Dust/debris inside RX100 VII lens - any cure?

[Birddogman]

I enjoy my RX100 VII. The extra reach of the VII lens over the V I used before is helpful in the field and the slower lens speed isn't a problem because I use it outdoors most of the time and I have specialized lenses for other cameras for low light situations.

I carry it, uncased, in my hunting vest pocket, where it gets literally covered with dust and debris. I can't get the quick shots I need to get if it's in a case. It's just a tool to me and I figure that if it gets wrecked, I can replace it.

That said, I wasn't expecting the dust and/or tiny brown leaf debris to make its way into the lens itself. So far, this doesn't seem to impact IQ, but if anyone has a suggestion as to how to clean that stuff out of the lens, I'd be appreciative.

Thanks!

Greg

PS: Since this is a photography forum, here is a gratuitous photo of Bliss on point, taken this week with the lens in full tele mode - certainly seems sharp enough, despite the dirt in the lens:











--
Check out my photos at: https://www.flickr.com/gp/137747053@N07/4M38jj

 

[sybersitizen]

If there's no evidence of dust on the images, I'd leave well enough alone.

If the images begin to show dust, some people in this forum have reported success eliminating it using a vacuum cleaner hose over the lens.

 

[Birddogman]

If there's no evidence of dust on the images, I'd leave well enough alone.

If the images begin to show dust, some people in this forum have reported success eliminating it using a vacuum cleaner hose over the lens.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it...

Thanks!

 

[66GTO]

I wonder if Sony would cover it under warranty? It should be new enough, couldn't hurt to ask.....

 

[Guy Parsons]

I wonder if Sony would cover it under warranty? It should be new enough, couldn't hurt to ask.....

I doubt it. They would call it "unreasonable use" but worth a try anyway.

My own view is that pocket sized cameras are definitely not designed to be carried in pockets, they need to be in some sort of protective pouch or sleeve.

Only the fully sealed underwater types like Olympus Tough models (TG-6) would survive inside a pocket.

Regards.... Guy

 

[BertIverson]

I enjoy my RX100 VII. The extra reach of the VII lens over the V I used before is helpful in the field and the slower lens speed isn't a problem because I use it outdoors most of the time and I have specialized lenses for other cameras for low light situations.

I carry it, uncased, in my hunting vest pocket, where it gets literally covered with dust and debris. I can't get the quick shots I need to get if it's in a case. It's just a tool to me and I figure that if it gets wrecked, I can replace it.

That said, I wasn't expecting the dust and/or tiny brown leaf debris to make its way into the lens itself. So far, this doesn't seem to impact IQ, but if anyone has a suggestion as to how to clean that stuff out of the lens, I'd be appreciative.

Thanks!

Greg

PS: Since this is a photography forum, here is a gratuitous photo of Bliss on point, taken this week with the lens in full tele mode - certainly seems sharp enough, despite the dirt in the lens:

For years, I had the RX100M1 and it lived in a pocket BUT I kept it in a sealed sandwich baggie. Never had a dust problem.

Just food for thought,

Bert

 

[Rambow]

The lens units are sealed, but you can try and get debris out the same way they got in- via suction.

Don't know how many shots you got before dust started appearing. It makes sense to expect ~30.000 images before a high end compact camera starts having real problems. That's my number and i'm staying with it. Nobody is claiming they will last forever, after all.

 

[Birddogman]

I wonder if Sony would cover it under warranty? It should be new enough, couldn't hurt to ask.....

Thanks, but I wouldn't feel right to submit this as a warranty claim. There was nothing wrong with my camera. I caused the problem by the way I used it. It would be dishonest to say otherwise.

 

[Birddogman]

I wonder if Sony would cover it under warranty? It should be new enough, couldn't hurt to ask.....

I doubt it. They would call it "unreasonable use" but worth a try anyway.

My own view is that pocket sized cameras are definitely not designed to be carried in pockets, they need to be in some sort of protective pouch or sleeve.

Only the fully sealed underwater types like Olympus Tough models (TG-6) would survive inside a pocket.

Regards.... Guy

Of course, the camera would be much better protected by keeping it in a case of some sort. But then it would be utterly useless to me. The vast majority of my camera use afield requires a nearly instant access to a working camera to capture the image - this one being typical:





Less than a second later, the photo op was gone forever.

Keeping the camera in a case, baggie or whatever would be akin to not having a camera at all.

My RX100V died because the little automatic lens cover got bounced around in my game vest pocket and coated in debris to the point that it would no longer open on its own (I may send it in to be fixed because there's nothing otherwise wrong with it). So, I replaced it with the VII. I can replace the VII, too, if need be, but wondered if there was a well-known solution to the dirt in the lens problem.

Greg



--
Check out my photos at: https://www.flickr.com/gp/137747053@N07/4M38jj

 

[Birddogman]

I enjoy my RX100 VII. The extra reach of the VII lens over the V I used before is helpful in the field and the slower lens speed isn't a problem because I use it outdoors most of the time and I have specialized lenses for other cameras for low light situations.

I carry it, uncased, in my hunting vest pocket, where it gets literally covered with dust and debris. I can't get the quick shots I need to get if it's in a case. It's just a tool to me and I figure that if it gets wrecked, I can replace it.

That said, I wasn't expecting the dust and/or tiny brown leaf debris to make its way into the lens itself. So far, this doesn't seem to impact IQ, but if anyone has a suggestion as to how to clean that stuff out of the lens, I'd be appreciative.

