I bought a Canon EOS DSLR a couple of years ago, and black spots appeared on the sensor. The service center is far away, and it's expensive too. Can I do this myself without damaging the sensor? What tools do I need?
The main thing is no wet wipes, cotton swabs, or any improvised tools - otherwise you'll just smear the dirt across the sensor or leave lint behind. If the spots aren't very noticeable when you're shooting normal scenes, I honestly wouldn't touch anything at all. The risk of damaging the sensor is higher than the dust itself. If you do decide to go ahead, you'll need a special air blower made for sensor cleaning (they sell them at camera shops). Work in good light, tilt the camera so the dust falls down, and whatever you do, don't touch the sensor itself. To be honest, for a first attempt it's better to find a service or at least watch a video tutorial from the manufacturer. The sensor is expensive, and one careless move can ruin everything.
If the spots are actually on the sensor and not on the mirror or focusing screen, then cleaning it yourself at home is a gamble! Even special cleaning kits with a blower and brushes require a steady hand and experience, and one clumsy move can scratch the sensor and cause way more serious problems. Before you touch any tools, make sure the spots are really on the sensor: switch to Live View, point at a bright sky, and see if they stay in the same place when you change focus. If they do - then it's honestly cheaper to just pay for a service once than to fix the sensor later for a decent amount of money. A half-dry blower cleaning might work for loosely stuck dust, but only if you're willing to take the risk.
A special cleaning kit (air blower, brush, sticks with special coating) is a perfectly viable option if the spots are actually visible in your photos. The main thing is to first make sure the dirt is actually on the sensor, not on the mirror or the protective glass in front of it - you can check this with a simple photo against a solid white background. If you do decide to go for it - work in good lighting, slowly and without rushing, use the blower only for air puffs (no kissing the camera body, or moisture will get inside), and gently move the stick in one direction. But if the spots are barely noticeable in everyday shooting - you'll save yourself the stress, leave it as is, and just remove them during post-processing.
Are the spots visible only on solid-colored objects (sky, wall) or do they ruin almost every frame? This matters because if they're only noticeable under specific conditions, you can get away with software correction in post-processing.
If you do decide to clean it yourself - yeah, specialized kits work, but there's genuinely a high risk. The difference is you need to be super careful and first make absolutely sure the dirt is actually on the sensor, not on the mirror or protective glass in front of it (you check this by looking at photos shot in live view mode, when the mirror is up). A blower bulb is the safest move; a brush is already riskier. Personally, I'd seriously consider professional cleaning in your situation, because even the slightest wrong touch to the sensor can cause artifacts on your images afterward.
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