ggreene wrote:
Visible Dust has multiple solutions for cleaning sensors. It's really not that hard.
In all likelihood a replacement will have some spots on it as well.
I still maintain this is not a camera to learn how to clean a sensor on. My sensor was scratched during a cleaning; thankfully I wasn't responsible and didn't have to pay. If you scratch your sensor it will cost you as much as a new lens to have it replaced. Not worth the risk, IMO, especially if you're inexperienced.
As to your second comment, you're absolutely right. The chance of getting a 1DX Mark II with a spotless sensor is slim to none. Even if it's perfect out of the box, a few frames later there will be something on it. Fact of life with this model, I am afraid. Go for any other Canon model if you want a long-lasting clean sensor.
Chimping wrote:
I still maintain this is not a camera to learn how to clean a sensor on. My sensor was scratched during a cleaning; thankfully I wasn't responsible and didn't have to pay. If you scratch your sensor it will cost you as much as a new lens to have it replaced. Not worth the risk, IMO, especially if you're inexperienced.
The process is no different for the 1DX2 then other cameras. I've been cleaning sensors since the 1D2. Back then it was Eclipse and Pec-Pads. Now it's easier as Visible Dust cuts the swabs to fit the sensor.
Chimping wrote:
and it precludes it from being the best jack-of-all-trades tool available.
Probably because the 1D series is not optimized to be a jack of all trades tool. If people think that they didn't do much research into a $6000 purchase.
ggreene wrote:
Probably because the 1D series is not optimized to be a jack of all trades tool. If people think that they didn't do much research into a $6000 purchase.
I disagree. The 1D series, at least since 1DIV got the 16mpix resolution is capable of anything, including fairly large printing. Just today I picked up a 20x30" landscape (or a cityscape print to be exact) I made with 1DIV and it is spectacular. With 20mpix and better sensor tech, it's as capable as anything out there. Of course it's primarily a fast action camera. But nobody is forcing anybody to spray at 14fps all the time. Likewise, if you're regularly making 40+" prints, then there are better and cheaper tools out there.
So saying that you shouldn't shoot 1DXII stopped down because it's not meant for that or you should just crop the dirty corner isn't right IMO. On the other hand, like I've said before - if you need to push clarity and dehaze filters to ridiculous values in order to see the problem means you are deliberately looking for it. And if for some reason you need those insane slider values, then be prepared to do a little bit of cloning. Lightroom offers that too you know. ....
The dehaze tool is used to determine if it needs cleaning. Still do it that way. If you keep shooting wide open and leave the debris on the sensor for a longer period, it might end up to be welded to the sensor.
New 1dxII's with spots on the sensor is nothing special. I had quite an amount of new and supposedly cleaned loaners in my hands and none were spotless. If i had 3 small spots on the sensor that were only visible @ >f11 i wouldn't worry too much. Just keep shooting that F22/32 shot once in a while to keep track of the accumulating debris. If you store it for a longer period of time (like i do between shoots) clean it before storage, don't let it sit on the sensor.
ggreene wrote:
The process is no different for the 1DX2 then other cameras. I've been cleaning sensors since the 1D2. Back then it was Eclipse and Pec-Pads. Now it's easier as Visible Dust cuts the swabs to fit the sensor.
Probably because the 1D series is not optimized to be a jack of all trades tool. If people think that they didn't do much research into a $6000 purchase.
Acutally, I think the reverse is true. It is designed to be a jack of all trades with a specialization for action shooters. It has an ethernet connection for those shooting tethered in a studio, GPS for those hiking, 4k video for some wanting high quality video and a host of other features that make it a jack of all trades. It's not a specialized landscape camera (thinking 5ds models) or a specialized video camera (thinking 1dc models), but I think Canon designed it to do everything well and action shooting really really well.
When I bought it, I did so knowing it could do everything I wanted a camera to do (absent having that dang Wifi connection).
ggreene wrote:
The process is no different for the 1DX2 then other cameras. I've been cleaning sensors since the 1D2. Back then it was Eclipse and Pec-Pads. Now it's easier as Visible Dust cuts the swabs to fit the sensor.
Probably because the 1D series is not optimized to be a jack of all trades tool. If people think that they didn't do much research into a $6000 purchase.
First you didn’t address my point - it’s not a good camera to learn to clean on. And I disagree with your statement - I’ve never had any other camera’s sensor scratched. Either way, my main point was: it is not a good idea to learn on such an expensive camera. Don’t risk it if your are not comfortable.
Second - bullshit! What absolutely ridiculous comment.
The key word for me was optimized. I don't see the 1D series the same as the 5D which IMO is more jack of all trades. And certainly the 1D series has lost the jack of all trades comparison to more modern releases like the D850 and A7rIII.
