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Comment by Geeflow | Hacker News Reader

Given that the current solutions (just vibrate the sensor) work pretty well in most cases and that the proposed solution adds quite a layer of complexity I doubt that this will find widespread adoption.

I still love that this would actually remove the dust from the body though. I never had a problem with the vibrating-sensor-solution, but it always bothers me that all the dust just gets moved around in the body without really being gone.

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My experience of cleaning sensors by vibrating the sensor isn't great - I don't recall it shifting any visible spots of dust/debris. Perhaps it's more effective on some models, I imagine those with IBIS have the advantage here.

For me, swabbing the sensor (of my D500) a couple of times a year is the only solution.

Probably vibrating the sensor works with tiny invisible specks but I agree that swabbing is the only solution for those big enough to be visible in pictures. My previous camera (Canon 700D) survived about 2 years w/o swabbing because I was very careful when changing lenses. Once I got thoughtless while changing (left the body open for too long while it was windy), the sensor vibration never had a chance.

Before swabbing, consider blowing off the dust with a little squeezy blower.

The sensor-shake works better after you leave the camera in a low humidity ambient for a while.

> Given that the current solutions (just vibrate the sensor) work pretty well in most cases and that the proposed solution adds quite a layer of complexity I doubt that this will find widespread adoption.

Especially since making those motors more agile generally improves IBIS as well.

> ...but it always bothers me that all the dust just gets moved around in the body without really being gone.

You're meant to do the actual cleaning indoors in a place with relatively dust-free air.

If you have a bathroom with controllable ventilation, what you can do is turn the ventilation to low, then run the shower so hot the air fills with steam, then stop the shower and wait until the steam settles and the humidity is "safe" for your electronics. Then you will have really clean air. If you're super diligent, do it in your underwear, and bring your camera into the room in a closed ziploc bag before you start, so you can avoid opening the door at all.

That's an excellent method I hadn't considered.

> do it in your underwear

Or in the nude, if we're finally post-Victorian.

I'm getting a kick out of the image of getting spotted by a housemate while walking to the bathroom, fully nude with a DSLR.

"Hey asteli, whatcha doin?"

"Aaaah, cleaning the sensor. Yep. Definitely that."

> You're meant to do the actual cleaning indoors in a place with relatively dust-free air.

Well that's a disappointment. I was picturing a friend of mine who goes to burning man to take photos. Poof camera full of dust!

Maybe I just got lucky, but I never had a single speck of dust on my 10-11 year old Canon P450D's sensor (which I very recently sold).

I used to travel extensively with it, especially across Asia, swapping between the stock lens and a 270mm Sigma as needed.

I'm not a professional photographer, so obviously never used as much as one, but it still got plenty use.

Did I just get lucky?

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