Choice - Olympus or Fuji - concerning sensor cleaning

[trevorlittlewood]

My first post in the LuLa Forum...

Last year I was about to buy into the Fujifilm XT-1 system when, in a local camera shop I was shown the Olympus OMD EM1. I was seduced and a short time afterwards I went for the Olympus; I'm absolutely satisfied with the camera and the 12-40 f2.8 lens that I bought with it.

However this far I've never had the lens off the camera and so never exposed the sensor to the atmosphere and so to dust!

I'm wanting more lenses but before buying I'm worrying about sensor dust once I begin to swap them on a regular basis.

(BTW, I'm not new to this game - I have Nikon cameras , both film & digital with a whole complement of lenses.)

It's not just the dust that worries me - after all if I had the Fuji there'd be just as much chance of getting dust on that sensor as on the Olympus... just as there is on my Nikons.

No, the issue with the Olympus is that cleaning the sensor may well be more problematic than with other (all other?) camera brands.

No camera manufacturer recommends cleaning of sensors at home - of course they'd much rather you send the camera in so that they can charge you for it!

Naturally there's the possibility of damaging the sensor by careless cleaning but the argument is that with the Olympus, there another issue - that by the cleaning process one can harm the alignment of the 'floating' sensor.

I've researched this issue on the internet and found folk who'll say one should never do it and others who tell that they've done it and that there's no more problem than with any other make of digital camera - polarised opinions as one so often finds!

The problem is you've no idea what the level of knowledge/expertise the opinion is coming from.

So my dilemma is whether to stay with the Olympus and risk cleaning the sensor when necessary or, turn to Fuji and feel more confident (but still reluctant) about sensor cleaning.

What do others actually KNOW about sensor cleaning the Olympus OMD series of cameras?

Trevor L.

[b_rubenstein]

I've had Olympus µ4/3 cameras since 2012 and I don't recall an instance where the ultrasonic self cleaning didn't remove whatever dust there might have been on the sensor. Keep in mind that simple dust is easily removed. The crud that winds up on the sensor in DSLRs comes from lubricants and bits of foam from the mirror bumper and moved around in the mirror box by the flapping mirror. When I was using DSLRs, I had to check, and usually clean, the sensor before every important shoot. Sensor cleaning is just needed much less often.

[Internaut]

All I know is it works.  It works to this day on my E-510 (bought 2007), E-30, E-PL1 (I really need to get rid of some cameras), E-PM2 and E-P5.  On the Pens, I change lenses often.  In addition to the 12-40, I also often use the 45 f1.8 and 25 f1.8 lenses (and three pancake lenses on the Pen Mini).  My first DSLR was a Nikon D40, which quickly succumbed to dust.  Clumsy old me made a bit of a mess of dealing with that.....

[rdonson]

I've had Olympus µ4/3 cameras since 2012 and I don't recall an instance where the ultrasonic self cleaning didn't remove whatever dust there might have been on the sensor. Keep in mind that simple dust is easily removed. The crud that winds up on the sensor in DSLRs comes from lubricants and bits of foam from the mirror bumper and moved around in the mirror box by the flapping mirror. When I was using DSLRs, I had to check, and usually clean, the sensor before every important shoot. Sensor cleaning is just needed much less often.

This reflects my experience as well.  My Canon 5D required sooooo much cleaning I stopped using it.  It was the over lubrication that made my life miserable.  Newer Canon's that shake the sensor have improved things but sensor cleaning is still periodically required.

I've yet to see spots on my Fuji X-T1 but that doesn't mean that others haven't

[Pete Berry]

Six years of five m4/3 cameras - GH1,2,3,4 and EPL-1 - and maybe two dust spot artifacts, both cleared with a rocket blower. And with the Pannys, absolutely no CA correction needed on images including cropped A2 with a wide variety of native and legacy lenses. The Canon days image PP started with the rituals of dust-spotting and manual CA correction...

Pete

[pcgpcg]

Have had my E-M1 since they were first available and have never had any noticeable dust on the sensor. I'm quick and careful when I change lenses and so far no problems.

[Rand47]

Trevor,

As you can see from the replies so far, "It ain't no big deal."
My sense when I first read your post is that you're worrying way too much about this issue.  Learning to clean a sensor when necessary is easy.  Learning the "best choice" of cleaning materials for your particular camera/sensor is easy to research on various web board dedicated to your camera type.  Ultimately, with almost any mirrorless system today what you'll find is that 99.9% of dust spots you get will be quite easily remedied with using a good quality puff blower (rocket blower, etc.).  If you were to get something more stubborn, learning to do a wet cleaning isn't nearly as dangerous, traumatic or mysterious as it might appear, unless you have real problems with fine muscle motor control.  Any average, fairly handy, person can do it with relative ease.

In fact (though I'd not necessarily recommend it) I just read a thread on another forum where lots of professional photographers have resorted to just using good quality Q-tips to clean their sensors!

So, don't worry about it.  Both Fuji and Olympus "dust shakers" are quite effective.  Go for the camera that fits you best!  Learning to keep your sensor clean is both do-able and a normal part of owning an interchangeable lens camera system.

Rand

[trevorlittlewood]

Thanks to all of those who have responded so far to my posting - there's plenty of reassurance there but no one so far has answered my fundamental query which, in more detail was...

Is there anything fundamentally different about the cleaning of Olympus OMD sensors in that some folk suggest that the image stabilisation system could be damaged - misaligned perhaps - by the physical contact that has to be made if for example a sensor swab is used?

Trevor L.

[spidermike]

I have cleaned my E-M5 sensor with a lenspen and it has not affected the camera's image quality - mind you I was extremely careful 'just in case'. If it was truly harmful to the camera do you not think the manufacturer would put a big fat warning in the manual?
Mind you even my 7D2 talks only about using air blower and any direct cleaning of the sensor must be done by a Canon service centre.


On this LL thread:  http://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=74701.0

Just received this reply from Olympus.
----------
The sensor should not be cleaned by a user for two very important reasons:
1: When the camera is turned off the sensor is loose. When powered on, the
sensor is suspended in a magnetic field to enable the five-axis image
stabilization.
2: If the sensor is cleaned by a user using a swab, the anti-static coating
on the sensor is wiped off. Our repair technicians replace the coating when
they perform service.
Cleaning is not mentioned in the manual because from the beginning of our
DSLR/PEN/OMD program, we have employed a Supersonic Wave Filter to shake
dust off of our sensors, a feature other digital camera manufacturers have
neglected to employ.

[Jim Pascoe]

Thanks to all of those who have responded so far to my posting - there's plenty of reassurance there but no one so far has answered my fundamental query which, in more detail was...

Is there anything fundamentally different about the cleaning of Olympus OMD sensors in that some folk suggest that the image stabilisation system could be damaged - misaligned perhaps - by the physical contact that has to be made if for example a sensor swab is used?

Trevor L.

Trevor - I agree with the person who says you are worrying too much.  I've had my EM-1 for almost a year, and before that Panasonic cameras for around four years, and never cleaned a sensor once.  And believe me I change lenses a lot.  It is just not an issue in my view. However I cannot answer your question.  I Have direct experience of six Canon DSLR's since 2001 and that story is very different....... (great cameras though).

Jim