PixInfo compared the sensor cleaning system of four different cameras from four different manufacturers: Canon EOS 400D, Olympus E-300, Pentax K10D and Sony Alpha A100. They started the test with an exhaustive manual sensor cleaning, since not all cameras arrived with entirely clean sensors. After that, shot a reference image with each camera to see the photo from a clean (or almost clean) sensor.
The second step was the dusting (not cleaning, but dirtying) process. Mirror are locked up and left the cameras laying on their backs for a few minutes with dusty air. This is when the exciting part started. The third step is to set the cameras to normal position (standing on their bottoms in landscape orientation), and performed two sensor-cleaning processes (turned the cameras on and off twice). Here’s the conclusion from the article:
“Here is our ranking according to effectiveness:
1. Olympus: good
2. Canon: poor (we are disappointed)
3. Pentax and Sony: useless (we are very disappointed)
If you are looking for a camera, have the dust removal as an expectation only at the end of your list. If sensor cleaning / dust removal is a must, the choices are limited to Olympus and Panasonic cameras. We guess that theoretically it is possible to get better results with Canon cameras when the CMOS sensor is not charged, but Canon must find a way to discharge the sensor first (if this is really the problem). If the system is so unreliable, the EOS-ICS is not much more than a good marketing name. In case of Sony, Pentax and Samsung cameras, the dust removal function should be considered as almost non-existent.
The final conclusion: keep your air blower handy, it is still your best tool against dust.”
Website : Canon Olympus Pentax Sony - Sensor Cleaning Compared
