Canon EOS-1D X Mark II Oil-Spatter on the Sensor Problems … Almost from the start, I noticed some really nasty sensor problems with my then brand-new EOS 1D X Mark II. I thought that it was sensor dust. The problems were so bad, that I tried cleaning the sensor as I have been doing successfully for more than a decade with the Lens Pen. That only made things worse.
For me I had these issue on the 1DX but not the 1DX2. I even made a poll thread on here back then and a lot had it also but the majority had no issues (or at least nothing more than other cameras they had owned). Yes the 1DX2 does get its fair share of dust on the sensor but with a mirror running at 14FPS one has to expect that. My 1DX had oil but eventually it settled down and now is fine with the oil. It also likes dust with a 12FPS mirror....just think of how that fast of a mirror movement must move air inside the camera.
Also you will see on the comments on the blog that one poster has this issue with the 5D4 also. It is a bit of a "luck of the draw" situation but likely more common on the very high FPS bodies that may require more lubricant??
I have never had any oil splatter issues with either my 1Dx or my IDx II.
As with many things like this, the interweb tends to blow this stuff way out of proportion. I read a post the other day that the poster would not even consider the 1Dx II because, according to him, all 1Dx II's had oil splatter problems.
Another problem with consistency of reporting is that a lot of 1D users are shooting wide open and don't really see the OOF blobs anyways. It's very rare for me to go above 5.6.
You've also got peoples hesitation to clean the sensor themselves as well. Seriously, there is no way I want to waste time sending in either one of my 1DX's for just a sensor clean when it's easily done with an inexpensive cleaning kit.
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.
At f11 or beyond I had plenty of OOF blobs on my 10D, both 1D2's, 1D4, 1DX, and 1DX2. It's not just the 1DX's that are affected. These are not hermetically sealed devices. Small particles are going to get in no matter what. Maintenance is just part of the deal.
Issue has nothing to do with dust getting in. It has to do with excessively lubed parts that splatter oil around at high fps. I still think that early models suffer more from this than recent produced models. The copy i have now does not have this issue.
The oil problem i had was clearly visible from f8 and up.
I would have thought (shame on me ) that after many customers experienced botched repairs (oily sensors) from Canon's 1DX offering to fix a known AF issue in cold weather that they would have resolved the problem regarding the amount of oil used to properly lube the mechanism. I was one who sent in a perfectly clean sensor (verified at f/22) for their fix. I came back a complete disaster full of oil specs. Obviously nobody was checking their 'repair' work at the NJ CPS facility. After doing 6 wet cleanings I gave up and sent it back to them. While it came back better there were still 2 spots. Luckily after a couple of wet cleanings they were gone.
Sounds like the new 1DX II oil issue has us quoting Yogi B. "Déjà Vu, all over again!"
Haven't noticed it, but I rarely shoot smaller than f8-9. Will do a test shot a f22 one of these days and see. Hope CPS covers the cleaning if it needs it. Don't want that to be a big issue on my safari in Oct.
Haven't shot much above F8 on my recent safari trip. The temps we had were pretty high and humid and the 1dxII performed well. I was afraid of dust and debris, but haven't noticed any more specks when i came back.
Edit: for those that do a search on FM, eventually a year after my body was replaced, it was full with specks again. See this thread for more information: https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1510567
Over the past 20+ years w/ both Nikon and Canon flagship bodies, I've learned this: with expensive cameras come expensive problems. In fact, I've had more problems than I can count with my flagship bodies, while with the "consumer" level cameras like the 5D, no problems. Go figure.
Sometimes having enough money to acquire these overpriced monsters is really just a curse.
This is old news. I had the problem after Canon’s recall of the newly released 1Dx cameras. The camera was returned dirty and I was charged for the clean up after Canon service. After a couple of subsequent cleanings the problem disappeared… until recently when I tried to blow away a single large persistent particle.
There is always some lubricant near the shutter. A strong air flow may pick it up and thrown on the sensor. This is why people see the oil deposit localized on one side of the sensor. The 1D2 seems more prone to collecting dust than its predecessor, but oil is not a problem.
The Mirrorless sensor cleaning will be a bigger problem due to fragility of its floating mechanism and much more expensive to repair, so we will read more about it.
What many people fail to understand, is that photons are very rough and abrasive. They require a bit of oil over the photosites to help them slid in smoothly. Otherwise you have to extend your shutter speeds so more photons can knock the backed-up photons into the sensor. Extra lube is why the flagship sports cameras are so large (to hold all the photon lube), and also why they often have superior high ISO due to more photons sliding into holes.
Lan11 wrote:
This is old news. I had the problem after Canon’s recall of the newly released 1Dx cameras. The camera was returned dirty and I was charged for the clean up after Canon service. After a couple of subsequent cleanings the problem disappeared… until recently when I tried to blow away a single large persistent particle.
There is always some lubricant near the shutter. A strong air flow may pick it up and thrown on the sensor. This is why people see the oil deposit localized on one side of the sensor. The 1D2 seems more prone to collecting dust than its predecessor, but oil is not a problem.
The Mirrorless sensor cleaning will be a bigger problem due to fragility of its floating mechanism and much more expensive to repair, so we will read more about it....Show more →
Overall, it may be less of a problem on pro mirrorless due to the lack of a mirror. That mirror slapping around in the mirrorbox at roughly 20 fps has to move a LOT of air. Without a mirror, I imagine that airflow will be greatly reduced.
) that after many customers experienced botched repairs (oily sensors) from Canon's 1DX offering to fix a known AF issue in cold weather that they would have resolved the problem regarding the amount of oil used to properly lube the mechanism. I was one who sent in a perfectly clean sensor (verified at f/22) for their fix. I came back a complete disaster full of oil specs. Obviously nobody was checking their 'repair' work at the NJ CPS facility. After doing 6 wet cleanings I gave up and sent it back to them. While it came back better there were still 2 spots. Luckily after a couple of wet cleanings they were gone. 