As far as the sensor cleaning goes every camera out there has it's own set of users that have had bad experiences with it. The 1DX2 (or 1DX) are not alone.
Hi guys, I just joined the forum today... to join the club of frustrated 1DX II owners with respect to sensor dust and cleaning.
I have been cleaning myself my sensors for years now, first dry and in the worse cases with swabs and Eclipse liquid. On all my previous bodies, it took 1 or 2 swabs to get a totally clean sensor. With the 1DX II, sometimes even with 5 or 6 swabs, I still have a lot of dust... And all comes back after 20 new actuations of the shutter.
And today, I managed to scratch my sensor (noticed too late that one of the corners of the swab was way too sharp...), without even managing to remove all the dust.
https://rez-photography.com/pics/REZ_9686.jpg
(no blue sky this weekend here!)
I'm extremely frustrated with this camera, as I shoot also a lot of landscapes at f/10-13, and just a few days after cleaning the sensor, and not even swapping lenses that often, the sensor is always covered in dust, no matter what I do.
In parallel, my 5D III is spotless since the day I bought it years ago, and I never had to clean it even once!
Hi guys, I just joined the forum today... to join the club of frustrated 1DX II owners with respect to sensor dust and cleaning.
I have been cleaning myself my sensors for years now, first dry and in the worse cases with swabs and Eclipse liquid. On all my previous bodies, it took 1 or 2 swabs to get a totally clean sensor. With the 1DX II, sometimes even with 5 or 6 swabs, I still have a lot of dust... And all comes back after 20 new actuations of the shutter.
And today, I managed to scratch my sensor (noticed too late that one of the corners of the swab was way too sharp...), without even managing to remove all the dust.
https://rez-photography.com/pics/REZ_9686.jpg
(no blue sky this weekend here!)
I'm extremely frustrated with this camera, as I shoot also a lot of landscapes at f/10-13, and just a few days after cleaning the sensor, and not even swapping lenses that often, the sensor is always covered in dust, no matter what I do.
In parallel, my 5D III is spotless since the day I bought it years ago, and I never had to clean it even once!...Show more →
I am so sorry this has happened to you. Are you a member of CPS? If you're gold or platinum you'll get either 20% or 30% off the overall bill. Special insurance coverage might also cover the repair too. All in all, however, a new sensor is going to cost around $1500-1700, unfortunately.
What you're seeing is oil splatter, not dust (contrary to what a few blowhards on here claim). There's no way for that amount of dust to make it onto the sensor unless you're changing lenses in a wind storm, or a part is wearing severely internally.
When you send it to Canon make sure to tell them about this thread and the many many people that have had oil splatter. They are already aware of it, but it's good to let them know it's still alive. Don't let them away with a "this is the first we've heard of it" kind-of comment. Also mention Arthur Morris and his oil spatter issues.
Unfortunately you and I are both now shining examples of why it's risky to either clean your own 1DX Mark II sensor, or having someone other than Canon clean it. It's just not worth it. Canon put out a severely flawed product, and the only security we now have with our investments is to have them do the job of cleaning it.
Please keep us update on how you make out with the repair.
garyvot wrote:
Recently acquired a pair of 1DX IIs, and I am finding this thread interesting. Have not seen oil splatter so far, but it is still early days.
Any thoughts on whether this issue is mitigated by choosing a lower maximum framerate?
From my experience, yes. I have my slow speed mode set to 7 FPS. That being said, it will still spit oil on the sensor. It just takes longer for the problem to become bad enough to warrant sending the camera in.
Chimping wrote:
I am so sorry this has happened to you. Are you a member of CPS? If you're gold or platinum you'll get either 20% or 30% off the overall bill. Special insurance coverage might also cover the repair too. All in all, however, a new sensor is going to cost around $1500-1700, unfortunately.
What you're seeing is oil splatter, not dust (contrary to what a few blowhards on here claim). There's no way for that amount of dust to make it onto the sensor unless you're changing lenses in a wind storm, or a part is wearing severely internally.
When you send it to Canon make sure to tell them about this thread and the many many people that have had oil splatter. They are already aware of it, but it's good to let them know it's still alive. Don't let them away with a "this is the first we've heard of it" kind-of comment. Also mention Arthur Morris and his oil spatter issues.
Unfortunately you and I are both now shining examples of why it's risky to either clean your own 1DX Mark II sensor, or having someone other than Canon clean it. It's just not worth it. Canon put out a severely flawed product, and the only security we now have with our investments is to have them do the job of cleaning it.
