New 7D came with spots in viewfinder and on sensor

That's what I did already. I tried two different lenses, doesn't make a difference. I looked into it with an LED flashlight and there clearly is stuff stuck on the sensor that does not move no matter how much I blow into it

I've always been very careful when and where to change lenses, and I've never had any issues before using my 350D for 2 years.

sensor swabs ^__^

Buy a sensorklear pen. I've used it multiple times on an XT and a 5D and it works perfect. Haven't had to use it on the 7D yet. They are relatively cheap too. You could also find them in any local camera store.

As far as voiding your warranty, it won't unless you stab at the sensor or something. Dust is a part of the nature of DSLRs. And Canon isn't the only people who have dust out of the box. Cameras are not made in dust-free environments, neither are lenses. They try their best to keep them clean but it won't happen 100% of the time.

SensorKlear Pen

I will look at the sensorklear pen, it sounds interesting.

As for this situation, I decided I am just going to send the camera back. It's not just about the dust on the sensor but there is also a lot of dust in the viewfinder, more than my 350D has ever accumulated without cleaning it.

Also it seemed like the packaging had been opened before, so all that leads me to believe that it has been used before. So when I pay that much money I would like to get an unused one.

So I'll call the store tomorrow, and hope that they will exchange it for a new one.

Just clean the sensor. There is nothing wrong with the camera......don't send it back for a new camera....no wonder cameras cost so much...people just say.....hell its new....send it back...just take a swab and some eclipse and clean the dang thing....your going to have to do it anyway.

JBF wrote in post #8959549
Just clean the sensor. There is nothing wrong with the camera......don't send it back for a new camera....no wonder cameras cost so much...people just say.....hell its new....send it back...just take a swab and some eclipse and clean the dang thing....your going to have to do it anyway.

ding, ding, ding.... +1

The only caveat to this is there is dust on the other side of that LCD focus screen, I would return it. There shouldn't be any there. If it is on the other side where you can blow it clean or use a microfiber qtip, then I would clean it.

If, when you are looking through the viewfinder, the dust is "in focus", then it's on the focus screen. If it's blurry and out of focus, then it's just laying on the mirror surface. Do not, I repeat, do not try to clean the mirror with anything more than a puff of air from a bulb blower.

And there's almost always some specks visible in any SLR viewfinder, if not from new then after the first couple uses. It usually is meaningless and what you see in the VF won't show up in your images.

You could probably take the camera to a local camera repair shop and get it cleaned, if you wish. It would be cheaper than shipping, I suspect.

Me, I don't shoot at f22 anyway... So those tiny specks on the sensor aren't really an issue. Try a shot at f8 and f11... any smaller aperture than that (on a crop sensor camera) starts to induce diffraction and your images will suffer. With f8 and larger apertures, any tiny specks on the sensor will pretty much disappear.

You are just freaking out because the camera is new and pricey.

Eventually you'll need to do cleanings yourself (read up and learn how to do this properly.... a good place to start your research is at www.micro-tools.com, which also sells various proper supplies to do the cleanings).

But for now you might be best taking it to a professional technician at a local camera repair shop. Most don't charge very much for a cleaning service.

Otherwise, just go shoot pictures. Use realistic apertures. And learn to retouch in post processing. That's been part of the process of photography since they were shooting with glass plates. (Lightroom has a really cool tool to correct dust spots... It can even fix a batch of images that all have the same dust spots, with a single click.)

By the way, back in the days of film it could be much worse. Specks of dust could cause scratches on an entire rooll of film, which were a real pain to retouch.

I dont think I've ever had a camera that didn't have a little dust at f22...brand new or not. It's totally normal.

Caaaalmmm.

I would send it back to store.

For $1700, I would expect the sensor to be clean and spotless.

Did you check your "clicks" to make sure it wasn't a returned camera?

Ainnir wrote in post #8955246
Now I expect a new camera to be completely clean.

tommibear99 wrote in post #8959778
For $1700, I would expect the sensor to be clean and spotless.

Such expectations are unrealistic.

I don't think Canon has ever shipped a clean DSLR. There are dozens of threads here on POTN going back several years about people (including me) finding snot on their brand new sensors.

I don't know why they arrive snotty, but they do. You'll need to learn to clean your sensor eventually, it may as well be now.

Curtis N wrote in post #8959843
Such expectations are unrealistic.

I don't think Canon has ever shipped a clean DSLR. There are dozens of threads here on POTN going back several years about people (including me) finding snot on their brand new sensors.

I don't know why they arrive snotty, but they do. You'll need to learn to clean your sensor eventually, it may as well be now.

+1

There was a fellow over at dpreview who sent back 3 brand new cameras until he got one with a bearable amount of dust-bunnies. As far as "sensorsnot" goes, a new D-SLR will have plenty of lubricant flying around when the shutter button is pushed and this is usually the culprit that glues or welds the dust to the sensor's surface.

But the OP may have another issue with the dust up on the focusing screen, and if it is as bad as he says, then it's entirely his call whether to send it in or not. Nevertheless, he will still have to learn how to clean his sensor because the "sensorsnot" will eventually rear its ugly head again.

Nicholas
www.copperhillimages.c​om