Will my camera sensor get dirty?

Hello,
Mine is a Canon 40D. This came with a kit lens 17-85 f/4.5-5 IS USM.

At every occasion when my camera is turned on, I could see the following "sensor cleaning" message on my LCD screen.

Could my camera sensor get any dust on it even if the lens has not been removed?
In other-words, is there any possibility for dust to get deposited on the sensor while the lens remain attached to the body?

[I have read to minimise any dust reaching the sensor, if need to change the lens, do it in a dust-free envirnment-if possible & by holding the camera lens looking downward]

Regards

Neither your lens or your body is sealed, so basically just using the zoom can suck dust into the camera. Dust is just part of having a DLSR.

It's no big deal though, just put the camera in manual clean mode and use a rocket blower to remove dust from the sensor once in a while. Your actually just cleaning the AA filter because the sensor is not exposed and is behind this filter. If the spots wont come off use a SensorKlear pen and/or wet cleaning method.

Check out the Copperhill website for instructions on cleaning.

I think the 500D has the same system as the 40D, auto clean but not flourine coated like the better system on the 50D, 5D, 7D, et al. My T1i/500D has some dust on it I've been meaning to clean off so I'm pretty sure your 40D can get dirty too. Even the flourine coated ones probably can.

I had my 40D for a couple of years and as I was carefull when changing the lens I never needed to manually clean it. I did use the camera's clean function once and that got rid of a bunny and I allways let it do the cycle with on/off, so dont worry, just never leave the camera or rear lens open, allways use the body cap when no lens is attached and quickly and carefully take off the rear lens cap and put it straight on the lens you remove. Try not to lean over the body when you take off a lens and attach the next one. I also allways had my rocket blower in my bag and gave the body and lens a blast around the edges before removing the cap or lens from the body (even at home).

oRGie wrote in post #9358033
I had my 40D for a couple of years and as I was carefull when changing the lens I never needed to manually clean it. I did use the camera's clean function once and that got rid of a bunny and I allways let it do the cycle with on/off, so dont worry, just never leave the camera or rear lens open, allways use the body cap when no lens is attached and quickly and carefully take off the rear lens cap and put it straight on the lens you remove. Try not to lean over the body when you take off a lens and attach the next one. I also allways had my rocket blower in my bag and gave the body and lens a blast around the edges before removing the cap or lens from the body (even at home).

Thank you for the extra few tips. It is very much appreciated.
Regards

We live in a world full of dust... You will get dust on your sensor... I clean mine every four months on average.

I've had my 40D now for just about 2 1/2 years. I use it every single day. I've never been all that careful about changing my lenses. I will change them when I need to, outdoors, etc. With that said, I most certainly do get dust and spray on my sensor (ocean). I've only had to use the sensor clean brush once or twice. The rocket blower gets used about once a month.

FYI: The 'cleaning' that the 40D does is nothing more than a little vibration to knock loose any particles. It really does work, on my previous two DSLRs without this feature, I had to clean my sensors much more frequent.

My 30D (which I bought used from a wedding photographer with probably over 20k actuations) has dust visible at f/11 or higher (mostly with skies or other bright light) I use my rocket blower and it helps but some spots are still there. I think I'll just get it cleaned professionally some time. My first DSLR the XTi on the other hand has the dust shaker system like the 40d etc. and has not had any dust issues thus far. I've had it for 3yrs now and around 20k actuations.

For stubborn spots, wet cleaning with eclipse or e2 solution and pec pads/sensor swabs is the way to go. For the cost of one professional sensor cleaning, you could clean the sensor yourself probably 100 times with the eclipse/pec pad method. Most people are pleasantly surprised at how easy it is after they try it. Just use common sense and don't scrub around in there and you'll be fine.