M8 w/ Hard to remove dust.

[kodachrome64]

This is my first posting to this forum. First off thank you for all the experience imparted by other members posts.

I'm a previously excited owner of chrome M8 who is now a bit wary. Beside the issues that are all over this forum I'm now having a hard time getting dust of the M8 sensor. Having owned a 1DSmII since it came out and using it as my primary camera for professional work I am basing my experience with sensor dust based on this camera. This may not be a relevant comparison but it's a place to start.

Having used the Leica M8 for less than a week I have more dust on the sensor than I can ever remember having on the 1DSmII at any time. I am aware that this could be isolated experience but it worries me since I haven't shot more than 300 frames with the M8 and haven't change the lens' many times. I switch lenses and shoot many times more frames that this with the 1DSmII in one day working on a normal job for me.

The most disconcerting part of this is that I cannot seem to get the dust off using Giotto Rocket Blower as I do when I get dust on the 1DSmII sensor. The usual process of blowing off the dust and it moving from one place on the sensor to another until it's blown off the sensor and hopefully out of the camera isn't working for me. The dust just does not seem to be moving. I can see it in the same place as before when checking w/ my 10X lupe. I am aware that the dust may have been stuck there with moisture. If this is the case the sensor will need to be cleaned with a wiping and I'm not interested in doing this. (I haven't had to do this with the 1DSmII ever and prefer to have someone with experience do this). I wonder if the M8 sensor when in cleaning mode could still be electrically charged making the dust on the sensor hard to blow off.

If I can I will post pictures showing the dust.

Have any other M8 owers had dust on sensor issues yet and if so were they easily removed?

Just to be clear I am not trying to compare the 1DSmII with the M8. I did not purchase the M8 to replace the the 1DSmII.
I intend to use the M8 for shooting that the 1DSmII is not suited for. exp. Shooting in Colombia where high profile camera will certainly make you a target.

At the moment I'm on the fence in regards to keeping this camera. There are many things I love about this camera.
Does anyone remember the stand on your M6 test that reps of Leica woud do to show the strength of the camera body?
I am starting to realize that M8 may look like a M series Leica but is not.

Adam Olszewski
www.adamophoto.com

 

[erikhaugsby]

Have any other M8 owers had dust on sensor issues yet and if so were they easily removed?

Just to be clear I am not trying to compare the 1DSmII with the M8. I did not purchase the M8 to replace the the 1DSmII.
I intend to use the M8 for shooting that the 1DSmII is not suited for. exp. Shooting in Colombia where high profile camera will certainly make you a target.

At the moment I'm on the fence in regards to keeping this camera. There are many things I love about this camera.
Does anyone remember the stand on your M6 test that reps of Leica woud do to show the strength of the camera body?
I am starting to realize that M8 may look like a M series Leica but is not.

[/url]

Colombia as in Colombia, MO? As in the college University of Missouri, Colombia? If no, disregard the next few sentences
I ask because I'm enrolling there for a (photo)journalism degree next fall. How does the school look upon RFs as opposed to the Missourian's Nikons or other etc D/SLRs? Do you/did you plan to use your M8 as a school camera, or for personal work?

On the dust side, I unfortuantely can't offer any help.

Have you tried standing on the M8? Have you heard it cannot be done?

 

[Rummy]

Similar dust problem

Similar dust problem

I have a similar dust problem. I have had my M8 for about a week and in my estimation the dust has been there since the beginning. When my new camera arrived I immediately attached a new Tri-Elmar -M 1:4/ 28-35-50 ASPH lens on it. There was little or no chance for stray dust to get into the CCD sensor area. I have not tried to remove the dust but did see it using the sensor cleaning program and a 10 X magnifier. My photos appear similar to the ones you posted.

 

[Jamie123]

Colombia as in Colombia, MO? As in the college University of Missouri, Colombia?

I think he's talking about the country Colombia. Colombia as in Pablo Escobar, Colombian drug dealer 😉

 

[kodachrome64]

I have a similar dust problem. I have had my M8 for about a week and in my estimation the dust has been there since the beginning. When my new camera arrived I immediately attached a new Tri-Elmar -M 1:4/ 28-35-50 ASPH lens on it. There was little or no chance for stray dust to get into the CCD sensor area. I have not tried to remove the dust but did see it using the sensor cleaning program and a 10 X magnifier. My photos appear similar to the ones you posted.

Rummy,

I'm eager to hear your results if you clean the dust. I too thought the dust might have been there from the begining but hesitate to make that kind of claim. Can you post exaples of images with the dust from your camera.

Adam

 

[hopf]

Dust came pre installed

Dust came pre installed

I believe the dust came pre installed.
I have had the same with other new cameras.
I orderd 1.3x wet cleaning solution and will see how that works out.
I dont see any reason why this should be any differnt then with any digetial SLR. I am hoping the axess will be a little easier.

 

[Ash]

Nice, so the M8 is like fine baked bread, it arrives in your hands dusty? 😀

 

[kodachrome64]

To clarify. Colombia, South America.

