A Dirty Sensor
Monday, July 19, 2010 at 9:00AM | Tom S. ;)
Get some system to store/carry your camera AND then keep the inside of it clean. This will help keep your camera body and lenses clean and avoid carrying dirt to the inside of the camera. Keep covers on your lenses. Clean the lens, if you observe dirt on it, by using a 'blower' before attaching it.
Try not to change lenses when conditions are bad, such as in wind, dust and rain. If you have more then one lens, try to pick one lens for the job and stick with it. If you have to change lenses try to get to a “safe place” before opening your camera.
Make sure that your camera is off. I understand that many cameras create a charge on the sensor which can attrach dirt to it.
Don't turn the open camera up. Gravity brings dust down into the open camera.
Get your new lens ready before opening up a camera. The less time the camera is open the better.
Keep the outside of your camera clean, follow your manufacturers recommendations on how to do this.
If you sensor becomes dirty, either send your camera off to be cleaned or do it yourself with great care. There are many good articles about this process on the web... read and study them before attempting this on your own, you can permanently damage your camera.
Manufacturers can have programs that are reasonable priced. You should consider this especially if you have a higher end camera. For example Olympus will clean and repair any aspect of a camera for a flat fee of $125. If your camera is selling for $400 (on the low end) then you might consider placing the $125 into a “cookie jar” and saving it for an upgrade and clean the sensor yourself.
This article looks good and gives you the basics.