Bushymonster Loc: Oklahoma City. OK.

Do they need to be greased or have some kind of lubricant applied. What all is there that needs to be oiled or cleaned and is there any video; to help you though the process.
-Bushy

hcmcdole

DO NOT oil or lubricate. Leave that to the repair center if you think there is something wrong.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Actually, Nikon has made at least one model that is self lubricating. It was a first in the camera industry and created a sensation when it was released!!! :lol: :lol:
SS

Delderby Loc: Derby UK

When I upgraded my G2 to a G5 I kept the old body and it now houses my 45-200 permanently. The G5 is attached to the 14-45 permanently.
Of course, being micro 4/3, the two cameras together are still quite a light kit. I have no dust probs, although both cameras have an auto clean device anyway. :-)

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

Never had to do it since owning a dslr in 2007. I'd only send it in for a cleaning if, A. I could live without it for a few weeks, or B. If the camera was not performing to spec.

I change lenses all the time, in pretty much any environment.

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

You must live in a clean environment. Not most of the world. LoL

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

Far from it...a white glove test in my house would be a nice shade of Pantone Cool Gray 11 after it went through my living room and bedroom...forget going into the kid's rooms.

I'm just lucky that all my cameras have had this:
http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_dust.asp

Lenses...that's a different story, those get cleaned regularly. Speaking of which, I generally keep my weather sealed lens on my body (or a prime) which helps with keeping the dust down.

Bugfan Loc: Toronto, Canada

If you mean "sensor" instead of "shutter" how often I clean my sensors depends on what I am doing. Two of my SLRs have rare lens changes, their sensors are usually good for about six months to a year, the earlier time when I'm working in dusty environments.

For my most used SLRs where I'm changing lenses frequently, I usually clean those sensors every three months or when I see specks on my images which ever comes first.

Don't worry about not having a self cleaning function, they are of minimal value. Basically they shake off loose dust from the sensor, nothing more. Any dust that is sticky remains there. In addition the dust that is shaken off rests on the bottom of the sensor where it's often shot back into the air in the mirror box by the shutter. Whether a camera has a self cleaning capability or not, you still have to clean your sensor almost as often.

The sensor can be cleaned professionally (for the squeamish) or you can do it yourself. The cleaning gear can be expensive but then so can sensor cleaning.

I clean at least four, sometimes six sensors in a year depending on where I went and what I photographed. At about forty dollars per cleaning that's roughly $160 to $240 per year. My entire collection of cleaning tools including a sensor loupe, brushes, swabs etc. cost me about $350. So in a little over a year I paid for the gear by doing it myself and I can clean sensors as they need it regardless of where I am.

Not all professional services will clean as you wait. And if you clean the camera today it might be fine for a year or it could need another cleaning a few days later. It makes more sense to learn how to clean the sensors.

In terms of when you need to clean, take a picture of a white piece of paper. Then load it into your photo editor and increase the contrast. Any specks on the sensor usually show up that way. When you find these it's time to do some cleaning. And remember that things are upside down. If the speck is on the top of the image, look for the dust at the bottom of the sensor. Similarly left and right are reversed too.

Kuzano

Your camera's new name will be "Brick". Use it for a door stop.

Seriously. :cry:

And WD40 is NOT a lubricant... It is a penetrating cleaning fluid. Not that that pertains to your question.

Bugfan Loc: Toronto, Canada

You don't say what kind of a camera you have so I can't comment specifically. I did however have a friend with a six year old Canon that also has an ultrasonic sensor cleaning capability. She never complained about the camera, she felt it was performing perfectly. And she never had it cleaned, after all it cleaned itself.

None the less knowing it was never cleaned in the six years she had it, I decided to clean it anyway. To my horror it wasn't just coated with dust, it was a fine sticky dust that accumulated over the years. It took me almost an hour and several wet swabs before I finally got it clean. After that was done suddenly the colours leapt out and each image was amazing. Needless to say she was pleased.

Unless you have some black spots on your images it looks like the sensor is always clean and OK. But it's not. Like all things, it gradually accumulates fine dust and debris but it does it so slowly that you never see a difference. Only when you clean it even when you don't think it's needed do you begin to appreciate what has accumulated over the years.

It's up to you but frankly I clean my sensors twice a year at minimum and sometimes four times a year. I also clean them before an important shoot. It depends on the number of lens changes and the environment in which I'm working. I do have a body that has a built in ultrasonic cleaner but I clean that one too. It makes quite a difference. The cleaning device is simply a placebo to make me think something is keeping my sensor clean even when it's not.

Give it a cleaning, you may be really surprised.

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

Current:
Olympus EM1, EPM2

Previous:
Olympus E500, E620, E5

My website can be found by clicking on my user name...but honestly, I've never had a sensor that "needed to be cleaned". Maybe it's an Olympus thing...cause I rarely ever hear of an Olympus user complain about a dirty sensor. Besides, our sensors are "so small" that dust can't even find it ;-)

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

What, the shutter? No, don't clean that! You likely mean the Sensor. Depends. Some models, usually the pricier and newer ones have automatic ultrasonic cleaning sensor assemblies and you can still manually clean the sensor very CAREFULLY if need be. You can either do it your self or have it professionally done. PLEASE look for detailed instructions before trying to clean it your self.

My newer Pentax K5 has an efficient ultrasonic system so I rarely find anything on my sensor. My older K20 has a more primitive "shaker". And my K100 is about the same as the K20, both needing manual cleaning from time to time. Up scale Canon, Nikon, Sony, etc. DSLRs have various auto sensor cleaning as well. Not sure about the lower or consumer priced models.

n3eg Loc: West coast USA

I had to clean the shutter in a film SLR once - I blew all the dust off everything front and back and everything was fine.
Never had to clean a shutter on anything digital, and have only seen the shutter when it was broken and stuck down.

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

Interesting article from Olympus. I thought the bit about tape catching the dust was a joke! Oh well, you never stop learning.

In the article it said they used an ultra sonic vibration to shake the sensor. My Pentax cameras have that . I can set it up just like yours so it vibrates each time I turn them on, or whenever I choose, or not at all. Similar to your's but no tape on bottom. LoL

Kuzano

I too have been using many different Olympus camera's employing the SSW self cleaning since the first DSLR in 2003, the E1, and most models up until my newest E-M10.

I have never needed to clean any Olympus 4/3, m4/3 sensors in all that time. Olympus is my primary choice.