Kr Sensor Marks?

I find the dust alert on my K20D to be useless. It cannot show tiny spots at all. For what it's worth, when I got my new K20D there was a huge piece of dust on the sensor. I got a rocket blower and that couldn't get it off. My brother cleaned it for me somehow.

I fear now that every dusty sensor is going to be assumed to be a faulty sensor.

The marks people should be concerned about seem fairly distinct, bubble-like and often in a cluster or spray pattern. IMHO a couple of tiny faint smudges are more likely to be regular dust and not worth worrying about until they impact on shots. My k-7 has a couple of bits on the sensor, but i'm not even concerned about cleaning it yet, as they are only noticeable if you are really looking for them.

If you're concerned about the marks and can't get them off yourself, why not send the camera off for a professional clean by Johnson's. It would eliminate any doubt as to whether the marks are under the glass or not. If they are, Pentax ought to pay, if not, you have just paid to have your sensor cleaned and therefore it's your own responsibility.

Ned Bunnell (Pentax USA) has posted something about this and identifying the difference between dust and stain etc:
link

Andy

Probably should have kept mine for 9 months and then sent it in for replacement. Saing that I had quite a cluster of spots dead centre but I do agree that a lot of these so called flaws look more like dust spots.