Cleaning a digital Rebel

[treehuggerhikerboy]

I seem to be getting some black spots on my pictures lately...I've cleaned and switched lenses, but they're still there in the exact same spot. A work friend told me to set the shutter to 30 seconds without the lens on, and when the shutter opens, carefully blow air into the camera.

Yay or nay? or any safe (and/or cheap) suggestions welcome!

thanks
dave

 

[woodsac]

I seem to be getting some black spots on my pictures lately...I've cleaned and switched lenses, but they're still there in the exact same spot. A work friend told me to set the shutter to 30 seconds without the lens on, and when the shutter opens, carefully blow air into the camera.

Yay or nay? or any safe (and/or cheap) suggestions welcome!

thanks
dave

A big NAY!!! Don't remove any lens when you have the power turned on. It will only attract more dust. Always turn the power off before you change lenses. And try to have the face of the camera pointing downward to keep dust in the air from setteling inside on your sensor. Do a search for sensor cleaning. There's lots of good info here. I have three small spots. I just take them out with PS :er:

 

[Big Mike]

There is a sensor cleaning mode, which holds the shutter open...but make sure the battery is fully charged so it doesn't close unexpectedly.

I've cleaned off some dust by holding the camera front-side-down and using a small blower on the sensor.

There are many sensor cleaning products and techniques (search for it). I've heard that some people do it as often as once a week but I've never 'cleaned' the sensor on my 20D after six months.

If there are only a few, it's very easy to get rid of them in PS. Easier than cleaning the sensor anyway. But I've read about it, and it doesn't look all that hard to go through the cleaning/swiping process.