Thanks!

Greg

PS: Since this is a photography forum, here is a gratuitous photo of Bliss on point, taken this week with the lens in full tele mode - certainly seems sharp enough, despite the dirt in the lens:

For years, I had the RX100M1 and it lived in a pocket BUT I kept it in a sealed sandwich baggie. Never had a dust problem.

Just food for thought,

Bert

See above comment. If I kept the camera protected in a baggie, I would never be able to capture shots like the one below, which is the whole point of having the camera, to my mind:







Greg

--
Check out my photos at: https://www.flickr.com/gp/137747053@N07/4M38jj

 

[CameraCarl]

Have you considered for your situation that it might be better to carry your camera outside any pocket: on a camera strap around your neck. If these photos are typical of the conditions you hunt in, there may be more risk of dust getting in your camera if in a pocket than if simply exposed to the air.

 

[Birddogman]

I'll try the vacuum cleaner approach. Don't think it could do much harm.

I guess I use my cameras (a) as replaceable tools; and (b) in very harsh conditions at times; so I don't expect them to last nearly that long. I care much more about the images I get than the gadget I use to capture the image. Yet another example of use in harsh conditions (early season Montana blizzard), but, to my little mind anyway, a cool image:



Greg

--
Check out my photos at: https://www.flickr.com/gp/137747053@N07/4M38jj

 

[Birddogman]

Thanks for your kind input!

Yes, I have. If I'm carrying an ILC instead of a little pocket camera, I must do just that. However, it's just trading one problem for another - direct exposure to rain and snow. Just another day at work for Joy:



Direct exposure to blowing dust and vegetative debris in the endless strong wind when we are on the remote high plains out west. My partner, Nancy, and Bliss in Montana high sage grouse country:



And, most problematic, we literally battle through mile after mile of thick, heavy, tangled, often wet cover here in the east, anything hanging off one's body will get wet, beat-up and will hang up on branches and such, which will result in it either (a) being torn right off; or (b) bringing you to an instant stop being strangled around the neck - neither of which is conducive to what we are trying to do.

This is a pic of a Joy point and retrieve in the kind of cover we typically go through around here in the east. Imagine trying to climb through that stuff with something hanging off your neck.





Finally, if need to gun as well as manage the dogs, a camera strapped on the body WILL prevent a quick gun mount. The birds aren't goin to wait while I move the camera out of the way. If I'm only guiding, as here, I can carry an ILC and get some pretty good shots, showing the dog on point, the shooter and the bird in the air all at once, more easily than with a tiny pocket camera, but I can't do that when I need to gun as well, which is most of the time. A friend taking a pheasant over Joy:



All of this is a problem that I have obviously been trying to solve for many years, The best solution I have found to date is a high quality pocket camera - and the RX100 series fits that bill for me. Also, they are versatile enough that I can even shoot some decent landscape type shots of the beautiful wild places we get to explore on foot, if it is the only camera I happen to have with me when I come across something like that.





Best!

Greg

Regards,

Greg

--
Check out my photos at: https://www.flickr.com/gp/137747053@N07/4M38j

 

[Chris 222]

Greg,

Given your requirements the only thing that works is a sealed cam. Mine is old but I've seen pics from newer models and the IQ is more than acceptable.

 

[elliottnewcomb]

Vacuum those pockets. I use a nylon sunglasses drawstring bag until I get active, then naked in/out of clean pocket by yank of wriststrap.

Lens cloth wrapped around MagFilter CPL and spare battery in bottom of the nylon bag.

 

[d altman]

I have found the recent RX100 series cameras to have a problem of easily getting dust into the lens. I have had several versions of this camera. On my ver 6 my first one came with dust in it on arrival. Returned it and the next one had dust inside after a week. Even though I am anal about keeping my things pristine and in cases. My ver 7 doesn't seem to have dust yet, but I'm just expecting it. Maybe the long lens is to blame. Bottom line, even when taken care of, dust is a problem.

 

[Birddogman]

I have found the recent RX100 series cameras to have a problem of easily getting dust into the lens. I have had several versions of this camera. On my ver 6 my first one came with dust in it on arrival. Returned it and the next one had dust inside after a week. Even though I am anal about keeping my things pristine and in cases. My ver 7 doesn't seem to have dust yet, but I'm just expecting it. Maybe the long lens is to blame. Bottom line, even when taken care of, dust is a problem.

Interesting - and kind of disappointing.

 

[Birddogman]

Greg,

Given your requirements the only thing that works is a sealed cam. Mine is old but I've seen pics from newer models and the IQ is more than acceptable.

You may well be right. I've never looked at them - really like the size and capabilities of the RX100's.

 

[Birddogman]

Vacuum those pockets. I use a nylon sunglasses drawstring bag until I get active, then naked in/out of clean pocket by yank of wriststrap.

Lens cloth wrapped around MagFilter CPL and spare battery in bottom of the nylon bag.

Thanks, Elliott. Vacuuming pockets doesn't help. I dump all of the junk out of them each time before we go out. In ten minutes they are full of debris again.

 

[AlwynS]

I wonder if Sony would cover it under warranty? It should be new enough, couldn't hurt to ask.....

Thanks, but I wouldn't feel right to submit this as a warranty claim. There was nothing wrong with my camera. I caused the problem by the way I used it. It would be dishonest to say otherwise.

Kudos for this attitude. Refreshing to see in this day and age.