OM-D sensor cleaning

[Greg D]

Most camera manufacturers warn you to never touch the sensor with anything other than air - send it in for cleaning instead.  Most of us, of course, ignore that advice and clean away.  However, Thom Hogan suggests that in the case of the Olympus (and presumably other manufacturers') cameras with in-body stabilization, this might actually be true.  What are your experiences?  Do you wet-clean the sensors on these cameras?  Ever damaged one doing so?

[Telecaster]

I've cleaned my E-M5's sensor at least four times with anti-static brushes followed by swabs & Eclipse fluid. This was all in the first few months of owning the camera, after loaning it to friends & acquaintances who saw nothing wrong with letting it sit around lens-less with the sensor exposed.     Needless to say their user privileges were revoked. Anyway, no harm done to the sensor or the stabilization system. I was gentle & careful with the cleaning.

(A few weeks ago, in the midst of fighting off a cold, I somehow managed to spray part of my Sony A7r's sensor with nasal drippage or saliva while changing lenses. Making matters even worse, I initially didn't realize what I'd done…I thought the blobs in my photos were due to dust, so I gave the sensor a brushing off. Which only smeared the goop all over the lower left quarter of the thing. I finally got the sensor clean by using a couple swabs, then some forceful scrubbing with a Q-tip, followed by more swabs. The sensor looks pristine now, and there are no hints of anything amiss in the photos I've since taken. I now keep white dust masks in my A7r & E-M1 bags, and next time I get the sniffles I intend to wear 'em while lens swapping. A cautionary tale.)

-Dave-

[David S]

Two years ago, I directly asked an Olympus rep who happened to be in the camera shop when I was and he was most definite "Do not clean it yourself" adding that you might, sometimes, get away with it but he really was most insistent so I would hesitate except in an emergency situation.

Dave S

[AFairley]

I suspect the Olympus is a special case because of the 5-axis stabilization which might have a more delicately "sprung" mounting system.

[Telecaster]

I suspect the Olympus is a special case because of the 5-axis stabilization which might have a more delicately "sprung" mounting system.

Yes, when you put pressure on the EM-1/5's sensor with a brush or swab you can feel it move a bit. I definitely wouldn't dare to clean it with anything like the pressure I used when cleaning the A7r's sensor. But so long as you're careful, using a light touch, you should be fine.

Note: if at all in doubt, leave it alone.

-Dave-

[Greg D]

Thanks all!

[OldRoy]

I posted the following some time ago on a previous thread:

I have an E M5. About 6 months ago I noticed serious sensor pollution well within the warranty period. I investigated the options. Inevitably, asking for other people's experience on internet forums produced a blizzard of contradictory responses (what did I expect?) But at least one user online reported that he'd successfully wet cleaned the sensor himself, IBIS notwithstanding.

The Olympus dealers who supplied the camera (Park Cameras) offered to clean it for me as a chargeable service although they came up with at least 3 different sets of prices and turnarounds. Olympus indicated that it was a return to factory requirement and not dealer serviceable: I suggested they notify dealers of this fact. Jeeze!  I returned it to Olympus who sent it to their Portuguese centre.

It came back two weeks later, as promised. A few hours later I took it out and shot some casual snaps. The camera began behaving extremely unstably within a couple of dozen actuations - freezing up in a variety of different ways as well as various other weird manifestations. I tried a range of tests including using different lenses and warm-up periods as well as playing around with operating modes however I could detect no obvious correlations. I called Olympus and, of course, was asked to return it. Each courier visit eats up at least half a day.

When I got it back it began behaving oddly almost immediately although not quite as severely as previously. However I noticed that the sensor was covered in dead pixels which could even be seen via the EVF! I called Olympus and was asked to return it again. Cue impotent fury.

Eventually after clawing my way up Olympus' European food chain I managed to get the camera swapped (as I'd repeatedly requested) for a new replacement - after all I'd sent in a perfectly serviceable camera which they had broken and failed to rectify. To Olympus' credit they gave me an extended new warranty by way of compensation. Two months of headache. At least my D700 got some exercise.

Sometimes even taking the safe option doesn't necessarily work out as planned.

I should say that at the time this whole pantomime cost me a great deal of wasted time in terms of phone calls and emails and waiting around for couriers. Had I not been so persistent I wouldn't have found my way (eventually) to the level of management (in Amsterdam) required to authorise both a replacement and extended warranty. But at least Olympus weren't in denial about their culpability - unlike Microsoft in my protracted battle over the appalling SP2/128 that I'm (unfortunately) stuck with.

BTW for those of you have bought or contemplate buying into the misconceived and mal-executed "Surface" range be warned that it'll cost you about £180  (+ UK VAT) to replace an expired battery (an iPad costs £80 for the same service). Alternatively you can either just throw the device away or lug a generator everywhere. After months of trying to establish what battery replacement would cost - and no wonder they were so coy about it - they eventually called me and quoted a service price of £740: I'm not making that up. Three days later they phoned me again and revised this down to the figure above.
Roy

[Remo Nonaz]

Do the members of this forum think that mirrorless cameras are less prone to sensor dust? I've never owned a DSLR but I've owned a GH2 for three years and never had to clean the sensor. I am careful about how I change lenses and never leave the camera body open. Still, I get the sense that the dirt and dust issue just isn't such a big problem when you don't have a big mirror box and a flapping mirror blowing stuff all over the place.

[Telecaster]

Do the members of this forum think that mirrorless cameras are less prone to sensor dust?

I can't say I've had serious dust issues with any electronic camera I've owned. Both Leica M8.2s I bought used last April needed a good cleaning, but since then they've been spotless. I've never seen dust spots with any m43 camera I've owned except as noted above in this thread. Aside from gooping the A7r's sensor, also as noted above, it too has been spotless. And I change lenses a lot! During the time I used Canon D-SLRs (2003–2006) I had to brush the sensors a few times per year…that was prior to vibration-based cleaning.

-Dave-