How to clean and disinfect your camera the Olympus way – not a parody
It’s funny. Olympus seems to have actually become more prolific since they announced their sale to JIP. They’ve announced the new OM-D E-M10 Mark IV camera, the 100-400mm f/5-6.3 IS lens, unveiled a new lens roadmap, and told us how their stabilisation works.
Ok, admittedly, that last one was filmed last October, but still, Olympus Europe has been going crazy on the video content lately. This one is really something, though. And no, it’s not just a meme. This is how Spanish extreme photographer Fernando Marmolejo really cleans his Olympus cameras.
Note: The video is in Spanish, but comes with English subtitles.
At first, this video might seem like all of those joke posts you see on social media where somebody dumps their DSLR in the dishwasher, or the sink or blasts it with a pressure washer, but it’s not. It’s actually a very in-depth video going over how to clean and disinfect your camera. And while Olympus weather sealing might be better than some other manufacturers, Fernando does show you how to clean non-weather-sealed bodies, too.
Fernando begins with the Olympus E-M10 Mark III. It’s not weather-sealed and he shows us how we can clean it safely. He still uses soap and water, but he’s very careful about where and how he applies it. Many of the tips for cleaning this camera may also apply to cameras from other manufacturers, too.
But once he switches over to E-M5 and E-M1 series cameras, it’s time to bust out the soapy spray bottles and a brush to really get into all those fine nooks and crannies. And to really drive the point home about the weather-sealing capabilities of these cameras, he even rinses them off in the shower. And, yes, he does show them still working.
Do bear in mind, that when cleaning your own cameras so thoroughly, there is an element of risk. You can still kill them quite easily if you’re not careful or make a mistake. Given that this now seems to be the official Olympus advice for cleaning their weather-sealed cameras, I wonder if your warranty’s still valid if you screw it up? Even if it is, I wouldn’t expect other manufacturers to be so forgiving.
