Automated Sensor Cleaning

Automated Sensor Cleaning – Does it work?

By Robert • April 8, 2007

The latest marketing buzz for digital SLRs is built-in sensor cleaning. Dust attaching itself to the sensor is one big negative for using an interchangeable lens system. Manufacturers are forced to address this issue or risk getting left behind by the competition.

Manufacturers are using different techniques to get rid of the dust from the image sensor. They all promise clean, dust free images.

Olympus was the only manufacturer to offer dust reduction for a long time. Then, Olympus lost its monopoly on dust reduction systems when Sony announced the Sony Alpha DSLR-A100 digital SLR camera in June 2006. This camera used the CCD-shifting technology (originally developed by Konica Minolta) to provide sensor cleaning functionality.

Sony was closely followed by Canon with the introduction of the EOS 400D, which also promised a solution to the dust problem. The Canon press release described a technology very similar to the Olympus SWF system. Canon describes their sensor cleaning technology in this YouTube video:

The last manufacturer to introduce a cleaning system was Pentax. The technology used in the Pentax K10D is somewhat similar to the one found in the Sony DSLR-A100. The image sensor is equipped with a CCD-shifting functionality which is also used for sensor cleaning when needed.

How well do they work? PixInfo.com (a Hungarian site) has recently published an evaluation of the systems described above.

Here is the PixInfo.com ranking according to effectiveness:

Canon: poor
Olympus: good
Pentax: useless
Sony: useless

Yikes! This is not good.

PixInfo points out that theoretically it is possible to get better results with the Canon system when the CMOS sensor is not charged. However, Canon must find a way to discharge the sensor first. In case of Sony and Pentax cameras, the dust removal function should be considered as almost non-existent.

Conclusion: keep your air blower handy or get an Arctic Butterfly.

Visible Dust Arctic Butterfly SL700 Sensor Brush with Case