An improvement in efficiency of the ultrasonic cleaning maybe ?
I know we’ve had this debate already, but now I’m convinced that the shutter helps keep dust off the sensor. I mentioned before that my R8 accumulates dust quite readily, where is my R3 does not. Well…did not. I recently noticed some spots in stopped-down shots that I had to clean up in post.
So what changed? I have been shooting primarily musical events lately, and have left the camera in silent mode for the past couple of months. I typically don’t look into the camera when changing lenses (I keep the mount opening pointed down), but the other day I happened to do so, and noticed that the bare sensor was staring back at me despite powering the camera off to change lenses as I typically do. I went into the settings to confirm that I had not somehow changed it to not close the shutter with the power off, and the setting was grayed out – apparently, that option is not available when the camera is in silent mode.
Same ultrasonic cleaning happening, only difference is the shutter wasn’t closing with the power off. So, I’ll clean the sensor…and stop leaving the camera in silent mode.
Incidentally, I suspect it’s about more than just lens changes. The camera spends a lot more time powered off than it does powered on, so there is a lot more time for dust to settle in the interior when the power is off. If the sensor is covered during that time, the dust will settle on the shutter and not the sensor.