Can Dead Pixels be Sensor Dust?

[HDNitehawk]

Brant, I think hot pixels. My old 5D II had a few and most of the time you wouldn’t notice them. But if you did real long exposures or the camera was used a lot it seemed to heat up the sensor and you would notice. Of course they usually appear at the exact same location in the frame when they do appear. I think you are noticing them because you heated the sensor up with the long exposure.

If you want to check dust find something white or sometimes I use the blue sky. Take several pictures and pixel peep on your computer in a pattern across the frame. Dust usually appears as a grayish discoloration but it can look like a solid object if it is big enough. But I have never seen it appear as a bright point of light.