Effectiveness of Sony A100's dust removal system : Useless !!!???

[Clockunder]

http://pixinfo.com/en/articles/ccd-dust-removal/

Quote: Sony Alpha DSLR-A100 After seeing the results the Pentax K10D produced last year, I wasn't expecting too much from Sony's dust removal system. Unfortunately my suspicions were correct. The first two cleaning cycles has increased the number of spots on the sensor, just like we observed in the case of Pentax K10D. After the 25th cleaning we had exactly the same number of spots as we observed after the second cleaning. Effectiveness: 0% The air blower did a good job again, only about two dozens of particles remained on the sensor. The CCD is probably not charged, so the indium-tin layer is not just marketing-speak.

Quote: Dust removal conclusion Here is our ranking according to effectiveness: Olympus: good Canon: poor (we are disappointed) Pentax és Sony: useless (we are very disappointed)

[Darcy.Zhou]

Mine already has some dust...
Can feel the vib, but cannot see the effects

[zcf]

Canon don't seem to be any better though, more than 90% of dust didn't move at all.

Originally Posted by Clockunder http://pixinfo.com/en/articles/ccd-dust-removal/

clearly the author didn't take the advantage of indium-tin layer into account as part of the Alpha 100 dust removal system

Quote: The air blower did a good job again, only about two dozens of particles remained on the sensor. The CCD is probably not charged, so the indium-tin layer is not just marketing-speak.

Strangely it's the Sony and Pentax got the cleannest CCD after 1st blow

[sulhan]

Hi Guys,

IMHO the test is inaccurate. Dust being dust is very different in its nature and existence no two dust particles are the same - at least for the type of dust source for the reported experiment. Surface static charge accumulation plays a really really important part in this experiment. Questions such as this could be asked:
- how many dust particles are there (dust count)
- What is the surface static electricity charge level - this will really really effect adhesion
effect of the dust.
- Whan you blow with the blower, can we guarantee that there is no dust emitted by the blower - a strile blower?

So.....lets forget about whos is better than whoose etc...In any case to me ....all of these solution solves some dust problem in away or another.

[wind30]

actually,

I feel it is very impt to see which system is effective and which is marketing bullshit. We all know the recent branding of high ISO by P&S manufacturers as image stabilization.

Consumers need more information so we can make good buying decisions.

So it is always nice to have actual users feedback on how the system is working so far. From what I read, it seems that only the olympus system is effective on actual usage.

[tankm]

Another observation on the posted dust photos. The picture of dust on the Olympus is somewhat not as clearly defined compared to the other 3. This probably indicate a larger aperture is used to take the picture compare to the other 3 which uses smaller aperture.

As you all know, aperture plays a part in how well we can actually spot/see the dust sensor. Dust is less visible when the photo is taken at a larger aperture.

One thing that's true is that the SONY Mechanical Sensor cleaning is really not effective. Never really bother to use it much, most of time is blower or sensor swab for persistent dust.

In the field, even an effective in-built camera dust cleaning solution is no use, cause the dust is still trap inside the camera body. Olympus do have a sticky tape at the bottom of the sensor, but that's no guarantee that the dust will always fall onto it, and eventually it will be filled or the sticky chemical is no longer effective.

[tomcat]

Originally Posted by tankm Another observation on the posted dust photos. The picture of dust on the Olympus is somewhat not as clearly defined compared to the other 3. This probably indicate a larger aperture is used to take the picture compare to the other 3 which uses smaller aperture. As you all know, aperture plays a part in how well we can actually spot/see the dust sensor. Dust is less visible when the photo is taken at a larger aperture.

This is because....
The dust particles are less visible because the sensor is smaller, and the protecting foil is probably further away from the sensor than in the other tested cameras.

It would be really hard to believe that the testers deliberately shot the Olympus at a larger aperture setting compared to the other cameras being tested. That would be tantamount to cheating.

[ahbeng]

Originally Posted by wind30 actually, I feel it is very impt to see which system is effective and which is marketing bullshit. We all know the recent branding of high ISO by P&S manufacturers as image stabilization. Consumers need more information so we can make good buying decisions. So it is always nice to have actual users feedback on how the system is working so far. From what I read, it seems that only the olympus system is effective on actual usage.

