than dust, they will also spread adhesive on your sensor and the pad may come loose, with the danger of scratches. The recommendation on this and any other forums has always been to use the Visible Dust products, which makes for easy and reliable cleaning.
As for the oil, the shutter of the M8, as the technician stated, is as dry as any other camera, but still spreads some minidroplets of oil in the first thousand exposures or so. Other cameras do the same. The Leica shutter is quite close to the sensor, which makes the problem more noticable maybe. the shutter of leica is, afaik, made by Copal, as are the shutters of many other cameras, so there is no difference across the brands.

 

[jaapv]

Sorry, I wasn't very clear on what I was calling a "Problem"...I was refering to the over lubricating of the shutter that Keith was talking about that was getting on the sensor...
I am aware that the sensors are very sensitive to dust, dirt and everything else that's airborne and could land on it...That's why most digital shooters use zoom lenses...😀

You mean like the Canon 100-400L dust and air pump?😛

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I don't recall the poster, but there was a warning against using these rubber stamping kits for sensor cleaning on this forum about a year ago. Not only do they redistribute any other dirt than dust, they will also spread adhesive on your sensor and the pad may come loose, with the danger of scratches. The recommendation on this and any other forums has always been to use the Visible Dust products, which makes for easy and reliable cleaning.
As for the oil, the shutter of the M8, as the technician stated, is as dry as any other camera, but still spreads some minidroplets of oil in the first thousand exposures or so. Other cameras do the same. The Leica shutter is quite close to the sensor, which makes the problem more noticable maybe. the shutter of leica is, afaik, made by Copal, as are the shutters of many other cameras, so there is no difference across the brands.

Leica should have this info and they haven't done a recall ??? Good Lord what more could go wrong with this camera ???

Oh no! Is this the beginning of the end for Leica? 🙄 🙄

Funny how they ascribe people's ignorance to being Leica's fault. I had the same problem with my Canon 5D two years ago, and I didn't run around blaming Canon for it. I researched the problem and voila, knowledge sets you free.

Yeah, if you're going to use that dust remover, you must use the right cleaning solution with it, but before you do that, you must use a dry sensor brush first, then use Eclipse on a swab (or something similar --- do NOT use rubbing alcohol!), and then swab the solution dry immediately, evenly, with a clean, lintless swab.

I think Common Sense is lacking enough that some college ought to start offering online courses. Methinks.

But what do I know, I own a few Leicas and that automatically makes me a weirdo. 😱

 

[kbg32]

I second the use of Visible Dust's Arctic Butterfly.

 

[Nh3]

I taped a piece of coffee filter around a 1" bolt, then applied rubbing alcohol on it and cleaned the sensor of my D40.

 

[George S.]

Pity Leica couldn't have put an idiot-proof, automatic, ultrasonic sensor cleaner in their $6,000 camera. Olympus did it in a $300 camera.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Let's start a poll on this... 😀

We haven't had a run of polls in a while. Perhaps we should have a poll to see if we should have a poll on this? :angel:

 

[jaapv]

I've got one of these. Also known as the "dust trombone." But it's an urban legend. 😉

I used one on a dusty safari - once. It taught me all about sensor cleaning then....😱

 

[gfspencer]

I use the Visible Dust Arctic Butterfly and works great for dust. I also ordered their wet cleaner and that gets the oil smudge off and I only had to use that once in two years of M8 ownership. I found that when the M8 was new I had to clean it often but now I only clean it every few months.

Jan

I too use Visible Dust. The first time I used the system on a Canon 40D it scared me to death. Now it is not a problem. And I also recommend both types of cleaner.