M8 and Dust

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tommy2103

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hello together,

i'am new in this forum. i have a question about the M8.

actually i use a canon SLR equipment (1DMKIIN + 10D). i use this cameras especially for sportsphotos (horseriding). but i also like street, landscape and peoplephotographie. for that kind of photographie i will buy a M8.

my question is, if a digital RF camera like the M8 will have the same problems with sensordust like SLR cameras have.

sorry for my bad english, but i'am from gernany :)

thomas
 
Welcome on the forum. Enjoy!.Undoubtely it will be sensitive to dust. Maybe even more than a DSLR, as it has no mirror in front of the sensor. On the other hand, there will be no "pumping" motion by that same mirror, nor by push-pull zoom lenses. However, I have never found dust to be an issue. I have used my 10D extensively in very dusty conditions, and found that simple dust hygiene, like keeping the lens on the camera at all times, taking care not to change lenses in a sandstorm and using the Rocket-blower each night was sufficient to keep dust to a minimum, easily clonable. Far less of a problem by at least a magnitude, I might add, than dust and hair on prints and slides and scans. I feel this is a thing that is heavily overblown in the various forums, mainly by those that have only digital and no real-life darkroom or slide-projecting experience.

This one is typical of the conditions I mean.

Dusty-Zebra.jpg

Dusty Zebra's at Dusk
 
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Given that Leica has a relationship with Panasonic and Olympus, the Olympus "Supersonic Wave Filter" (sensor cleaning technology) may be included in the M8. It will be interesting to see if it is.
 
I remember someone saying before on a place I cant remember that they wish leica and such made lenses that were more element proof like the better canon ef L lenses. I wish they would do that too, naturaly that wont keep all the crap out of your camera but my lifesaver for my 20D in this respect is one of those Sensor Brushes from Visible Dust. They are worth 5 times their weight in gold if you are a digital shooter.
 
Simple dust hygiene - like vacuuming out your camera bag and switching the camera off before changing lenses - goes a long way to keeping dust at bay.
 
I just had to scan some old trannies - am I ever glad I went digital! Even the dust/scratches filter couldn't do much - took too much edge off the image.

ps the brush I use is a white 'Taklon' 3/8th inch artists brush and I 'charge' it with a Rocket blower (5-6 puffs will do it) and it works fine - costs about 10 bucks.
 
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I hope Leica is smart enough to seal the M8 against moisture and dust like a Canon 1v. No working pro will be caught dead with an unsealed, electronic camera.

I recently shot a documentary in a very dusty and at times rainy location with my M and R cameras and upon my return I added a weather sealed Canon 1v to my arsenal.
 
I see what you mean, but full weathersealing would entail changing the lens mount to add a rubber ring and weathersealing the lenses themselves as well, which obviously isn't happening.
 
jaapv said:
Well, my M6TTL has been pretty wet on occasion without any harm done.
Click to expand...
My M6 has been in the rain, dust, no problems here either, even sub-zero temperatures.

Oh, speculation cracks me up.
 
The "dust" issue in regards to digital cameras is very minor when compared to the opportunities for dust and other flaws on film. While I love the look of film, I find that I spend many more hours retouching "flaws" on my film scans than I have to do on any digital file. It is almost impossible to get a digital imager "perfectly" clean, but the average minor amount of dust is easily removed by cloning, and is often not visible, depending on your subject material. I shoot a lot of images in my studio on a light grey background, and this is where the dust shows up the most. Scenics almost never need retouching (for dust) with digital.
 
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