Its more important consumer get accurate imformation for judgement. Any blind man can tell that the dust right in the beginning on olympus somehow look different the rest. The test is not justifiable at all.

[Rashkae]

Originally Posted by tomcat That would be tantamount to cheating.

And this happens all the time. If the reviewer is mainly an olympus man, he'll be biased.

That being said, I don't trust *ANY* built-in dust cleaning anyways. The blower has always been reliable.

[wind30]

Originally Posted by Rashkae And this happens all the time. If the reviewer is mainly an olympus man, he'll be biased. That being said, I don't trust *ANY* built-in dust cleaning anyways. The blower has always been reliable.

mmm... have you used olympus DSLRs b4? I had fujifilm, KM, oly, Nikon DSLRs b4 and olympus is the only one which I do not have any dust issues.

Basically I had the oly E1 for some months and there were no dust. I bought a second hand E300 which is close to 2 years old and I see only 1-2 dust spots in it (the system is not foolproof). I also have a brand new E330 for like 2 months and still no dust. The point is, olympus is the ONLY system that is TRIED and TESTED by users and found to be effective.

I read up on Sony forum's and the concensus among Sony users is that the dust buster is NOT effective.

This I feel is better than any isolated test on the web.

[Agetan]

My 7D was clean once for dusk (err.. actually it is more like an oil dot, don't know how it got there). Then most of the time, I just put it on "clean ccd" and then use the blower brush, I never really see any dust spots on my CCD over 2 years period... strange, but not sure why...

So it is kind of strange to me when people talking about dusk on sensor.

Friend of mine, who uses Canon stuff and she swears that even after Canon service center clean the camera, the dusk just stick to it again within seconds...

But has seen many reports saying that the A-100 dusk removal system is not working.

Hart

[mastermind]

Originally Posted by Agetan My 7D was clean once for dusk (err.. actually it is more like an oil dot, don't know how it got there). Then most of the time, I just put it on "clean ccd" and then use the blower brush, I never really see any dust spots on my CCD over 2 years period... strange, but not sure why... So it is kind of strange to me when people talking about dusk on sensor. Friend of mine, who uses Canon stuff and she swears that even after Canon service center clean the camera, the dusk just stick to it again within seconds... But has seen many reports saying that the A-100 dusk removal system is not working. Hart

Same observation here. Had dust problems a few months back and was disappointed with the anti dust of A100. But after blowing it off, it has been months and many lens change but not a single dust found after that. Not sure why but its just so... Anyone had the same observation too?

[satay16]

actually, still curious why none of them uses the sigma method. patented? sigma method i think is better, cos got dust no dust, you cant see them even at small aperture.

[tankm]

Not sure how effective this is. If you look at KM and Alpha DSLR, there is already another protective cover over the sensor which is the shutter, and yet dust still find it's way onto the sensor.

Originally Posted by satay16 actually, still curious why none of them uses the sigma method. patented? sigma method i think is better, cos got dust no dust, you cant see them even at small aperture.

[Agetan]

Shutter moves and dust particle just stick to the sensor because of the electric charge.



Hart

[satay16]

Originally Posted by tankm Not sure how effective this is. If you look at KM and Alpha DSLR, there is already another protective cover over the sensor which is the shutter, and yet dust still find it's way onto the sensor.

but shutter not dust type cover. if dust settle on shutter, shutter opens, dust falls.

the only weakness i can find in sigma's design is that if the dust somehow finds its way onto the ccd, the only way to clean it is to send it for servicing. but if their design is totally dustproof from the covering to the ccd, i dun think that will happen.

[tankm]

The whole camera has to be dust proof as well.

Originally Posted by satay16 but shutter not dust type cover. if dust settle on shutter, shutter opens, dust falls. the only weakness i can find in sigma's design is that if the dust somehow finds its way onto the ccd, the only way to clean it is to send it for servicing. but if their design is totally dustproof from the covering to the ccd, i dun think that will happen.

[Rashkae]

That's the benefit of the comacts/prosumers. They really don't have these problems.