Window in front of sensor on E-M1

I believe you are referring to the automatic sensor cleaning unit. It vibrates at ultrasonic speeds to shed dust at the time the camera is turned on.

Short of modified cameras, you are never cleaning the actual sensor. There is a filter stack on top of the sensor.

 

The top level is glass, which is part of the assembly that is ultrasonically shaken to remove dust. This layer may also have some filter properties, I've read that the stack of filters and glass above many M43 sensors is almost 4 mm thick. While we cannot touch the silicon, we can scratch the top level or leave it dirty..

The whole assembly moves on the EM1, EM5, probably the EM10, and the EP5 because it floats on magnetic bearings when the camera is powered up. It's suppossed to be parked when the cameras get powered off, but can still be pushed around.

I've cleaned my EM5 sensor three times now. Used sensor swab with a drop of Eclipse lens cleaner as solvent. I found that the assembly gets locked down if I leave the power on, so that's how I have done the last two cleans. although it can still move if you press too hard. Proceed at your own risk.

 

You should be trying with a blower bulb first, without touching the sensor assembly, to remove any dust.
Only if that fails should you resort to a swab method. Failing that, the service tech is your friend...

 

I fumbled my E-M1 while changing lenses and put a dirty great fingerprint on the sensor. I had my local shop do a wet clean and 6 months later have no noticed any difference (assuming the wet clean strips the anti static coating) and it doesn't seem to have been detrimental to it at all.

 

I do have pre-moistened swabs, but they may dry out in the package, I bought a pack in 2012and rarely use them. So I have been putting a drop of Eclipse on them.

Internet has lots of advice on anti-static on the 16MP sensors. The Olympus literature has none. The same cover glass is used in the GH4, GX7, GM1, EPL5, etc,, I believe, and there's been no internet cautions that I know of about antistatic coatings on them. The Olympus manuals do say not to touch or wipe the imager.

 

0. You have NEVER cleaned a sensor...EVERY sensor has multiple layers of glass in front of it. One of the layers is the "hot mirror" which blocks infrared light. Another layer (if the camera has it) is an anti-aliasing filter. Olympus also adds the SSWF filter which vibrates to shake off dust when you power on the camera, and that's what you are cleaning. For instance, this is Canon 60D sensor layout just to show on other cameras you are NOT cleaning the sensor itself:

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1. The entire sensor sandwich moves on the E-M1...that's the image stabilization. It is designed to float when off:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT2XVHccqfo

2. As already explained, you can't!

3. The end user isn't supposed to clean the sensor on the OM-D cameras because of the moving sensor and SSWF because it's easy to damage the mechanism...you need to send it to Olympus or Olympus repair outlet. Maybe a store that sells Olympus cameras has the skil to clean the E-M1 sensor.

 

I've cleaned my E-M5 several times now with no apparent ill effects. I did it with the camera turned off and laying flat down. By using only light pressure, via a SensorSwab, the IBIS mechanism didn't move. With a few clean swabs and Eclipse fluid, it cleaned up beautifully and with no residue marks. I'm personally sceptical about this anti-static coating story. The SSWF seems no less effective now than it used to be and the incidence of dust is no worse after my cleaning sessions.

YMMV of course - and remember, go easy!!

 

Are you sure you need to clean the sensor as often as you think? I live in the dry dusty desert southwest and have never had an issue with dirty sensors on my Olympus products: multiple E1's, E3, EP1, EP2, Multiple EM5's and now EM1. My Nikon and Canon files from all those years are strewn with dust spots. It is one reason I keep coming back to Olympus! I hate cleaning spots on the computer.

 

If air doesn't get the dust, I usually use a soft swab to kind of nudge stubborn specks and then air usually takes care of them. Only wet swabbed maybe once.

EM10•GX1•EP1•GF3•9mmBCL•17mm2.8•30mm2.8

 

I've NEVER had to clean a FourThirds sensor as long as I've used them, since 2005, since the SSWF works so well. It's only if you get something sticky like pollen on the sensor.