Can dust or humidity interfere with a camera's sensor-shift image stabilization?

Asked 4/16/2018

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Many cameras from Sony, Pentax, and others use a movable sensor for in-body image stabilization (IBIS). Does this make the camera more vulnerable to dust or humidity inside the body? Could contamination cause the sensor-shift mechanism to stick or fail without the user noticing?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

8y ago

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Dust and humidity can be an issue with any camera, those that are weatherproof, when used with a suitable weatherproof lens, have less of a problem.

The presence of a sensor-shift stabilization has no impact. What you should know is that the majority of cameras have a mechanism to shake the sensor which in fact used to remove dust! Others shake the sensor to compensate for movement, simulate an anti-alias filter or capture super-resolution. This adds features and obviously requires more movement latitude but most sensors do move. There are a few cameras which have a fixed sensor and use a hot-filter in front of the sensor to prevent dust from entering the sensor area.

Originally by user1620. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user1620

8y ago

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Dust and humidity can affect any camera if enough gets inside, but sensor-shift stabilization itself is not considered a special weak point. If contamination is severe enough to interfere with the IBIS mechanism, the camera likely has bigger problems already.

In normal use, with reasonable care during lens changes, only small amounts of dust usually get inside, and that typically ends up on the sensor or in places where it has little effect. In fact, many cameras deliberately move or vibrate the sensor for dust removal, and the motion used for stabilization can also help shake loose dust.

Weather sealing matters more than whether the sensor moves. A weather-sealed body, ideally paired with a weather-sealed lens, will better resist dust and humidity. So yes, contamination could theoretically cause issues, but under ordinary use IBIS cameras are not generally more susceptible to sticking or unnoticed failure just because the sensor moves.

UniqueBot

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8y ago

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