NO WAY have i tried standing on the M8! I never stood on my M6 either but always thought it was quite a testament to the quality and durability of the M series to see 200 pound Leica reps standing on the cameras. I don't want to go off topic with this though. The focus of my post is the dust issue.

Adam

 

[Toby]

Cleaning the dust off the sensor shouldn't be a big deal. The sensor has an optical glass filter in front of it so if you can clean a lens without damaging it you should be able to do the same with a sensor if you buy a decent set of swabs. It's something worth learning if you are going on foreign assignments

 

[KM-25]

I think you are going to have to learn to clean those sensors, it is just part of the new age. Nice name by the way, mine is a bit......slower..🙂.

 

[kodachrome64]

Cleaning the dust off the sensor shouldn't be a big deal. The sensor has an optical glass filter in front of it so if you can clean a lens without damaging it you should be able to do the same with a sensor if you buy a decent set of swabs. It's something worth learning if you are going on foreign assignments

I 100% agree with you! I always pack sensor swabs and gear for cleaning my 1DSmII sensor when working local or traveling. In 2-3 years (however long the 1DSmII has been out I haven't had to use more than the Giotto Rocket Blower. Cleaning the M8 with a sensor swab and wet solution is something I'd anticipate doing down the line but after less than a week of use this seems burdensome and just not right. The other issue is the dust not coming off. ORIGINAL POST QUOTED BELOW

"The most disconcerting part of this is that I cannot seem to get the dust off using Giotto Rocket Blower as I do when I get dust on the 1DSmII sensor. The usual process of blowing off the dust and it moving from one place on the sensor to another until it's blown off the sensor and hopefully out of the camera isn't working for me. The dust just does not seem to be moving. I can see it in the same place as before when checking w/ my 10X lupe."

I appreciate the recomendations and on what should be done however this is a new camera and may a have different problems. I hope to hear other M8 owners experiences with cleaning the sensor both possitive and negative. Based on one other owners post I may not be alone in this experience.

Adam Olszewski
www.adamophoto.com

 

[newyorkone]

You might find that after you do just one wet cleaning that you will be able to just use the blower going forward like the 1DS - maybe you got stuck on dust from the factory...which isn't unheard of considering that my Canon 5D sensor was filthy straight out of the box. You won't know that until you try and I for one am very interested in seeing what happens. Take care.

 

[Jim Watts]

I would try removing the SD card from the camera before using the cleaning function and trying to blow the dust off. In the R-D1 there is always a small amount of charge with the card present.

 

[kodachrome64]

I would try removing the SD card from the camera before using the cleaning function and trying to blow the dust off. In the R-D1 there is always a small amount of charge with the card present.

Jim,

I will try this and report the results. Thanks!

 

[kodachrome64]

Just reporting that the I was able to clear off all offensive dust using sensor swabs and solution. Before doing this I tried the sensor brushand blowing air with no effect. Seems the dust was on there pretty good. With 4 swipes (2 swabs and solution) the sensor is clean again.

I also took the advise of removing the SD card and using air to blow the dust off but it didn't help.
I used the sensor swab size #2.

 

[newyorkone]

Great...

Let us know if the sensor stays clean or is at least easier to clean with just a blower. Take care.

 

[Mark Norton]

Switch the camera off when changing lenses; keep your camera bag well vacuumed; always use lens and body caps; never try to blow dust away with your mouth, never use a compressed air can.

If in spite all that you still get dust, try using an artic butterfly in the first instance. If it's still not working, sensor swabs are the only way.

- blow all dust away first
- new swab each time
- damp swab with cleaning fluid, not wet
- single wipe
- easy

 

[roblumba]

Zooms help

Zooms help

Another problem with sensor dust is that you usually don't know it's there until you look at your photos on a computer. By then you might have a couple hundred photos with the same spots on it. Ouch!

Thankfully, usually the spots don't really show up unless it's a landscape shot with blue sky. You'll see the spots in the sky, but that can be a lot of manual work to get them out in photoshop.

For those that really don't want to take that risk, the 28-35-50 TriElmar is going to be very attractive. On my 1DmarkII, I mainly use the 24-70 at all times and rarely change the lens.

That's just another drawback to digital. Lens changes can introduce dust spots on your sensor.

 

[ywenz]

Is the M8 more prone to sensor damage whilst cleaning the dust off? Considering that it has an abnormally thin(brittle?) IR filter?

 

[roblumba]

Glass on Sensor

Glass on Sensor

Since the glass is directly on top of the sensor, I would think the small difference in thickness doesn't matter much.

Personally, I use a sensor brush, which is very gentle with the sensor compared to the spat-u-swab or sensor swab methods. It gets all the dust off just fine and brush is the size of the sensor width, so the fibers of the brush distribute the pressure evenly across the entire sensor surface. Also, sensor swabs require sensor cleaning solution, which is a nono on airplanes as far as I know. You would have to pack it in the luggage and I'm not sure they want flammable solutions in your luggage either.

There's a travel version of the sensor brush that came with the larger version and I pack that in my camera case. Usually your supposed to use compressed air to charge the brush, and the other method is to have an automatically spinning brush, which costs a little more. I actually spin it in my hands by hand and that does the trick too.