Spot On Sensor

My new Nikon D70s has developed a spot of dirt on the sensor. The camera manual discourages cleaning by anyone other than a Nikon service center. What is the prevailing wisdom? Should I attempt to clean this spot myself, or should I send the camera to a Nikon service center? Would the answer to this question differ if the spot can be removed by a simple manual air blower?

If you are going to send the camera back for service every time you discover a dust spot on the sensor then the technicians will spend more time with your camera than you do.

- Learn to swap lenses in the least trying circumstances

- Get a good blower bulb or a foot operated pump

- using a well-charged battery or AC adapter follow the manual to lock up the mirror for cleaning and carefully blow out the interior of the camera

I use a foot pump as it gives me a solid air stream. I never put the plastic nozzle into the film chamber to avoid having the shutter accidently close on it.

Finally, get used to the healing brush in Photo Shop for the spots that will still occur.

You said nothing about what the spot looks like.
Since digital, with its sensors, is totaly different than film,
not all spots you find in an image are dust.
They could also be dead pixels.

Do a Google search on "sensor cleaning" You'll come up with tons of information.
Also search this forum as this has been discussed quite a bit.
Here are a few sites to get you started:
http://www.pbase.com/copperhill/ccd_cleaning
http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/
http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/where-is-that-dust.html
http://www.bythom.com/cleaning.htm

The blower is the first cleaning option. Personally, I've never had much luck with it. There are several other methods available: brushes, swabs, lenspens, etc. I use sensor swabs with eclipse--not cheap, but not horribly expensive for something I only use every few months.

I find that in most images dust on the sensor isn't a problem. It's only really visible in skies or other smooth areas (where cloning is easy), and only then at small apertures. That's why I don't clean every time I notice a dust spot--I wait for there to be several, and I find myself cloning a lot...

-Paul

The spot is definitely dirt on the sensor. I can see it on the surface of the sensor with the mirror up. The problem occurs with all lenses. And the problem arose only recently. I would wipe the sensor with a swab and solvent (but I will try the air blower first). But what swab and what solvent?

Thanks, Richard. Your point is a good one.

First, do it yourself, carefully.

I use Eclipse solution and Pec Pad swabs sized for my camera sensor. In a search engine, these key words along with "sensor" will bring up a whole lot of suppliers, techniques, etc. Just make sure you get the swab size that fits your camera sensor.