Are dust / oil harmful to sensor (in the long run)?

I am going to ask the opinion of the experts in this forum.

I have a number of small spots on my sensor which if I looked real carefully will appear in the photographs. Frankly, it does not bother me so much when I look at the photograph overall.
Cleaning sensor on my own is not something I relish and hence I have not clean it since the first day.
I do thought about getting it cleaned professionally but procrastinated so far (it is a case of being plain lazy ).

So my question is if the dust and other dirt are left on the sensor for an extended period of time (say a couple of years) will it harm the sensor? Will it be an issue even when it is cleaned later?

Your views are much appreciated.

My opinion only, oil sitting on any surface for a long time cannot be good. Not sure what the chemical reaction would be on a sensor, but oil can permanently stain some surfaces. Learn to clean it, it really isn't as bad as you may think.

What people have to remember is that the modern sensor is an electro-magnetic charged surface. It is literally a dust magnet. Now the camera lens combination is in no way an air tight component. So, as you all know, dust gets in wherever there is air movement. The movement of the mirror going up and down creates an air depression that sucks the dust in close to the sensor. There is simply no way to avoid it.

Now, for most of the normal shooting situations, this dust can't be seen when you use apertures around f8-11 or larger. They do appear around f16. The other time they show most is when you do HDR. Then they'll show like a sore thumb because of the extra processing that's being done.

For those of you who are wise enough (old) and that have worked with enlarging 35mm negatives in the darkroom, you must remember the care and pain it used to be to remove all dust from the negative before enlarging, or the retouching techniques that were available in those days. To me, sensor cleaning today is no worse than was the dust issues in the old days. And the digital retouching available today can cure most of these little imperfections.

Those of you who thought of buying a D600 that got scared by this condition exposed on the net are missing all the great performance of this superb camera IMO.

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If there were actually dust or oil on your sensor, then yes. It would be horribly bad for it and your camera would stop working fairly quickly. However, the dust and oil you see is not on your sensor. Depending upon what camera you have, that dust/oil is on your OLPF filter (and in the case of D800E and D7100 it's just a slab of optical glass) and is nowhere near your actual sensor. So while oil and dust is not a good thing to see in your images, it probably won't do any long term damage, especially considering electronic oil is acid free.

Watch72, I would suggest getting a Giottos Rocket Blaster (the large size) and blow off any dust that might be on the sensor. This particular blower is widely recommended because it has a filter on one end. The filter helps prevent the blower from sucking in any dust then subsequently blowing it into the camera.

Here is the video that BackdoorHippie linked for me when I was looking for a suggested way to clean the oil off my D600. It isn't the most entertaining video to watch, but the guy is very thorough, and after watching it a few times, I felt comfortable enough to perform my own sensor cleaning (using the Eclipse fluid and Sensor Swabs). The only problem I encountered while cleaning with the sensor swabs is that it isn't easy to see what you are doing down inside the camera because your hand somewhat blocks the view.

This video also shows how to use the rocket blower which is the first step. I'd suggest just trying that much to see if it removes the spots you are seeing in your photos. The rocket blower cleaning isn't difficult to perform at all. You'd just need to play with locking up the mirror a couple of times beforehand so you'll know how it operates. Since I don't own a D800, I don't know if that model is susceptible to the oil spots as is the D600 which I own.

Rick M said:

My opinion only, oil sitting on any surface for a long time cannot be good. Not sure what the chemical reaction would be on a sensor, but oil can permanently stain some surfaces. Learn to clean it, it really isn't as bad as you may think.

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Hi Rick - could possibly be that staining can occur if the stain is left for a long time. Thanks for highlighting this. I guess learning to clean it is unavoidable. My hope was maybe I can do it once in every few years when the photograph gets "unbearable".

Marcel said:

For those of you who are wise enough (old) and that have worked with enlarging 35mm negatives in the darkroom, you must remember the care and pain it used to be to remove all dust from the negative before enlarging,​

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Thanks Marcel for the reminder that there's no way to keep a sensor clean and pristine for long.
I am definitely old enough as I have worked with film and enlarger and the whole process of wet printing and darkroom. BTW that was a long time ago. Maybe the thing is I am getting too "old" for this sensor cleaning stuff. Anyway, excuses aside, I will have to get it clean somehow and by someone. I just wonder is there a "no return" interval between cleaning.

Dave_W said:

If there were actually dust or oil on your sensor, then yes. It would be horribly bad for it and your camera would stop working fairly quickly. However, the dust and oil you see is not on your sensor. Depending upon what camera you have, that dust/oil is on your OLPF filter (and in the case of D800E and D7100 it's just a slab of optical glass) and is nowhere near your actual sensor. So while oil and dust is not a good thing to see in your images, it probably won't do any long term damage, especially considering electronic oil is acid free.

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Hi Dave - pardon my awkward expression of dust or oil on sensor - yes, what I was allude to was on the glass covering the sensor or else, as you have said, it would be disastrous. Actually, I have thought the same that glass (I did not know it was optical glass) would be inert and it can withstand stain or dirt for some time without long term damage.

hark said:

Watch72, I would suggest getting a Giottos Rocket Blaster (the large size) and blow off any dust that might be on the sensor. ... Here is the video that BackdoorHippie linked for me when I was looking for a suggested way to clean

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Hi Hark - thanks for the suggestion and the video link. It seems so easy and simple to clean with the swab. I just wish I don't to do it so often.