Please keep us update on how you make out with the repair. ...Show more →
Thank you for your message. I am CPS Platinum member so I guess yes I'll get a discount, but I'm nonetheless really frustrated. I was cleaning the sensor before leaving on a ship expedition around Svalbard, and no time to get it repaired or even get a replacement unit by Canon before I leave.
I made a few test shots @ f/5.6-8 and without using too much dehaze filter, so I guess it will be OK for shooting wildlife. I'll use my 5D3 to shoot landscapes at smaller apertures.
Obviously, I will never ever attempt to clean my sensor myself again (once I get it replaced). This is just so inconvenient, as it just takes at least a week between shipping it to Canon and getting it back, and also forces me to be at home on the day it's shipped back to me. It really does not make sense for something that 1) should never have to happen that often and 2) should be a piece of cake to do at home.
DSLR's have been on the market for more than a decade now, and I wish that manufacturers would finally really tackle the dust issue instead of constantly running for higher resolution and the most useless features. I have better things to do with my time than clone the sky in LR or deal with CPS/Canon to get the sensor clean.
By the way, my 1DX Mark I at the time was "splashing" oil all over the sensor. I'm talking about stains that would cover up to half of the image, right in the middle of, for example, shooting a northern lights timelapse...
I'm not sure that I will go for the "Mark III" whenever it comes out, if Canon doesn't show a serious effort to solve those issues.
I will report this thread to the Dutch CPS guy (unless it's been done before? I saw some posts by Dutch guys here, but haven't found if they've reported this topic).
Keep you posted, but probably in the 2nd half of May when I'm back from Svalbard.
I don't think there is a widespread dust issue in DSLRs per se; I need to occasionally clean my D3X sensor because it is old and doesn't have the ultrasonic dust shaker. But none of my other Nikons have required regular cleaning (maybe once per year with a vacuum at minimum power is sufficient).
I use smallish apertures (f/10-f/13) regularly for landscape, macro and for head shots in the studio. Other than those applications I tend to shoot wide open a lot. I don't normally shoot in dusty environments and I am careful when switching lenses.
Nikon was burned pretty badly with the shutter oil issue of the D600. However, I never owned that camera. Perhaps some pressure on Canon about this issue would help. It's by no means something that you should have to put up with.
Just as a reminder (in case it hasn't come up before in this thread), Canon cameras have an automated dust removal feature that can help when you are stuck in the field and have no way to deal with this any other way.
You record a reference frame using the camera and it registers dust (or oil) spots and writes metadata to subsequent images. You can re-record the dust delete data as often as is needed to stay current with condition of the sensor.
It requires use of DPP for an automated dust removal workflow, and there is probably a practical limit to what it can achieve before introducing artifacts, but it is at least something.
I know that you have put a lot of effort into collecting examples on this topic and had no luck getting a satisfactory response from Canon. Have you tried contacting PetaPixel or DPReview about it? Canon should be addressing this issue and maybe if a site like that took it up they might listen...
Chimping wrote:
I am so sorry this has happened to you. Are you a member of CPS? If you're gold or platinum you'll get either 20% or 30% off the overall bill. Special insurance coverage might also cover the repair too. All in all, however, a new sensor is going to cost around $1500-1700, unfortunately.
What you're seeing is oil splatter, not dust (contrary to what a few blowhards on here claim). There's no way for that amount of dust to make it onto the sensor unless you're changing lenses in a wind storm, or a part is wearing severely internally.
When you send it to Canon make sure to tell them about this thread and the many many people that have had oil splatter. They are already aware of it, but it's good to let them know it's still alive. Don't let them away with a "this is the first we've heard of it" kind-of comment. Also mention Arthur Morris and his oil spatter issues.
Unfortunately you and I are both now shining examples of why it's risky to either clean your own 1DX Mark II sensor, or having someone other than Canon clean it. It's just not worth it. Canon put out a severely flawed product, and the only security we now have with our investments is to have them do the job of cleaning it.
Please keep us update on how you make out with the repair. ...Show more →
Well that has different issues, like rubber peeling off grip, not very weather proof, piss poor ergonomics. I was set to buy one and dump my 1DX, but glad I waited to see the issues pros have raised with Sony. Hopefully they fix the issues and make a physically larger camera for A9II, as in most other ways it’s very compelling.
Would like to see a mirrorless 1DXIII, much lighter and a bit smaller, but not to the detriment of ergonomics which are wonderful IMO.
Pixel Perfect wrote:
Would like to see a mirrorless 1DXIII, much lighter and a bit smaller, but not to the detriment of ergonomics which are wonderful IMO.
I wouldn't want to see that, unless the EVF is absolutely perfect and with a super fast refresh rate. I get almost isntantly dizzy when looking in nowaday's EVF's, and I can assure you that I am not the only person like this.
