Dirt or mold spots inside lens of canon sx20

The image sensor in the camera needs cleaning. You can buy cleaning kits, but often you'll just make the problem worse until you gain experience. Many camera shops now offer professional sensor cleaning so you might decide that it's better to pay someone else to do it for you. If you join a local camera club there's also usually at least one sensor cleaning guru who can do it really well if you buy him or her a beer.

Prevention is better than cure, so always blow dust off the camera and lenses before changing them, and never leave the camera for any length of time without either a lens or a body cap on the front.

Are you talking about spots you see on the pictures? Are these spots you see in the same place on all the pictures? If you really want to see if your sensor is dirty pick a clear day with a great blue sky focus to infinity and then shift the lens to manual focus and the program to "P" take a pitch of the blue sky. Then down load this picture to the computer and open it up to 100% and look it over if there are spots then the sensor should be cleaned. Even if you take the lens off and look into the camera body you still can't see the sensor all you are looking at is the mirror inside the prism box.
To clean the sensor you need to put the camera into "clean" mode which locks the mirror up. It may be possible you just have a dirty lens or UV filter.

Before testing your sensor look at and clean the front element of your lens or lenses, clean with the proper lens cloth don't use liquid lens cleaner instead just huff on the lens to create a little moisture and clean off with the lens cloth. That's a lens cloth not tissue, also remove the lens and keep teh camera body mount facing down so not dirty falls into the cavity and ot put the body cap on.

Check the lens rear element for dirt partials and remove carefully if there is, remove body cap and install the lens back onto the camera.

Next I'm going to give you a quick test method to actually see if your camera sensor is dirty.

On a good clear day with blue sky go outside switch the camera to "P" program focus on a subject at infinity then shift the lens to manual focus. Point the lens skyward to a clear patch of blue and take the picture(s) Now down load this picture to your computer and enlarge it to at least 50% I use 100% but I'm way fussy and my prints can go to poster size so i need clean/

Anyway look closely at that blue sky if you see spots of black then the sensor is dirty and needs to be cleaned by you or a professional. There are special kits for cleaning sensors on the market BUT, make sure you are confident it what you are doing because the sensor is extremely sensitive to damage. Read your manual on this cleaning function.

Your lens would need to be absolutely filthy with enormous dirt specks to cause the fault you describe. Dust, fingerprints, and regular minor debris simply doesn't show in the final image. In any case, you cannot clean inside the lens without dismantling it and that is a job for experienced specialists only.

Your fault is a dirty image sensor. You can buy sensor cleaning kits, but if you're inexperienced with them or trying to clean the sensor in a dusty environment you'll just make matters worse. Many camera shops offer sensor cleaning while you wait at relatively low cost. The reason you don't see the dirt when taking the picture is either because you're looking through the optical viewfinder or because the LCD screen simply doesn't magnify the image enough to show the marks which are present in the image.

You can prevent the dirt from reoccurring by never leaving the camera with the lens throat open for more than strictly necessary, and by always trying to keep the open lens throat pointing slightly down when swapping lenses.

I hope that I've helped, please take a moment to rate my answer.

You have dust on your sensor. your best bet is to get it cleaned professionally, . if you want to clean it yourself, get a kit like this
http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Survival-KIT-Sensor-Eclipse/dp/B000PNGM18/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1299393725&sr=1-2
good luck

The spots are dust on your sensor. You can clean these yourself but you must learn the techniques first. Google the words...cleaning a DSLR sensor. You will be taken to sites which will explain in detail how to do it and what supplies you will need. It may seem daunting at first, but it is really easy once you know how.

I had the same problem with mine two i ended up sending it to canon and they replace the lens unit.

Hi,

The 28-135 zoom lens has at some point had moisture inside it. These spots that you can see are dried water marks.

You have to take the lens apart and clean the lens with a class cloth.

Alternatively you can take the lens to a specialist service center to be professionally cleaned.



Regards.

Hi,

Try using a sensor cleaning kit. It sound if you have dust on your sensor. The cleaning kit most probably will solve your problem.

Cheers

If you have another lens, switch it and take some shots of the sky. If the spot is gone, it probably was the lens that needs cleaning/servicing. However, it's more likely that there's dirt on your CCD. On your camera's menu, select mirror lockup/clean CCD (I can't remember the exact terminology but you get the idea).

After you select that, the mirror will stay up. Remove the lens and you'll see that the CCD is now exposed. Use a blower (don't use your mouth to blow as you will end up with spit in the camera) to clear out any dust/debris on the CCD. Don't touch the CCD.

Turn off the camera and you'll hear the mirror go back down. Re-attach your lens and try some shots.