Chimping Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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My first 1DX Mark II got oil specks all over the sensor. It also had a flaw in the sensor stack as well -- weird sensor streaks appearing at f/10 and narrower (not caused by cleaning). Canon replaced my sensor under warranty for the issue. The camera came back with a new sensor and all was good until oil started covering the sensor. I took it to a local camera store, Vistek Calgary, to have it cleaned. The tech used Eclipse sensor cleaning fluid and VisibleDust swabs.
Having 'cleaned' the sensor the tech showed me a picture of a white wall taken at f/2.8... Nothing except a huge piece of dirt would show at f/2.8! I took a proper photo at f/22 and, to my horror, sensor oil had been smeared all over the sensor, with little globules showing all over the top of the frame. I insisted he redo the job.
Long story short, the tech scratched my sensor in the process quite badly. I sent my camera to CPS Canada and was quoted $1700 for the repair. Vistek covered the cost.
CPS told me there would be a delay fixing my camera because they needed to order a sensor. After some time past, I received an e-mail from Canon saying they were going to replace my camera with a new 1DX Mark II for the same price as the sensor replacement because they were unable to repair my equipment.
My new camera has three small dust spots showing at f/8 now, but I haven't had the courage to look further. The narrowest aperture I've gone to since receiving the new camera is f/13 and I had to clone out about five small spots, which is not a big deal.
I also haven't done any burst shooting as of yet. I'm sure I'd have a lot more dust if I were heavy on the shutter button.
Unfortunately, the concern for this issue has been somewhat poo poo'd by people on different forums. Several people have complained of the sensors scratching more easily than on other cameras; Roger Cicala from LensRentals said he has not found that to be the case, and thus the discussion immediately died. Many people have complained of dirty/oily sensors...but not much has come of that either.
I think the point made above by ggreene is a good one. A lot of people that purchase these 1D cameras use them at wide apertures and thus either don't notice or don't care if there's spots once stopped down.
In my opinion, the 1DX and the 1DX Mark II are both more sensitive to dust and oil than other cameras. I doubt anything will come of it, however. Even after the original 1DX recall, people still complained of oil splatter, and indeed, my first 1DX body had to be replaced by Canon too because of it despite being a late production unit.
So, potential purchasers beware. Despite this, the 1D cameras are amazing. It's a shame to have such a large flaw, however.
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