jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

If you can see some spots in your pictures, it's usually easy to eliminate them with processing. If you have a lot of spots or a lot of images to process, then you eliminate them from the sensor.

par4fore Loc: Bay Shore N.Y.

Shoot a gray sky at f/22 and look at the photo for spots. Only clean professionally!

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

I aim my camera at the clear sky and i shoot with the lens out of focus every month, when I see spots, I clean my sensor. No spots, no cleaning.

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

Myth.......Easier than changing the oil in your car, MUCH easier. Follow directions, and use the right stuff, and you won't damage the sensor.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

The sensor should be cleaned when spots of dust are seen in the photographs.

Capn_Dave

I usually wait until I see hair on it and little pieces of rock. You can follow this method https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrdkFXsr5Us

dogo88

That was hilarious.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Take your camera outdoors.... set the lens aperture to the smallest possible (usually f/22 or f/16)... then take a photo of the clear blue sky. Actually, any plain surface or object without any detail will do.... just so long as there is no detail and the tonality is even throughout. Oh, and it doesn't matter if the lens is focused or not... but do try to get a reasonably bright image, which might require dialing in a stop or so + Exposure Compensation with a blue sky or a light tonality painted wall.

Now inspect the image. If there is dust, hair or anything else on your sensor, you'll see fuzzy, black "blobs" here and there. (Note: You'll almost always see something on there... but if it's tiny it usually won't show up in images are more "normal" lens apertures. You shouldn't be using f/16 or f/22 anyway.... Google "diffraction" to find out why.)

There is no set number of shots... "dust happens" randomly. Reasonable care when changing lenses makes sense, but it sounds to me as if you are going a bit overboard (though you aren't as fanatical as some who refuse to ever change a lens). I wouldn't leave a camera sitting around wide open, without at least a body cap or lens on it. And I'd change lenses promptly and might seek shelter on a really windy day. But other than that, I just don't worry about it.

It makes little difference. When you focus and/or zoom the lens, things move inside and, in many cases, the lens grows longer or shorter. That tends to move air in and out of the lens and camera, so dust and other tiny airborne things can get inside even if you never change the lens at all. Once inside the camera's mirror box, it still won't show up in images. Any particles need to get past the shutter onto the sensor itself (actually, onto the filter directly in front of and protecting the sensor, which is sealed off behind that filter).

I don't know about yours, but today many cameras have an automatic sensor self-cleaning cycle that runs when you first turn them on, which "shakes" the sensor momentarily and hopefully knocks off any dust. They also often have a slightly adhesive strip or two adjacent to the sensor to trap any tiny particles that are shaken off. This works pretty well and greatly reduces the frequency that manual cleanings are needed, compared to older cameras that didn't have that feature.

BTW, any dust particles you see through the viewfinder will not show up in photos. Those are on the focus screen or the mirror, and merely a minor annoyance. If the particle is sharply in focus, it's on the focus screen. If it's blurry and out of focus, it's on the mirror. Both mirror and focus screen are very asily damaged, so I don't recommend cleaning them yourself with anything more than a puff of air from a bulb blower (Rocket Blower or similar).

DO NOT USE "canned air" (too strong a blast, plus it can super cool objects or even spew propellant onto them... might do damage). Also DO NOT EVER use a common household swab (Q-Tip) anywhere inside a camera... those shed tiny, tough cotton fibers that can all too easily get into and jam fine mechanisms, such as those found in cameras.

Elsiss Loc: Bayside, NY, Boynton Beach, Fl.

I agree 100%

hookedupin2005 Loc: Northwestern New Mexico

A question to all: Would these cleaning instructions apply to a mirrorless also?

agillot

spend $ 25 for a small shop vac , it will clean the lenses front and rear , and also remove dust inside camera and sensor . and use it in your car .

bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

When the sensor needs cleaning, i.e.: when you can no longer stand the number of dust / dew spots in your pix. No set schedule.

bwa

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

When you see spots on your pictures that show up in the same place all the time no matter what lens you put on the body.

Charles P Loc: Southern Central NY State

Well, since the sensor will need periodic cleaning, here's a link that you might find helpful.
http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/ It's really very easy to do it yourself and save some money.